Wakil: I wanted to take Boko Haram commanders to the army but I was rebuffed

Aisha Wakil, who was declared wanted by the Nigerian army for having links with Boko Haram, says she is surprised that the army took the action despite knowing where to find her.

In a statement she released on Monday, Wakil said she once met “the chief of army staff and his people” and offered to bring along Boko Haram commanders for dialogue, but the army “chose to do things their own way.

She said she was always open about her links with Boko Haram but the  government always doubted her. Shere therefore wondered why the military chose to believe her this time and embarrass her and her family.

“I am Aisha Alkali Wakil. I understand that the military declared me, Ahmed Silkida and Ahmed Bolori wanted for having links with Boko Haram. It’s interesting, now they believe me?” read the statement.

“I know the Boko Haram boys. I have been in front fighting for peace long before Chibok girls were kidnapped. Nigerian security knows me too well, I’m not shady. Why declare me wanted?

“I have had meetings with Chief of Army staff & his people. I told them the way forward, to allow me come with some commanders of Boko Haram and discuss with them, present the release of CBGs but they chose to do things their own ways only and never gave considerations to any of my suggestions.

“I want to inform the Nigerian people of my innocence and make them realise that I am in constant relation with the security personnel and they know where to find me but wonder why I had to be declared wanted on national news even mentioning my husband’s name alongside.

“This has put my immediate and extended family under a lot of pressure and I do not deserve this from the Nigerian government. Though they may not appreciate all my efforts to proffer peaceful solutions to the menace of BH, my name should not be mudslinged [sic] nor my character defamed.”

Wakil, who nicknamed herself “Mama Boko Haram”, was a member of the Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, otherwise known as the Boko Haram Amnesty Committee, set up by former president, Goodluck Jonathan, with the belief that it would reach out to leaders of the sect and end the insurgency.

However, the ceasefire engineered by the committee turned out to be fake.