THE Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnati Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, at the weekend, threatened to kill a female official of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), if she refused to return a “large sum of money” which she allegedly collected from government at the state and federal levels on the pretext that she could strike a dialogue deal with the sect.
Spokesman for the group, Abul-Qaqa, who spoke by the phone, said the group was using the media to pass a last warning to A’isha Wakil, a lawyer, who he said had allegedly collected an unspecified sum of money from top government officials.
“We don’t want a situation that will result in tension… We don’t want to kill a woman. A’isha had confessed to us that she had collected money and we have used all entreaties for her to return the money to us, so that we can do the work of God but she has been dodging,” Abul-Qaqa said.
A senior official of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Borno State confirmed that A’isha Wakil was a practising lawyer in Maiduguri before she moved to the NHRC about three years ago.
“As a professional organisation, we are not aware of what is happening between the said barrister and members of the sect but what I want to tell you is that we always encourage our members to work within the ambit of the ethics of our profession,” the NBA official said.
At the time of filing this report, the Nigerian Tribune could not get the reaction of Wakil to the allegations.
Abul-Qaqa had said: “This warning becomes necessary and we want to set the record straight. Many people have falsely collected money on our behalf and we have forced them to surrender the money in order to stay alive. Barrister A’isha must follow suit.
“We have been in touch with all the people that collected money from government at the state and federal levels without our permission. They lied and claimed that they have access to us and that they can facilitate dialogue.
“We have contacted all of them and most of them have responded positively. Unfortunately, this particular woman is proving stubborn. This is a last warning to her and if she fails to refund our money, we would be left with no option but to take punitive measures against her. We know where she lives and we know her movements,” Abul-Qaqa threatened.
Meanwhile, following shootings at a mosque in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Sunday, which left two people dead, the Boko Haram sect, in a phone interview with the media in Maiduguri has denied being behind the attack.
Nigerian Tribune learnt that the gunmen had stormed the Tandari Mosque, known as Masalachi Tandari by the residents, at Hausari ward in the city at about 6.45 p.m. on Sunday and opened fire in the direction of two of the worshippers, who had just finished their sunset (Magreb) prayer, a development which forced other worshippers to run for dear life.
Sources said two people were later found on the floor and their bodies were later deposited at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) morgue.
Residents of the area said they were gripped with fear over the incident.
But the Commissioner of Police, Simeon Midenda, told journalists by phone that he was not aware of the killings, adding that nobody had informed his office.
“We didn’t get such a report of killings at Hausari as you said. The people don’t report such cases to the police, so how do we know such thing happened?” he queried.
Spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF), Liutenent-Colonel Hassan Mohammed, also maintained ignorance of the killing when he spoke with journalists, insisting that he did not get any report about the incident, though two JTF patrol vehicles with soldiers blaring siren were seen moving towards the area of the incident at about 7.15 p.m. on Sunday.
The Sunday mosque killing came barely 24 hours after the gunmen had killed three other persons, including a former councillor of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC), Alhaji Modunga Borifk.
According to sources, the councillor was said to be relaxing with his friends at his Shehuri Ward residence on Saturday morning after performing his wedding fatiha when some gunmen came.
He and two of his friends were shot dead, ending the merriment that preceded the wedding ceremony.
Three other persons were also said to have sustained varying degree of injury and were immediately taken to the UMTH for treatment by the JTF.
The JTF spokesman, Liutenent-Colonel Mohammed, said the suspected Boko Haram gunmen burst into a wedding ceremony in Shehuri North ward of Maiduguri metropolis and then fired several shots at the former councillor and two of his friends.
Mohammed told newsmen that the injured persons were hit by stray bullets at the ceremony before men of the JTF arrived at the scene, adding that the suspects came in an unmarked vehicle and fled to the neigbouring wards of Abaganaram and Lawan Bukar after the incident. He also said no arrest was made as of the weekend.
Meanwhile, the sect has claimed responsibility for the killing of the former councillor, Alhaji Modunga Borifk, whom they accused of being an informant to the security operatives in the state.
The sect told newsmen that Modunga, along with nine others, was on its target list and they were marked for death after they had been identified as informants to the security agents.
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