The Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria has urged the National Security Adviser and the Department of State Services to investigate renewed allegations linking Senator Shehu Buba Umar with banditry and terrorism and disclose the outcome of their findings.
The Council said the security agencies should also clarify the nature of their previous engagements with the Bauchi South senator, particularly his role in discussions on non-kinetic strategies for tackling terrorism and banditry.
The call was contained in a statement issued on Monday by the SCSN Secretary-General, Naku Baba Ahmad, who said the allegations required an independent investigation rather than political speculation.
Shehu Buba, a serving senator representing Bauchi South Senatorial District, has recently come under renewed scrutiny over allegations of links with criminal elements involved in banditry, kidnapping and terrorism.
The SCSN said the allegations could have serious consequences for national security and public confidence if they were neither properly investigated nor conclusively addressed.
It therefore called on the Office of the National Security Adviser and the DSS to “clear the air” by explaining their dealings with the senator, subject to restrictions imposed by law and legitimate national security considerations.
The Council warned against politicising security issues, saying unsubstantiated allegations and campaigns of calumny could undermine efforts to confront the country’s worsening security challenges.
According to the organisation, its involvement in security matters was not new, as it had engaged successive administrations on strategies to tackle terrorism, insurgency, banditry and other forms of violent crime.
It said its consultations had spanned the administrations of former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and the late Muhammadu Buhari, as well as the current administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The Council stressed that it had consistently condemned terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, murder and the destruction of communities, irrespective of the perpetrators’ religious, ethnic or political affiliations.
It said its consultations with security institutions became more intensive from late 2023, when it began exploring ways of complementing military operations with non-kinetic measures.
“It was within the context of the Council’s sustained engagements on finding lasting solutions to Nigeria’s security crisis that, from late 2023, we intensified consultations with relevant security and government institutions, particularly the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS),” the statement said.
The organisation explained that it subsequently engaged Shehu Buba in his then capacity as Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence.
According to the SCSN, the senator’s involvement was connected to efforts by relevant institutions to strengthen the non-kinetic component of the government’s response to terrorism and banditry.
The Council said the senator’s interactions with the security agencies were, to the best of its knowledge, part of legitimate national security initiatives and were known to and appreciated by the heads of the relevant institutions.
“To the best of our knowledge, such engagements and efforts formed part of legitimate initiatives aimed at supporting the broader national security architecture and were appreciated by the heads of these offices at the highest levels,” it said.
The Council said it had also defended Shehu Buba in October 2024 when similar allegations were raised against him.
It explained that its position at the time was based on the principle that allegations involving terrorism and national security should be subjected to credible investigation rather than being used as a means of political persecution.
However, the renewed claims have prompted the organisation to seek fresh clarification from the security authorities.
The SCSN said the NSA and DSS should state, as far as permissible, the context in which they interacted with the senator and whether his engagements were connected to officially sanctioned efforts to address terrorism and banditry.
It argued that such disclosure would help establish whether the senator’s interactions with security agencies were legitimate engagements or were being deliberately misrepresented for political purposes.
“Such clarification would help separate legitimate security engagements, particularly those relating to approved non-kinetic approaches, from malicious attempts to distort or misrepresent such engagements for political purposes,” the Council said.
The SCSN maintained that an independent investigation remained the best way to resolve the controversy, protect the credibility of the security agencies and prevent allegations concerning national security from becoming instruments of political manipulation.
It also urged all parties involved to allow the relevant authorities to establish the facts, stressing that neither serious allegations nor political interests should be allowed to compromise Nigeria’s broader fight against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
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