Mama Boko Haram says terrorists are ready for peace

dimeji akinloye

March 10, 2018 3:12 PM

Wakil said that the abduction of 110 Yobe girls was a stunt by the sect to fault the claims of the Nigerian Army that it has completely defeated them.

Wakil, who has insider information about the insurgents, said the recent abduction of the 110 Yobe school girls by the group was a mere attention ploy to prove its still very active.

On February 19, 2018, the militants stormed the Government Girls Science and Technology College in Yobe State and kidnapped the students.

Speaking in an interview with Punch, Wakil said the terrorists' "hearts bleed because of what they are doing" and "they need peace".

She stressed that the girls' abduction was a stunt by the sect to fault the claims of the Nigerian Army that it has completely defeated them.

Wakil added that there is a need to engage Boko Haram in dialogue, noting that she will never cut her ties with the group.

She said, "These children, they have listening ears, so they listen. They hear everything and they have hearts. Their hearts bleed because of what they are doing. They want to stop, honestly, they want to stop.

"You know, so far there has been no serious move going on for them to come out so they have to make some noise. It is just like when a man needs his wife and the wife is not forthcoming, he starts rejecting food…but I know that deep down in Habib, Nur and their group, they need peace.

"They are destroying properties and human lives. They are doing all that and we should now keep quiet and allow them to go on? My voice may not reach all but this my voice has got to the leader and they listen. If everybody now keeps quiet, what will be the result? It will be complete chaos. Oh, no, I even encourage more people to come out and talk – keep talking."

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Wakil described one of the terrorists, Habib, as her son. She said the man is the son of Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of the group.

"Habib, from what I heard, is so angry about the way his father was killed and he is also somebody that one can talk to because he has a soft heart like his father. If the father were alive today, this thing would not have happened", she said.

Wakil had served as a member of the Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges Committee in the northern region, which was set by former president Goodluck Jonathan.

dimeji akinloye