Some-well meaning Nigerians have fingered Iranian-funded groups, Concerned Citizens and the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) to be behind a petition against former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai. 

The Concerned Citizens and Stakeholders (CCS) revealed that the call by Deji Adeyanju and his cohorts at Amnesty International for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Buratai is another phase of their destabilization agenda. 

The group, which disclosed this at a press conference on Friday in Lagos, said it is “laughable” to allege that the former COAS massacred members of IMN, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and protesters at Lekki Tollgate.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Secretary-General, Lanre Arogundade noted that the move is a warning shot at the new service chiefs. 

According to Arogundade, the aim is to instil fear to weaken their performances, such that they would rather prefer to fail than be put on trial by ICC for doing the right thing. 

The Concerned Citizens and Stakeholders, therefore, urged the military leadership to ignore Adeyanju’s malarkey so that they can continue the legacy of service to the nation that was the hallmark of the crop of service chief who just left office. 

The group, however, implored Nigerians and the rest of the world to ignore the Iranian-backed Concerned Citizens led by Deji Adeyanju. 

It also called on Nigerians to ask Adeyanju to declare his financial relationship with IPOB and IMN, including details of his interactions with Saeed Koozechi, a one-time Iranian ambassador to Nigeria.

Read the full statement below: 

Gentlemen of the press, at a time that right-thinking Nigerians are asking what contributions they can make to address the contrived security challenges coming the country’s way, we have observed that one questionable element who goes by the name,  Deji Adeyanju who leads an Iranian-backed group, Concerned Citizens, is about implementing another phase of the destabilization agenda of the enemies of Nigeria.

You will recall that several individuals and groups had outlined how the assault on Nigeria’s corporate integrity and sovereignty is being intensified on the flank of degrading the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This assault is framed in a manner that ensures that troops and their commanders are intimidated into not fighting foreign-backed terrorists that have been undermining security on various fronts.

This intimidation is in the form of constant threats of dragging soldiers, their commanding officers and entire military services before the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague. These threats come from international destabilization contractors like Amnesty International and criminally-minded persons like Deji Adeyanju, who deployed such blackmail to protect every single undesirable element operating under their franchise, from petty thieves to hardcore terrorists. 

As part of the evil they have in mind, they have over the years been setting down the groundwork for their agenda of making Nigeria’s military unable to ward off the threat to the country’s territorial security. They had consistently told lies in the public opinion space such that they have now built up a body of literature replete with lies about atrocities committed by the military. In this regard, they have successfully created a loop of lies whereby any online research done on their client-terrorist group will invariably present such criminal groups as victims of military operations. These tissues of lies are the basis on which the ICC is now pursuing a vendetta against Nigeria and its outstanding citizens. 

It is therefore not surprising that Deji Adeyanju has activated another phase of the evil agenda to incapacitate the military in the form of the letter he wrote to ICC asking for the prosecution of the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai (rtd). The deluded fellow is asking the ICC to prosecute General Buratai for allegedly massacring members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and laughably the phantom massacre at Lekki Toll Plaza during the #EndSARS protests.

Ordinarily, we should have outlined how Deji Adeyanju is a closet terrorist who actively joins the enemies of Nigeria in their strategy and planning sessions on how to destabilize the country but that would amount to stating the obvious. This character is desperate to justify his pouch of 30 silver to a point where he offered himself a human shield to prevent law enforcement from managing violent protests. 

A properly constituted Judicial Panel of Inquiry held a robust public hearing into the IMN incident that Adeyanju based his comical letter upon. That panel rather found that IMN is militarized, held extreme terrorist views and was a threat to others upon which it recommended its proscription. Kaduna state, which set up the panel, has since issued a white paper that outlawed IMN. Other states have learnt to not allow IMN quarters in their jurisdiction.

Similarly, a competent court reviewed the evidence before it and proscribed IPOB as a terrorist organization whose activities are no longer allowed in Nigeria. That court ruling was after repeated instances of IPOB members robbing people in the south-east in the name of collecting taxes, forcefully disappearing those who refuse to join its ranks and killing those opposed to them whose remains were sometimes discovered floating in streams or interred in mass graves deep inside forests. The recent skirmish between Eastern Security Network, the militia wing of IPOB, is a glaring reminder that the group is a venomous serpent that Nigeria cannot hold to its bosom in the name of rapprochement. A terrorist group will always remain virulent irrespective of what marketing and branding attempt made on it. 

The phantom Lekki Toll Plaza massacre that Deji Adeyanju has added to his toolbox for demonizing the Nigerian state has been established as phycological operation and false flag project orchestrated by IPOB to create a basis for attacking and destroying the businesses owned by persons of other ethnic nationalities different from his own Igbo. There is evidence that he coordinated attacks on businesses within hours of propagating the lies that there was a massacre at Lekki Toll Plaza. Interestingly, Osai Ojigho, Amnesty International’s chief in Nigeria and a collaborator of Deji Adeyanju could not volunteer evidence on national television even when repeatedly asked. 

Against this background, it is apparent that the letter Deji Adeyanju wrote to ICC’s jaundiced Chief Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is not about General Buratai nor is it about any credible incidence of rights violation. The letter is rather intended as a warning shot at the new military service chiefs, who the pro-terrorist circuits are desirous of intimidating into inaction so that terrorists can have a free pass to do what they like in Nigeria. The plot is for the military chiefs to fear that the performance of their duty will earn them a date at the ICC such that they would rather prefer to fail than be put on trial for doing the right thing. 

As Concerned Citizens and Stakeholders, we urge Nigeria’s military leadership to ignore Deji Adeyanju’s malarkey so that they can continue the legacy of service to the nation that was the hallmark of the crop of service chief who just left office. The best way to deal with urchins like him is to continue to eradicate terrorists that threaten the wellbeing of Nigerians. We, however, want to warn that Deji Adeyanju is the errand boy they send to do the dirty work for the circuits that are out to destroy Nigeria. His is to test the waters for them to see the extent to which they can try the Nigerian state. If the country takes the bait, then his co-travellers will step out from the shadows in large numbers to harass the military. 

We call on Nigerians and the rest of the world to ignore the Iranian backed Concerned Citizens of Nigeria led by this questionable Deji Adeyanju. Nigerians should also ignore Deji Adeyanju’s cohorts who are out to promote terrorism, extremism and arson on Nigerian citizens in their bid to beatify IMN and IPOB. Nigerians should challenge Deji Adeyanju to declare his financial relationship with IPOB and IMN, including details of his interactions with Saeed Koozechi, a one-time Iranian ambassador to Nigeria.