“I have spoken to them about the girls and the situation to plead for their release. When this first happened they told me the girls are well but some are sick. They need medication. They are giving them antibiotics but they cannot buy food to feed them. They are attacking villages for supplies,” she told AlJazeera.
Boko Haram said the government must free about 70 of their fighters from prison to get the girls out, Wakil said.
“And they want to be given amnesty, rehabilitated, and allowed to come back home and move freely,” she added.
“I told them not to hold the girls as ransom and to give me the sick ones – and that was where we ended up. The girls are a growing burden to them, and if the demands are not met…
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“I don’t agree with what they are doing, but I speak to them because I am their mother. Sometimes they call me Um el Salam [Arabic for mother of peace]. These are Nigeria’s lost boys. My hope is that the government listens to them and lets them have dialogue.
“I’m still with them after all these years because I didn’t betray them. I didn’t betray the government, I didn’t betray the military – I’m just in the middle grasping for peace.”
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