THIS open letter aims to respectfully bring to the attention of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmad Tinubu, GCON, certain reported activities of Senator Shehu Umar Buba (APC, Bauchi South), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence. This communication is urgent, given the range of issues surrounding the lawmaker, who holds responsibility for national security and intelligence oversight.
Mr President must have read the viral stories circulating about Senator Buba, which are making the Bauchi lawmaker one of the most controversial figures in the recent history of the Red Chamber. Many newspapers last week published an investigative story titled, “Nigerian Senator Shehu Buba faces backlash over alleged ties to terror kingpin Bello Turji, church demolition for mosque project.”
The stories revealed how the Bauchi South senator carved a niche for himself as one of the only lawmakers that was investigated by the Department of State Services (DSS) for allegedly sponsoring murderous bandits to Hajj pilgrimage in 2024; his alleged involvement in fanning religious embers among two Muslim groups in Plateau State, and more importantly the senator’s ongoing efforts in providing a soft-landing for Bello Turji, a terror kingpin who came to international limelight through his audacious mass murder of innocent citizens including women, the aged and children, maiming of villages, kidnapping for ransom, rape of women and girls, among others.
The newspapers reported that Senator Buba is funding the construction of a multi-million-naira Juma’atmosque in the Zinariya neighbourhood, just one house away from the long-established Abu Huraira Juma’at Mosque, which belongs to the Dariqa Sufi Brotherhood. The new mosque, reportedly being built for the Jama’atul Izalatul Bidi’aWa’ikamatus Sunnah faction led by Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, has sparked fears of violent clashes between the two groups, given their history of combative sermons.
Further heightening the tensions, it was alleged that Senator Buba purchased and demolished a church in the area to build the mosque under reference, a move condemned by members of the Christian community as provocative and disrespectful to their faith. Not only that, his constituents in Bauchi South have also lambasted the lawmaker for prioritising the Jos mosque project while leaving an unfinished mosque in his home constituency of Toro.
In what many see as an apparent attempt to sabotage the landmark efforts of the Nigerian armed forces towards ending terrorism, Senator Buba is also reportedly involved in a proposed peace treaty with Bello Turji, a notorious armed bandit accused of mass killings, kidnappings, rape, and village burnings across the North-West.
On November 14, 2022, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) declared Bello Turji and 18 other top bandit leaders wanted for terror activities in Zamfara and Katsina states. The DHQ placed a N5 million bounty on each of them.
The deal, reportedly facilitated through his protégée in Kaduna, by the name Mr Musa Yusuf Asadus-Sunnah (alias Musa Makanike), has been widely condemned by Muslim clerics who argue that Turji should face justice rather than be pardoned.
Prominent northern clerics such as Sheikh Murtala Bello Asadah, Sheikh Bello Yabo, among many others, have publicly opposed the peace initiative, accusing the government of ethnic bias and warning that the move could cost President Tinubu political support in the North ahead of the 2027 general elections. These clerics argued Bello Turji had in the past promised to lay down his arms, but only to escalate his terror attacks thereafter.
Your Excellency, while we celebrate the capture of Ansaru terror group top leaders, Mahmud Muhammad Usman (aka Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar), and Mahmud al-Nigeri (aka Malam Mamuda), the truth is that many Nigerians believe, albeit rightly, that they were arrested because they are not of Fulani ethnic stock. Many wonder why they were not given a soft landing like it is being accorded to Bello Turji, whose terror activities equalled that of the Ansaru terror group, if not surpass it.
It is the understanding of many Nigerians, particularly northerners, that the security agencies that are celebrating the capture of Ansaru’s top leaders are not ready to capture Belo Turji, who is in constant touch with some clerics through the facilitation of Senator Buba.
Anyways, the difference between Ansaru and the bandit groups is like the one between six and half a dozen. In the past, Ansaru had collaborated with bandits during the Kaduna train attack in Niger state and some parts of Kaduna state. And Bello Turji is gradually mutating into a terror insurgents as can be seen in his recent propaganda videos, sprouting religious phrases and slogans.
But he is still free. It is now clear that Senator Buba and Mr Musa know where these terrorists are. It is now left for the government to either hold them responsible for aiding and abetting terrorism, or ask them to take them to where these murderous gangs are for immediate capture, that is the only way Nigerians would believe the government is serious about ending the menace.
Critics also allege that Senator Buba’s close ties to opposition figure Atiku Abubakar raise questions about his loyalty to the APC, with some calling him a “mole” whose actions undermine the party’s image. It was on record that he never hid his disdain for President Tinubu’s project during the last election.
He has never publicly campaigned, even by joining his photos with Mr Tinubu in his campaign posters in 2023. The Kaduna cleric, Mr Musa, is also well known for his pro-Atiku preachments during and after the 2023 general elections.
Mr Musa is one of such clerics who went all out to denounce and de-campaigned you during the 2023 elections, but only to be now winning and dining with some of your top aides, at the same time causing more havoc to your administration in the name of a peace deal with a wanted terrorist that commandeered the massacre of hundreds innocent civilians.
In October 2024, the Department of State Services (DSS) reportedly investigated Senator Buba for allegedly facilitating the pilgrimage of wanted Zamfara bandit Abubakar Idris to Saudi Arabia. According to security sources cited by THISDAY, Idris was registered as a pilgrim through Buba’s senior legislative aide.
DSS operatives allegedly intercepted his passport during the Hajj processing period, leading to his arrest. The incident raised concerns among security officials about entrusting a lawmaker under such scrutiny with oversight of national security and intelligence matters.
Mr President, it will be recalled that Bauchi State Governor Abdulkadir Bala Mohammed, in mid-September 2024, wrote an official letter to you, accusing Senator Buba of sponsoring terrorism. It was on record that, based on the governor’s actionable intelligence, which led to many breakthroughs that include the arrest of two murderous bandits, wanted for terror campaigns.
Your Excellency, it is because of the foregoing that many Nigerians believe that Senator Buba is not competent enough to occupy the exalted position of Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence.
The senator lacks the requisite educational and career background to perform oversight on Nigeria’s complex national security and intelligence architecture at this critical juncture when the country is battling insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping, among other security threats.
Senator Buba, a first-time senator without any security-related experience or any administrative background, it is high time he is relieved of his appointment as chair of the committee to save the country, your administration from looming and catastrophic embarrassment.
Mr President, it is also expedient to inform you that the majority of the Muslim clerics who braved the odds to campaign for you in 2023 are now feeling disappointed because they were not only sidelined, but are appalled to realise that some of the clerics who bitterly campaigned against you are now brought closer and enjoying what they didn’t labour for.
For Senator Buba, it is advisable to concentrate on your legislative duties and refrain from using your relationship with the NSA to interfere in the sensitive activities of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). It should be pointed out to you that your undue interference in the activities of the ONSA is akin to undermining national security. No country will allow its national security to be jeopardised on the altar of a personal relationship.
Finally, it is high time Mr President takes decisive action on Senator Buba and his cleric cronies before they further poison the minds of your support base in Northern Nigeria.
A stitch in time, Mr President, saves nine, they say. Baba, if the Bello Turjis of the city would continue to advocate for a soft landing for the Bello Turjis in the forest, then it’s better you open all the prisons in the country and allow the inmates walk free, including IPOB’s Nnamdi Kanu.
- Uzairu, a public commentator, writes from Sokoto, Sokoto State.