While the dust is yet to settle over the naming of alleged Boko Haram sponsors by a self-appointed Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis, with the Boko Haram sect for the release of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, more information continues to emerge which cast doubts on the Australian’s claims.
Speaking with Sunday Vanguard, a Nigerian negotiator claimed that Sheriff and Ihejirika could not have been Boko Haram sponsors as the two men were actually sworn enemies of the Islamist group.
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The negotiator, who didn’t want to be named for security reasons, made it known that neither Sherrif nor Ihejirika was a sponsor of the dreaded sect.
“The statement credited to Davis that Sherriff and Ihejirika are sponsors of Boko Haram is far from the truth because, as at today, the former Borno governor remains one of the three worst enemies of Boko Haram.
“I can tell you that the group has not forgiven Sheriff over the killing of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, who was arrested and killed during his tenure as governor,” he said.
The source has been a negotiator between the government and the dreaded Islamist terror group for years, confirmed the claim by Davis that he was not hired by the Nigerian government to broker peace with the sect, and that the Australian came on his own to secure the release of the Chibok girls.
While in Nigeria, Davis never met the real commanders of Boko Haram, rather he depended on information he received from a member of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue on Amnesty. Information, which the source claimed in faulty. Davis is now playing from a script that was told him by a member of this committee who doesn’t have access to facts on the ground.
“We can say with all amount of seriousness that Davis did not meet the leadership and main commanders of Boko Haram during his visit to the North-east,” the source said. “If Davis insists that he met with any senior commander or leader of the sect, we challenge him to mention their names and ranks.”
