The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reacted to the alleged placement of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Ibrahim Isa Pantami, on its terrorism Watch List.
Reports had linked Dr Pantami with links to the Boko Haram group and other terrorist organisations around the world, with the newspaper emphatically saying he is on the FBI terror Watch List.
When contacted by the Abuja-based newspaper, Leadership, the FBI said ; “Thanks for reaching out. However, consistent with our standard posture, we can neither confirm nor deny whether an individual is on the watch list.”
Nigerians had expressed shock and concern when the news of the alleged link of the minister broke on Sunday.
Pantami had, however, denied the report and threatened legal action against the publishers of the national daily, which reported the alleged link, demanding public apology and a retraction of the story.
In a letter written through his lawyers, the minister demanded that the newspaper “convene a press conference to publicly announce your retraction while dissociating our client from the false claims you made which are seriously injurious to our client’s personality.”
He further declared his innocence adding that he had been preaching against the activities of Boko Haram and other terrorist organisations and wondered why anybody would use the purported report to defame his character.