Group writes Buhari, alleges plot to cede parts of Nigeria to Chad

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

The Patriots Without Borders (PWB) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State to order over alleged plot to cede Nigeria to the Republic of Chad.
In an open letter, signed by the group’s president, High Chief (Hon) Jack Efetobo, yesterday, the group raised alarm over potential threat to Nigeria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, adding that Zulum violated the powers of the Presidency by discussing national security with foreign nationals.
The group maintained that there is already a discreet plot to “ cede part of Nigeria’s territorial lands to Chad, precisely, the oil-rich Lake Chad Basin in exchange for assistance by masked state-actors in fighting Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in Borno state.”
However, they urged President Buhari to investigate Zulum and his co-conspirators as well as take immediate actions to halt the execution of such seditious plots against Nigeria.
The letter reads in parts;
‘’PWB reliably sourced that while in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, Gov. Zulum held secret talks with the Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Yusuf and other stakeholders of the team at its headquarters on issues of combating Boko Haram in Borno state and agreements were sealed. The Governor also visited the headquarters of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).
‘’We are concerned and boldly states that matters of foreign or international relations between countries particularly on a sensitive and explosive agenda like security are not covered by the powers averred an executive governor of a state.
‘’PWB is convinced that ceding any part of Nigeria to Chad, especially from that axis is preposterous. It will only help the sponsors of Boko Haram to achieve their age-long ambition of stopping Nigeria’s oil exploration within the Lake Chad Basin at the detriment of Nigeria.
‘’We strongly suspect that silence is not golden, as the actions of the Governor have exposed Nigeria’s part of Lake Chad Basin or even other territories to threats akin to what the country experienced with the Republic of Cameroun in the colonial times with Bakassi Peninsula in Cross River state.
‘’We plead that you invoke the powers vested in you by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to investigate Gov. Zulum and his co-conspirators as well as take immediate actions to halt the execution of such seditious plots against Nigeria.
‘’Your administration has not proved helplessness in combating Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorism in Nigeria. We are equally contented with the actions taken by your Government to rein in resurgent terrorists in the country. If Nigeria requires external intervention to curtail the excesses of terrorism, your office rather than that of a state governor is empowered by law to initiate and sign an international deal with any country.”