Its Publicity Secretary, Yinka Oguntimehin, said the statement credited to the former minister that the OPC was the same as the dreaded Boko Haram was capable of heating up the polity and disrupting national peace.

Oguntimehin described Dambazau as a northern extremist popularly noted for his unguarded statements and utterances.

He said: “Dambazau’s statement that OPC and IPOB are very much the same as the dreaded Boko Haram was made in bad faith and such statements have raised some fundamental questions about his intentions, interests and morality as a former COAS and minister of Interior… Such high profile ex-military officer cannot be trusted in the fight against insurgency.

“So, for such a person to have said that OPC is the same as Boko Haram is not only derogatory, but it is most unfortunate to say the least.”

According to Oguntimehin, “Boko Haram is adjudged globally as the third most dreaded terrorist groups in the world. And up till today, it remains as such with various cases of killings across the North.”

The OPC publicity scribe stated that the group has since its existence in 1994 remains one of the most dependable organisations  that have been defending the interest of the people of the South-west.