A civil society organisation, Concerned Nigerians, has petitioned the United States government, urging the Joe Biden-led administration to investigate alleged involvement of Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, with terrorist groups.
The group also asked that the US place the minister on its terror watch list if the allegations against him were found to be true.
The petition dated April 11, 2021 and titled, ‘Terrorist Watchlist –Isa Pantami’, was signed by the convener of the group, Deji Adeyanju.
It partly read, “It is also further alleged that he had in the past openly supported and endorsed global terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and the Talibans.
“Pantami is said to have praised Osama Bin Laden describing him as a hero and a better Muslim than himself. He has not renounced these views in the face of new revelations by the media. His views are extremist views and a threat to a multi religious nation like Nigeria.
“He is a senior member of President Buhari’s regime and we are of the view that a supporter of Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden should not hold a sensitive position and be in charge of the database of Nigerians. We are confident that Mr. Pantami will not resign or be sacked despite the public outcry because President Buhari is drawn to men like him.
“We implore you to investigate these allegations and if true, place him on your terrorist watchlist permanently. Those who express extremist views remain a threat to world peace as they support mass murder of both Christians and Muslims globally. This remains unacceptable.
“Our reply to those who say these men may have had a change of heart is that terrorists don’t repent, they are only looking for an opportunity to get close to power so they can strike harder.”
The hashtag #PantamiResign has since been trending online having over 20,000 retweets as of the time of filing this report.
