Stop seeking cheap popularity, group tells Salkida, others

A civil society group under the aegis of Stand Up Nigeria (SUN), has asked journalist, Ahmed Salkida who has close link with Boko Haram to stop using his contact with the sect to seek cheap popularity.

Salkida and two others, Ahmed Bolori and Aisha Wakil also known as Mama Boko Haram were declared wanted by Nigerian army in connection with the missing Chibok girls on Sunday.

Bolori and Wakil (AKA Mama Boko Haram) have since reported to the Nigerian Army in an effort to clear their names from been linked with Boko Haram.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, SUN’s Executive Director of Communication, Arubi Justina, said the use of close links with Boko Haram by the above named persons to seek popularity was condemnable.

“Such antics must be condemned by professional bodies which any of the trio is claiming affiliation to,” she said.

According to her, even if the trio had genuinely started out as professional journalist, negotiators, activists or any other occupation, they have since crossed the threshold of professionalism to become terrorists’ sympathizers who revel in supporting killers.

She stated that Salkida has overstepped his journalistic boundaries, saying if he has no affiliation with the insurgents, he would have as a matter of national security divulge the information available to him to security agencies.

According to her, these wanted persons were behind the series of Boko Haram negotiation scams that cost Nigerians billions of naira under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

She said: “Since they were declared wanted, these Boko Haram collaborators have taken to the media in their usual fashion in attempts to create public outrage against the military in the hope that this could be used to blackmail their way out having to give accounts for their relationship with the world’s most despicable terror group. They have immediately embarked on a media campaign to the effect that they are ready to appear before the army; that they have contributed and made so much sacrifice towards containing Boko Haram or securing the release of the girls; or that they are being persecuted.

“Similarly, their fellow members in the intellectual wing of Boko Haram had desperately tried to paint the trio as victims; paint Salkida as a journalists being vilified for his doggedness and the other two as genuine negotiators.

“Stand Up Nigeria therefore call on Nigerians, human rights activist, journalists and online community to shun any extension of solidarity to the trio of wanted Boko Haram sympathizers. Salkida, Wakili and Bolori have at different times confessed to knowing more than the ordinarily in terms of her association with Boko Haram.”

She urged the Nigerian Army not to be distracted from their conventional military business, saying they are trying to use negative media to blackmail the Army and the Federal Government in a ploy that is as despicable as their association with Boko Haram.