New information credited to self-appointed Boko Haram negotiator, Australian Dr. Stephen Davis continue to flood the Nigerian media.
The lastest is reported by Vanguard in which Davis provides what would appear to be new insights into how the group known as Boko Haram became unimaginably brutal. He gave insight into how Abubakar Shekau hijacked the Islamist group.
“The Boko Haram we see today is not the Jama’atu Ahlul Sunnah Lih Da’awa wal Jihad (JAS) that was operational under Yusuf – former JAS leader killed by the police in 2009”, Davis told Sunday Vanguard in an interview.
In the online interview, Davis said: “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 exemplary 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 Many among the JAS leadership are no longer active and others have been killed.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 a more extreme action and expand the frontiers of 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 a score with former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff. It is Boko Haram as a partner to ISIS and Al Shabaab”.
Davis admitted that he came to Nigeria in April to facilitate the release of the Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram, but denied that he was engaged by any party and therefore had no obligation to report to anyone.
He claimed to have interacted with former commanders of Boko Haram and others close to Boko Haram during his visit to Nigeria.
However, the latest twist to controversy surrounding Davis’ actual role in the Boko Haram kidnapping of Chibok schoolgirls is that a Nigerian who negotiates with the Islamist sect has come forward to deny that Davis ever met with any Boko Haram commander during his visit to Nigeria. The Nigerian negotiator challenged Davis to provide evidence of who he met, essentially calling Davis a liar.
Earlier, Davis had created a storm by naming former Borno governor Sheriff and former Chief of Army Staff Ihejirika as Boko Haram sponsors. He claimed he got this information from Boko Haram commanders he spoke with while in Nigeria.
The Australian also claimed to have secured the release of 60 Chibok schoolgirls, only for them to be recaptured by a faction of the Boko Haram sect.
