New York, U.S. (PANA) - A Nigerian journalist with links to the Islamic sect Boko Haram has said his life is under threat, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement issued here.
It quoted Ahmad Salkida, an independent journalist, as telling the media rights group that he noticed a white 4X4 Hilux vehicle following him last Thursday for several hours, including to his house in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
He said he had also received phone threats from anonymous callers in the past few days that he believes are coming from government security agents, over his contacts with Boko Haram.
"They said I am a Boko Haram member, that me and them are not supposed to exist. That they know where I live and they will visit me," CPJ quoted Salkida as saying.
Last week, various media reported that the Nigerian government and Boko Haram militants have been engaged in secret, mediated negotiations.
However, the man who is mediating the talks, Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad, President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN), announced at the weekend he was withdrawn as mediator because the government had allegedly leaked details of the discussion to the media.
Ahmad said the leakage has created ''strong doubts in our minds about the sincerity on the government’s side in our discussion, as the discussion is supposed to be very confidential to achieve any success''.
The mediator also disclosed that his group contacted Boko Haram through ''a reporter whom we realized maintained a close and valuable professional contact with leadership of the sect'', in an apparent reference to Salkida.
Since that news was reported, Salkida told CPJ, he had received several threatening calls from concealed numbers accusing him of being the instigator of the talks.
"They said that as far as they are concerned, they will never allow anything like negotiation. They said they have it on authority that I am the link to the negotiation process. That I should desist, otherwise they'll descend on me," Salkida told CPJ.
"We are concerned about the safety of Ahmad Salkida," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "Nigerian authorities must take these threats seriously, and we hold the government responsible for Salkida's well-being."
CPJ quoted a spokesman for the Nigeria police, Mr. Sola Amore, as saying he is not aware of the threats and that Salkida should report his case to the nearest police station.
But Salkida told CPJ he is apprehensive of the police, which arbitrarily detained him over his reportage on the activities of the militant group in 2009 when he was a reporter for the private Daily Trust newspaper.
Since 2009, attacks by Boko Haram have killed over 1,200 people, according to Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyin Petinrin.
It quoted Ahmad Salkida, an independent journalist, as telling the media rights group that he noticed a white 4X4 Hilux vehicle following him last Thursday for several hours, including to his house in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
He said he had also received phone threats from anonymous callers in the past few days that he believes are coming from government security agents, over his contacts with Boko Haram.
"They said I am a Boko Haram member, that me and them are not supposed to exist. That they know where I live and they will visit me," CPJ quoted Salkida as saying.
Last week, various media reported that the Nigerian government and Boko Haram militants have been engaged in secret, mediated negotiations.
However, the man who is mediating the talks, Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad, President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN), announced at the weekend he was withdrawn as mediator because the government had allegedly leaked details of the discussion to the media.
Ahmad said the leakage has created ''strong doubts in our minds about the sincerity on the government’s side in our discussion, as the discussion is supposed to be very confidential to achieve any success''.
The mediator also disclosed that his group contacted Boko Haram through ''a reporter whom we realized maintained a close and valuable professional contact with leadership of the sect'', in an apparent reference to Salkida.
Since that news was reported, Salkida told CPJ, he had received several threatening calls from concealed numbers accusing him of being the instigator of the talks.
"They said that as far as they are concerned, they will never allow anything like negotiation. They said they have it on authority that I am the link to the negotiation process. That I should desist, otherwise they'll descend on me," Salkida told CPJ.
"We are concerned about the safety of Ahmad Salkida," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "Nigerian authorities must take these threats seriously, and we hold the government responsible for Salkida's well-being."
CPJ quoted a spokesman for the Nigeria police, Mr. Sola Amore, as saying he is not aware of the threats and that Salkida should report his case to the nearest police station.
But Salkida told CPJ he is apprehensive of the police, which arbitrarily detained him over his reportage on the activities of the militant group in 2009 when he was a reporter for the private Daily Trust newspaper.
Since 2009, attacks by Boko Haram have killed over 1,200 people, according to Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyin Petinrin.
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