Thousands of Nigerians home and abroad have launched a major Twitter campaign, calling for the resignation of Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, over his alleged link with terrorist groups – Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
They claimed that the minister, who is an Islamic scholar cannot be trusted with the data of Nigerians, especially with the ongoing National Identification Number and Subscriber Identity Module integration exercise under his watch.
In a viral video recorded many years ago which was later confirmed by his lawyer, Michael Numa, the minister was seen engaging the late Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, in a public debate.
Pantami, an Islamic scholar, according to Peoples Gazette, also once declared that he was always happy when infidels were massacred.
Peoples Gazette said Pantami’s comments were contained in three audio recordings of his teachings in the 2000s, when he took extreme positions in support of the brutal exploits of Al Qaeda and Taliban elements who were on a campaign to obliterate the West and conquer other parts of the world.
Peoples Gazette also said Pantami did not return a request seeking comments from about whether or not he has eschewed his violent Salafist views.
The hashtag #PantamiResign has since been trending online having over 20,000 retweets as of the time of filing this report.
A Twitter user, @mrflairr from Tel Aviv, Israel wrote: “Whether Nigeria is a serious country or not, we are calling for the resignation of Pantami immediately. Please all of us need to make this trend and put pressure on the government to act achieve this. #PantamiResign.
Another tweep @chosensomto wrote: “I will not join you people and have that ‘it was in the past’ conversation, because its same as arguing “if a repented Boko Haram member can become a minister?”. Terrorism is not a drinking habit you drop in the past, Pantami should resign immediately. #PantamiResign
