The Army yesterday explained why it took long to declare Aisha Wakili, popularly known as ‘Mama Boko Haram’; a journalist, Ahmed Salkida; and Ahmed Bolori wanted.
Director of Defence Information Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar said the three were invited to “shed more light on the Boko Haram insurgency since they know what we do not know”.
Abubakar was delivering a lecture, “Media-Military relationship in the fight against insurgency”, in Abuja yesterday, during the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Correspondent Chapel 2016 activities to mark its one year in office.
Gen. Abubakar explained that the military was not just out to declare people wanted, urging people not to be sentimental about the three people declared wanted.
His words: “The military in the last seven years has been engaged in the fight against insurgency; a lot has happened and we are calculating as whatever we do or planning to do is not just for doing sake, it must have some national interest.
“We cannot just declare people wanted; it is for a purpose. The more sentimental you become, the more you hinder investigation.
“Just as we released whoever was innocent in the past, we are not arresting them but inviting them to shed more light.”