Still know the journalist who wanted to negotiate with Boko Haram? He is here saying Shekau is not dead

The Nigerian journalist believed to have access to the leadership of Boko Haram, Ahmad Salkida, has faulted a claim by the Chadian President, Idriss Deby, that the leader of the insurgent group, Abubakar Shekau, has been replaced.

Deby had told journalists that Shekau had been replaced by one Mahamat Daoud and that the sect had been defeated.

But Salkida claimed that Deby intended to deceive President Muhammadu Buhari as he allegedly did to his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

Salkida had volunteered to help the country to negotiate with the insurgents during the Jonathan administration. But the plan failed.

In a tweet posted on @ContantSalkida on Saturday, Salkida said Deby was “wrong now as before when he deceived Jonathan in a phantom negotiation.”

Speaking with journalists in N’Djamena during his country’s 55th independence anniversary on 

Tuesday, Deby said there was no point negotiating with the insurgents who, he said, had been defeated.    

“There is someone apparently called Mahamat Daoud, who is said to have replaced Shekau, and he wants to negotiate with the Nigerian government. On my part, I would advise we should not negotiate with a terrorist.

“Boko Haram is decapitated. There are small groups scattered throughout North-East of Nigeria, on the border with Cameroon. It is within our power to definitively overcome Boko Haram. The war will be short. With the setting up of the regional force, it will be over by the end of the year,” the Chadian leader was reported by international and local media.

But Salkida, who reportedly enjoys the confidence of the sect, responded, “Deby is wrong now as before when he deceived former President Jonathan in a phantom negotiation. Shekau is alive and leads ISWAP or BH.”

Salkida came to limelight when he was reportedly contacted by the Jonathan administration to mediate between the government and the insurgents. Since then, he has shared his views on different controversial issues around the group and its activities.

On several occasions, he took to his Twitter page to fault official statements on the issue. When it was announced that Shekau was killed sometime last year, he went to Twitter, posting, “Where in the world will a government say it killed Shekau but two weeks later met a delegation sent by the same Shekau to discuss a ceasefire? Some people claim Shekau is a title and that Boko Haram always finds his look-alike to assume Shekau each time they kill him?

“Haba! Are we Chinese? When we said Shekau was alive sometime ago, we were nearly crucified here. Now the Federal Government agrees Danladi Ahmadu speaks for Shekau? Is Shekau mutating?”

Salkida, who said that his parents were displaced during a Boko Haram massacre, added, “I challenge Danladi Ahmadu to an open debate if he has the interest of Nigeria at heart. Who is he? Where was he before 2009? It appears that the government is more interested in shadows and bubbles than in substance and a clear-headed engagement with the Boko Haram ideology.”

The journalist, who was on exile in Saudi Arabia some years ago, had during the controversial ceasefire tackled the Chadian President, saying, “I don’t care if it is Deby; as far as Iknow, Shura (the governing council) speaks for Boko Haram.”

As usual, his recent tweet has generated a lot of reactions, especially on social media. While many people have called for his assistance, one Wampana Akidarju said Salkida’s relationship with the insurgents was questionable.

“Shekau is dead. I am convinced by the photographs I saw. I don’t understand where Salkida’s argument is coming from. He seems to be happy whenever Boko Haram is active. As far as I am concerned, that is questionable,” blogged Akidarju.