Australian hostage negotiator Stephen Davis who
has been widely described as a man hired by the
Nigerian government to negotiate with Boko
Haram in an effort to help free the Chibok girls,
has allegedly said he was not in Nigeria (for four
months) at the request of the federal government.
In an interview with Soni Daniel, which was
published on Vanguard today, Stephen allegedly
said he was never engaged by the Nigerian
government to dialogue with the sect.
"I was not engaged by the Federal
Government of Nigeria, any state
government or any other party. I went to
Nigeria in late April in an effort to facilitate a
handover of the Chibok captives after
discussing such a possibility with former
commanders of JAS (Jama’atu Ahlul
Sunnah Lih Da’awa wal Jihad otherwise
known as JAS) and others close to Boko
Haram. Why did you release the report of
your assignment to the media instead of
sending it to government? I did not
construct a report of my efforts in Nigeria.
As I said earlier, I was not engaged by any
party and therefore had no obligation to
report to anyone." Continue...
Some Nigerians find it curious that you decided
to give your report only to Arise TV, owned by a
Nigerian, Nduka Obiagbena, who also owns
Thisday Newspapers and may be sympathetic to
some politicians in Nigeria.
"I gave a radio interview to the ABC in Australia
which subsequently told me that after the
transcript was posted to their online site, it had
been picked up in the UK and Sky News
requested an interview. In the hope of bringing
attention to the many other girls and boys
kidnapped by Boko Haram, I agreed to a
television interview. That interview took place in
Channel 7 studios in Australia and it was at that
point that I was told it was an interview with
Arise TV. I had not heard of Arise TV and did not
know it was owned by a Nigerian or indeed that it
had any association with Nigeria. At the time of
giving the TV interview, I was of the
understanding that it would be broadcast by Sky
News in the UK. On Mr Obiagbena, I have not met
him or ever been contacted by him.
Many Nigerians find it extremely difficult to
understand how the former Chief of the Army
Staff, Lt. Gen. Ihejirika, who actually fought Boko
Haram elements and was accused of genocide
could be linked with sponsoring the violent
group.
It is much easier to understand Mr Sheriff’s
alleged association with Boko Haram than any
association of Mr Ihejirika. Mr Sheriff was said to
have a long history of promoting groups to assist
in his past efforts to win the governorship of
Borno State. On 29 July 2009, there was a
confrontation with security officers at Mamudo
Village, along Potiskum/Damaturu Road, Yobe. 33
JAS members were killed. Later that night, there
was a long battle with combined security
operatives at Railway Terminus, Maiduguri, Borno
State. Scores were killed and the JAS operational
base was destroyed. Yusuf was subsequently
captured by the military and handed over to the
police.
The JAS alleged that it was on Sheriff’s orders
that Yusuf was executed in Maiduguri on 30 July
2009. Shekau was presumed killed in the same
battle and a corpse was identified as that of
Shekau. Thus the remaining JAS leaders made it
clear their intention was to kill Sheriff and so it is
right that Sheriff claims he is a victim of JAS. The
Boko Haram we see today is not the JAS that was
operational under Yusuf. Shekau emerged in
mid-2010 and publicly claimed the leadership of
a reinvigorated JAS. Shekau formed Ansaru
which he used for kidnapping and beheading
victims.
This behaviour was a major departure from the
original mandate of the JAS which was to purify
Islam and return it to the behaviour example in
the life of the Prophet. Many among the JAS
leadership are no longer active and others have
been killed. This has allowed Shekau to take the
JAS to more extreme action and expanded the
kidnapping, bombing and slaughtering.
The Boko Haram we have today is a much
expanded Ansaru. What we see now is not the
Yusufiya which wanted very much to settle
scores with Sheriff. It is Boko Haram as a partner
to ISIS and Al Shabaab. Now I will offer an
opinion as to the motives of the sponsors of Boko
Haram.The political sponsors of Boko Haram
seem to think that they can use Boko Haram to
terrorise Nigeria to demonstrate that the current
government cannot ensure the security of
Nigerian citizens both Muslim and Christian.
Therein the sponsors assume they can
undermine any efforts of the current government
to be re-elected in 2015. Herein lies the flaw for
the conflict and instability currently being fanned
suits the aims of Al Qa’eda and the architects of
terrorism.
Should the sponsors of Boko Haram win
government in 2015, they will likely find that they
cannot turn Boko Haram off or that Boko Haram
will demand control of at least Borno State in
return for reducing their attacks. Borno State may
be just the beginning of an expanding caliphate.
Several Boko Haram commanders and other
persons close to and respected by Boko Haram
have told me the names of some of the sponsors
of Boko Haram. They have also described how
some funds are transferred and arms made
available. I have made public some of that
information. I have also been told by some
commanders that if one of the sponsors is
arrested, they will surrender, release the girls and
give information on the sponsors.
Not all Boko Haram commanders will follow this
lead but it may be a firm step towards
dismantling or at least isolating Boko Haram.