The Army yesterday declared three persons wanted under the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011(as amended), following Boko Haram’s release of a fresh video in which it restated its conditions for freeing the Chibok girls.
Declared wanted are a journalist, Ahmed Salkida, a former Boko Haram negotiator, Hajia Aisha Wakil, and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) promoter, Ahmed Bolori.
They are accused of withholding information that could unravel the abducted Chibok girls’ location.
A statement by Army spokesman Col. Sani Usman said: ”The world is quite aware of the abduction of several persons; women, children and men, including the female students of Government Secondary School Chibok, Borno State by Boko Haram Terrorists group. Consequently, appeal was made for their unconditional release by the Federal Government. The military also made concerted efforts to rescue them.
“We also appeal to Nigerians that have any information to volunteer to the military or security agencies to enable us rescue them.
“However, two recent incidents have pointed to the fact that, there are three individuals namely; Ahmed Salkida, (Ambassador) Ahmed U. Bolori and Aisha Wakil that have information on the conditions and the exact location of these girls.
“Therefore, the Nigerian Army hereby declares the two gentlemen and the lady wanted for interrogation. We are relying on the relevant laws of the land and in particular the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended) where Nigerians could be punished for failure to disclose information about terrorists on terrorists’ activities.
“This become necessary as a result of their link with the last two videos released by Boko Haram terrorists and other findings of our preliminary investigations.
“There is no doubt that these individuals have links with Boko Haram Terrorists and have contacts with them. They must therefore come forward and tell us where the group is keeping the Chibok Girls and other abducted persons to enable us rescue them.
“We are therefore calling on all Nigerians and peace loving people to give us useful information on their whereabouts. We are also liaising with other security agencies for their arrest if they failed to turn up,” the statement said.
Ms. Wakil, a lawyer, was in contact with the government during the 2013 amnesty negotiations with the Boko Haram insurgents.
She is believed to have met with former President Goodluck Jonathan at the time as part of the negotiation, which later broke down.
Mr. Bolori is the coordinator of the Fa’ash Foundation and the Partnership Against Violent Extremism (Pave). He is based in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Mr. Sakilda had said on Twitter that the latest Boko Haram video was sent exclusively to him before the sect uploaded it to YouTube.
Boko Haram said in the video that it would only negotiate with the Nigerian government through journalists known to be close to it.