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Barrister Aisha Kalil Wakkil, a human rights activist with
the National Human Rights Commission, who claims to be
a very close confidant of Boko Haram foot soldiers, has
said she knew some of the insurgents right from when
they were circumcised.
In a recent interview with Daily Trust, on Sunday,
August 16, Wakkil, who has been peacemaking between the
Jama’atu Ahlil Sunnah (Boko Haram) and the federal
government for over five years spoke on a number of issues.
According to her, the insurgents were very wonderful
children and most of them lived in her house as it was open
to all the children in that area.
Barrister Aisha Kalil Wakkil
She said: “That was how I got to know most of them. Then
they were not Boko Haram and Jama’atu ah-lil Sunnah
members. It is surprising how these children turned out to
be what they are now. I keep on saying there is certainly
no smoke without fire. Something must have triggered
those innocent-looking children to grow up behaving the
way they are behaving now. You needed to see them
growing up. Sometimes when I start talking about them, I
shed tears. Those children prayed, and still pray a lot. I
have a mosque in the house and they would always go in
and pray .”
Wakkil narrated how she started noticing changes in them.
How they would go out in the morning and return in the
evening and during the fasting period, they would not return
until around 11 or 12 midnight. They also started attending
Muhammad Yusuf’s lectures to listen to his preaching.
“ I didn’t observe anything strange about the teaching.
Soon, the children began to be conscious of themselves. It
was then that the rumour started that they were planning a
war. When I heard of it, I went straight to Muhammad
Yusuf because I had been very close to him. When I
realized that Muhammad Yusuf was frequently being
arrested, detained and released, I went to Baba Fugu and
asked him why his son-in-law was always being detained?
But I learnt he was always preaching things government
didn’t like and insulting them ,” she said.
The lawyer explained that after about a year or two, the
rumours started again that they were planning to fight,
saying: “Those boys in my house suddenly disappeared for
about a month; I did not set my eyes on them. I was
tensed up and started asking people where they were, but
nobody could tell me. Eventually when they returned, one
of them told me he had something to tell me. He said,
‘Mama we went for training. Mama, I swear, our guns have
already arrived in Maiduguri and that included AK47s. I
then asked him where they trained and he respectfully
replied, “Mama, I will not tell you this one .”
Wakkil had called Yusuf, who confirmed that they were
planning to start a war and there was nothing that could be
done to stop them, adding that the war would engulf
everybody.
That was how the insurgents began causing havoc. The boys
in her house left and in a short while became commanders in
the Boko Haram group.
She stated that she had visited the insurgents several times at
different locations in the bush and she used to take food and
drugs to them, which were their major requirements.
Asked if she had ever told the insurgents to accept an
amnesty, she replied: “ Yes, I have been doing that right
from day one. In the beginning, they were telling me that,
‘Mama, we don’t like this thing that is happening to us. We
are sure something is wrong somewhere. If government can
call us and ask us, we shall tell them everything. Let
government dialogue with us and tell us how to stop all
these things and we will stop.
“But as time went on, they started talking negative of
government. They were saying government was no more
doing this and that. One of them told me, ‘Mama, the
ocean we are swimming in is very deep. This thing has
graduated from the Jama’atul Ahlil Sunnah into something
else. The big men in Nigeria know what I am saying. Such
people will not allow peace to emerge because they have
their interests .’”
On whether the insurgents would accept an amnesty, she
said: “ Let me ask you this question; are they not human
beings? If they are human beings like you and I, why won’t
they accept the offer of amnesty? This administration is
willing to dialogue with them. I am sure the president
would like to ask them what happened and I am sure the
children will be willing to say it. I was with them recently
and they were asking me if the society will be willing to
forgive them. I said why not if they will drop their arms
and become good boys. If Nigeria and Nigerians can
accommodate the OPC in the West, MASSOB in the East
and the Niger Delta militants, why won’t they accommodate
them ?”
When asked if Shekau was really dead, she replied: “ I am
sorry, I won’t answer that question. I do not want to
discuss that issue .”
Differentiating between the leadership of Yusuf and Shekau,
she said Yusuf was cool-headed, adding: “But you should
also know that they are not responsible for all the killings.
Some of the killings are politically motivated while others
may be for economic reasons. When finally there is peace
and the boys come into the open, Nigerians will hear from
them. They will tell the world who and who were sending
them to do what .”
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