Why TY Danjuma attacked Nigerian military – Ex-PDP chairman, Ali

Ahmadu Ali, a ‎former national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has stated that retired General TY Danjuma lashed out at Nigerian military because he was frustrated about killings in his home state, Taraba.

Danjuma had advised Nigerians to defend themselves before killer herdsmen wiped them out.

Danjuma, who spoke at the maiden convocation ceremony of Taraba State University in Jalingo, the capital, called on the people to rise against “ethnic cleansing”.

“You must rise to protect yourselves from these people, if you depend on the armed forces to protect you, you will all die.

“This ethnic cleansing must stop in Taraba, and it must stop in Nigeria,” the former Defence Minister had warned.

Reacting, Ali said he was not surprised that Danjuma expressed his anger publicly.

“TY Danjuma is a straightforward, unbendable man and from his character and my knowledge of him, he says things the way they are, he doesn’t do any corner, corner at all”, he told Sun.

“It’s out of frustration and he has always argued that he doesn’t belong to any political party so he is free to comment the way he wants.

“You know that the prerogative of violence is vested in the government, that’s what you and I are paying for; armed forces, police, by paying them to retain that prerogative about us.

“The moment the prerogative of violence slips away from the hands of government into an unknown body, there is no government, because people tend to forget that all your taxes are paying the armed forces.

“You are paying it because the prerogative of violence in the society should be made permanently in the hands of these people you call the government in place.

“Any other person challenging it successfully means that government is failing and we have been challenged with Boko Haram for so long and now it is so called herdsmen, so when Danjuma said what he said, it is typical of him, he is a straightforward, blunt person, I know him.

“So you can say perhaps like most of us believe, if you feel so strongly, you should have said to Buhari, I want to see you and you go and see him or write him a letter, which you will deliver that this is your feeling and you don’t like what you are seeing,” he added.