BEVERLY HILLS, August 15, (THEWILL) –Mrs Aisha Wakil aka Mama Boko Haram, and a lawyer, Ahmed Bolori, have surrendered to the military hours after they were declared wanted by the Army.
Wakil reported at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja while Bolori visited the Army Headquarters in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
The Spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Sani Usman, confirmed that Wakil had submitted herself.
“I have been reliably informed that she has reported at the Defence Headquarters and she has been directed to the Directorate of Military Intelligence,” Usman said.
Wakil had insisted that she was innocent of the allegation against her saying she had told the military what to do to secure the freedom of the Chibok girls but her advice was ignored.
“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?” she said in a statement posted on Facebook by Dr. Emman Shehu of the International Institute of Journalism.
“I know the Boko Haram boys. I have been in the 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 the Chief of Army Staff and his people. I told them the way forward, to allow me come with some commanders of Boko Haram and discuss with them, but they chose to do things their own way 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 touch with the security personnel and they know where to find me but I 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 government.”
“Though they may not appreciate all my efforts to proffer peaceful solutions to the menace of Boko Haram, my name should not be dragged to the mud nor my character defamed.”
Meanwhile, Bolori said he was well-treated by the army, with a colonel offering him tea while the third person declared wanted with them, Ahmed Salkida, a journalist, said he was also ready to give himself up, but asked for a ticket from the military to facilitate his return home from his Dubai base.
Story by David Oputah
