I first met Dr. Stephen Davis at the American Centre for
Strategic and International Studies, Washington, in June 2009. At that
time, the Australian was assisting the Federal Government of Nigeria to
broker peace with the irate Niger Delta militants, who had taken up arms
against the administration and almost rendered its oil-dependent
economy comatose through oil theft, destruction of facilities and
kidnapping of oil workers.
We lost contact until I got to know
that he had been involved in the effort to free the Chibok girls. Some
other reports claimed he was hired by government to negotiate with Boko
Haram.
However, in this interview, Davies makes it clear he was never engaged by the Nigerian government to dialogue with the sect.
Excerpts of the interview:
What do you have to show that you were engaged by the Nigerian government to negotiate with Boko Haram?
I was not engaged by the Federal Government of Nigeria, any state government or any other party.
I went to Nigeria in late April in an effort to facilitate a handover
of the Chibok captives after discussing such a possibility with former
commanders of JAS (Jama’atu Ahlul Sunnah Lih Da’awa wal Jihad otherwise
known as JAS) and others close to Boko Haram.
Why did you release the report of your assignment to the media instead of sending it to government?
I
did not construct a report of my efforts in Nigeria. As I said earlier,
I was not engaged by any party and therefore had no obligation to
report to anyone
Some
Nigerians find it curious that you decided to give your report only to
Arise TV, owned by a Nigerian, Nduka Obiagbena, who also owns Thisday
Newspapers and may be sympathetic to some politicians in Nigeria.
I
gave a radio interview to the ABC in Australia which subsequently told
me that after the transcript was posted to their online site, it had
been picked up in the UK and Sky News requested an interview. In the
hope of bringing attention to the many other girls and boys kidnapped by
Boko Haram, I agreed to a television interview. That interview took
place in Channel 7 studios in Australia and it was at that point that I
was told it was an interview with Arise TV. I had not heard of Arise TV
and did not know it was owned by a Nigerian or indeed that it had any
association with Nigeria. At the time of giving the TV interview, I was
of the understanding that it would be broadcast by Sky News in the UK.
On Mr Obiagbena, I have not met him or ever been contacted by him.
Many
Nigerians find it extremely difficult to understand how the former
Chief of the Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ihejirika, who actually fought Boko
Haram elements and was accused of genocide could be linked with
sponsoring the violent group.
It is much easier to understand Mr Sheriff’s alleged association with Boko Haram than any association of Mr Ihejirika.
Mr Sheriff was said to have a long history of promoting groups to
assist in his past efforts to win the governorship of Borno State.
On
29 July 2009, there was a confrontation with security officers at
Mamudo Village, along Potiskum/Damaturu Road, Yobe. 33 JAS members were
killed. Later that night, there was a long battle with combined security
operatives at Railway Terminus, Maiduguri, Borno State. Scores were
killed and the JAS operational base was destroyed. Yusuf was
subsequently captured by the military and handed over to the police.
The
JAS alleged that it was on Sheriff’s orders that Yusuf was executed in
Maiduguri on 30 July 2009. Shekau was presumed killed in the same battle
and a corpse was identified as that of Shekau. Thus the remaining
JAS leaders made it clear their intention was to kill Sheriff and so it
is right that Sheriff claims he is a victim of JAS. The Boko Haram
we see today is not the JAS that was operational under Yusuf. Shekau
emerged in mid-2010 and publicly claimed the leadership of a
reinvigorated JAS.
Shekau formed Ansaru which he used for
kidnapping and beheading victims. This behaviour was a major departure
from the original mandate of the JAS which was to purify Islam and
return it to the behaviour example in the life of the Prophet. Many
among the JAS leadership are no longer active and others have been
killed. This has allowed Shekau to take the JAS to more extreme action
and expanded the kidnapping, bombing and slaughtering.
The Boko
Haram we have today is a much expanded Ansaru. What we see now is not
the Yusufiya which wanted very much to settle scores with Sheriff. It is
Boko Haram as a partner to ISIS and Al Shabaab.
Now I will offer an opinion as to the motives of the sponsors of Boko Haram. The
political sponsors of Boko Haram seem to think that they can use Boko
Haram to terrorise Nigeria to demonstrate that the current government
cannot ensure the security of Nigerian citizens both Muslim and
Christian. Therein the sponsors assume they can undermine any efforts of
the current government to be re-elected in 2015.
Herein
lies the flaw for the conflict and instability currently being fanned
suits the aims of Al Qa’eda and the architects of terrorism. Should the
sponsors of Boko Haram win government in 2015, they will likely find
that they cannot turn Boko Haram off or that Boko Haram will demand
control of at least Borno State in return for reducing their attacks.
Borno State may be just the beginning of an expanding caliphate.
Several
Boko Haram commanders and other persons close to and respected by Boko
Haram have told me the names of some of the sponsors of Boko Haram. They
have also described how some funds are transferred and arms made
available. I have made public some of that information. I have also been
told by some commanders that if one of the sponsors is arrested, they
will surrender, release the girls and give information on the sponsors.
Not all Boko Haram commanders will follow this lead but it may be a firm
step towards dismantling or at least isolating Boko Haram.
www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/boko-haram-saga-negotiator-stephen-davis/
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