By Our Reporters
Vice President Kashim Shettima and former Borno State governor Senator Ali Modu Sheriff have been listed as “persons of interest” in ongoing international assessments of Boko Haram activities in Northern Nigeria.
Daily Review Online exclusively gathered from anonymous diplomatic sources that the development comes as the United States is to expand its counterterrorism activities in Nigeria and other with West African countries in what President Donald Trump calls direct attack on Christians in Nigeria.
The diplomatic sources, who spoke to this newspaper in Abuja and Washington, emphasized that being tagged a “person of interest” does not imply guilt or criminal charges, but means that the individuals’ roles during the formative and escalation phases of the Boko Haram insurgency are being reviewed within broader geopolitical intelligence efforts.
According to the sources, the U.S. government is evaluating political, security and economic networks in the North-East as part of what one official described as a “strategic reassessment” of counterterrorism partnerships. “This is not about targeting politicians,” one source said, “but about understanding the environment in which militant structures evolved. More names are likely to be reviewed and both men may not be allowed entry into the US for now.
Trump had warned that any United States military action in Nigeria would be “fast, vicious and swift ” in his directive to Pentagon to prepare for a possible military operation against terrorists in Nigeria.
However, both Ali Modu Sheriff and Kashim Shettima have repeatedly denied any connection to Boko Haram. Sheriff has long maintained that the allegations linking him to the sect were manufactured by political opponents, while Shettima has consistently said he fought the insurgency with all available resources and worked closely with security agencies to protect civilians.
Security analysts caution that international inquiries of this nature can be routine and often do not result in arrests or sanctions. “This should not be interpreted as proof of wrongdoing,” said a West African terrorism researcher. “It is part of a broader trend of renewed global focus on the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin as extremist movements shift and evolve.”
There has been no official announcement from the U.S. government, and both men currently remain active in Nigerian political circles. Efforts to obtain comments from their representatives were ongoing as of press time.
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The roles played by Sheriff and Shettima, in the rise and escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency remain the subject of national debate and historical scrutiny. While neither man has been convicted of wrongdoing, analysts, security researchers and public testimonies suggest that their respective administrations were central to two different phases of the group’s evolution.
Ali Modu Sheriff, who governed Borno between 2003 and 2011, is widely linked to the early period when Boko Haram, then known as the Yusufiyya movement, operated as a religious group under the leadership of Muhammad Yusuf. Several academic reports and media investigations allege that elements within Sheriff’s political structure courted or tolerated the group to mobilize unemployed youths for electoral advantage. Sheriff has repeatedly denied the allegation.
The turning point came in 2009, when clashes between the sect and security forces led to a brutal crackdown. Hundreds of followers were killed, and Muhammad Yusuf died in police custody. Security analysts say the heavy-handed operation, which occurred under Sheriff’s watch, pushed the sect into full-scale militancy, eventually transforming into the violent Boko Haram insurgency led by Abubakar Shekau.
Kashim Shettima, who succeeded Sheriff in 2011, took office at a time when Boko Haram had already become a deadly insurgent movement. His administration faced some of the worst attacks in the North-East, including the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014 and the capture of several local government areas by the group. Critics accused his government of failing to secure vulnerable communities, but Shettima consistently argued that the state lacked federal military support and repeatedly appealed to Abuja for intervention.
In response, Shettima backed the formation of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), a civilian volunteer force that supported the military and played a key role in reclaiming Maiduguri and surrounding towns from insurgents. His tenure focused heavily on supporting displaced persons and rebuilding shattered communities.
However, Shettima has always denied responsibility for the insurgency though his tenure was marked by the group’s peak violence and humanitarian crises.
He once accused Sheriff of mishandling the early crisis that eventually fueled the rise of Boko Haram. Speaking at the 2017 Murtala Muhammed memorial lecture in Abuja, Shettima said Sheriff allowed personal ego to interfere with resolving tensions between security forces and followers of Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf.
According to Shettima, Sheriff “played into the hands of the insurgents” by ignoring the situation and failing to intervene early enough to prevent escalation. The governor also said former President Goodluck Jonathan did not fully grasp the nature of the Boko Haram threat until 2013, which further delayed decisive action.
Shettima noted that the insurgency had caused an estimated $9 billion worth of damage in the northeast and called for coordinated efforts to rebuild affected communities.