Ahmad Salkida reveals Boko Haram ideology and motivating force, recruitment and the mandate
Nigeria’s Boko Haram: Why They Fight and Some Recommendations for Quelling Their Insurgency.
This article is based on the insights shared by Ahmad Salkida, a journalist and respected source on Boko Haram, in a twitter session which sought to shed light on the salient question #WhatDoesBHwant.
In a twitter session with the public on Saturday the 1st of November, Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida on Twitter), a Nigerian journalist and a respected source on Boko Haram, shared his insights on the nature of the terrorist group and the danger they pose to Nigerian society and state. In an hour-long discussion, tagged #WhatDoesBHwant, he covered topics ranging from the group’s ideology and their sources of funding, to the prospects of a negotiated settlement. His remarks also have policy implications for containing and eventually quelling the insurgency, which I will comment on.
Salkida’s tweets were both fascinating, for the insights they yielded on Boko Haram, and extremely disconcerting, for the picture they painted of a fanatically determined group committed to their cause and now with possible links to the “Islamic State” Group in the middle east.
Below, I have embedded the tweets which I feel capture the essentials of the discussion, and my remarks and analysis.
Salkida’s Tweets; My Remarks and Analysis
The nature of Salkida’s links to Boko Haram (BH)
On his access to BH’s leadership and how his contacts with the group came about:
Note: Yusuf refers to Mohammed Yusuf, Boko Haram’s first leader who was extra-judicially executed by the Police during a military crackdown on the group in July 2009.
My links to BH can be categories into two: (1) Is that of a decade-long source and a persistent reporter #WhatdoesBHwant
— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) November 1, 2014
(2) Pre- ’09 BH I was close to late Yusuf on account of my reports & he showed tremendous respect for me b4 his follower’s #WhatdoesBHwant
— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) November 1, 2014
On why he is unable to lead his sources in BH to the Nigerian Army (NA) and the intelligence services.
FAQ: lead d NA to ur sources? First of all, they r d ones thy contact me & not other way round, I don’t know where they live #WhatdoesBHwant
— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) November 1, 2014
The principle of journalistic privilege is a key pillar of press freedom thoe this right is not absolute & I’v neva abusd it #WhatdoesBHwant
— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) November 1, 2014