CONFESSIONS OF THE BOKO HARAM ‘NEGOTIATOR’

Who is Stephen Davis? The government should
address the serious allegations
Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davies, who
alleged that he was engaged by President
Goodluck Jonathan to dialogue with Boko Haram
for the release of the abducted Chibok school girls
recently mentioned some highly placed Nigerians
as sponsors of the Islamic militant sect. In a series
of interviews both in his homeland and with some
international networks in London, Davis has
specifically accused the former governor of Borno
State, Ali Modu Sheriff, and immediate past Chief of
Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ihejirika (rtd) of funding Boko
Haram. An unnamed former top official of the
Central Bank of Nigeria has also been fingered by
him as providing funds and other logistics for the
sect.
Quite naturally, the allegations by Davis have
excited many Nigerians while the people he
accused of duplicity have been defending
themselves and making counter-allegations. Who
really is Davis? "It was at Shell in the mid 2000s
that he began peace negotiations with rebels in the
Niger Delta. He then served as an advisor to two
Nigerian presidents, developing links with terror
cells as he negotiated on behalf of the
government", the widely-read Australian daily, The
Sydney Morning Herald said of him.
Before we go into the allegations Davis raised,
there are some pertinent questions that beg for
answers. One, the claims by Davis who obviously
knows how to work the media were based largely
on what he said some Boko Haram commanders
told him. The question arising from that is: Why
would Boko Haram leaders tell someone
negotiating with them on behalf of the government
the names of their sponsors? There is also the
issue of motive. Davis has been granting several
interviews that border on an orchestrated
campaign to achieve an objective. Why would the
negotiator for federal government be all over the
place?
We ask those questions because of the timing of
his intervention, the slant of his narratives and the
implications for the ongoing war on terror. It also
should not escape the attention of Nigerians that at
a political season like this, nothing should be taken
at face value. Besides, at a time Boko Haram
insurgents are fighting for the control of some
major towns in Borno and Yobe states, and when
hundreds of thousands of our citizens are being
displaced, the last thing we need is a distraction
that could take the attention of Nigerians from the
real challenge that the insurgency poses to our
national survival.
Notwithstanding our misgivings, Davis has made
some serious allegations that need to be fully
addressed and the situation is not helped by the
fact that officials of the federal government who
are ever quick to jump into the fray on matters like
this have suddenly lost their voices. Of course
both Sheriff and Ihejirika have dismissed his
claims but they are really not the issue, it is the
government that allegedly hired Davis that needs to
come clean on several issues.
For instance, without being categorical, Davis has
hinted that the federal government may have given
up on the idea of rescuing the Chibok girls who
have been in captivity for almost 150 days now.
His account of a bungled effort does not depict any
sign of seriousness on the part of the federal
government and Nigerians would need
reassurance that concerted efforts are indeed
being made to rescue the girls. Again, the
allegations against some prominent Nigerians,
including an official of CBN, need to be probed.
Beyond all these, there is need for clarification on
what exactly Davis role is/was. More than at any
period in our history, Nigerians need to be
reassured that their government is working for
them, and that notwithstanding the cold
calculations for the 2015 general elections,
concerted efforts are still being made to defeat the
Boko Haram insurgency.
Tags: Boko Haram, CONFESSIONS , Editorial,
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