Boko Haram: Salkida freed after questioning

Ahmed Salkida, the Nigerian journalist who was declared wanted by the Nigerian authorities has been released from custody.

Accused of concealing information on the abducted ‘Chibok girls’, the military arrested Salkida on Monday when he arrived the capital Abuja. In retrospect, a total of 218 schoolgirls were kidnapped from the Borno state town.

According to Salkida, the airport incident was a “pre-arranged lift”. Salkida who has reported extensively on Boko Haram for over 10 years is of the opinion that the army misunderstood the role of journalists in reporting the conflict.

AFP reports reveal that the Boko Haram group is currently experiencing in-fighting over the new leadership announcement by the Islamic State group appointing Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the son of Boko Haram’s founder Mohammed Yusuf as the new head. In reaction to the development, Abubakar Shekau the replaced leader has insisted on his incumbency leading to infighting within the group.

Skirmishes between the two factions have been reported in the Northeast by sources. Several fighters loyal to Shekau were said to have been killed in gun battles with IS-backed Barnawi men in the Monguno area of Borno state near Lake Chad.

Comments from villagers feeling the brunt of the battle point at an ideological split between the two factions. Barnawi fighters according to them are of the opinion that Shekau loyalists have deviated from true Jihad in contravention of the teachings of Islam.