Security
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Nigerian government has reached a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram sect thereby raising hope that the more than 200 Chibok girls in its captivity will soon regain their freedom
| By Olu Ojewale | Oct. 27, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT |
MANY Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief on Friday, October 17, when news filtered in that the federal government had reached a truce with the Boko Haram, an Islamic insurgence group. Alex Badeh, chief of defence staff, said the agreement was struck at the close of a three-day security meeting between Nigeria and Cameroon. He said Nigerian soldiers would comply with the agreement.
Hassan Tukur, an ambassador and close aide of President Goodluck Jonathan, told the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, Focus on Africa, that the agreement was sealed after a month of negotiations, mediated by Chad. He said the government delegation twice had held talks with representatives of the Islamist group twice in Saudi Arabia with the assistance of President Idriss Deby of Chad and some high-level officials of Cameroon.
Tukur said Boko Haram had announced a unilateral ceasefire on Thursday and the government had responded. “They’ve assured us they have the girls and they will release them,” he said. “I am cautiously optimistic.”
He also disclosed that arrangements for the release of the more than 200 girls kidnapped by the sect would be finalised at another meeting next week in Ndjamena, Chadian capital.
Abubakar Shekau, leader of the sect or anyone posing as him, was said to have sanctioned the negotiations with the Nigerian government. Nigerian military has been insisting that Shekau had been killed several months ago.
Also speaking to the BBC, Mike Omeri, director general of the Nigerian Orientation Agency, NOA, said Boko Haram would not be given territory under the truce. He also refused to disclose government concessions to the sect. “We are inching closer to release of all groups in captivity, including the Chibok girls,” he said.
The Nigerian security forces have engaged Boko Haram sect in a serious conflict since 2009 and more than 3000 people have been killed with property worth billions of Naira destroyed including schools, churches and mosques. Six months ago, the sect caused international outcry when it abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok town in Borno State, a north-eastern state. The abduction of the girls and their continued captivity has led to criticism of the Nigerian government’s efforts to secure their release. The hostages are thought to have been taken to the vast Sambisa forest, along Nigeria’s border with Cameroon.
Members of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign said in a tweet on Friday: “We are monitoring the news with huge expectations.”
Prior to the kidnap of the girls, President Jonathan in May 2013 imposed a state of emergency in the northern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in order to crush the insurgents. But things have not been working that way as the Islamic group stepped up its violent attacks on civilian targets and captured some villages and town in the north-eastern part of the country.
Boko Haram, which translates as “Western education is forbidden,” has frequently attacked schools and colleges, which it regards as a symbol of Western culture. At press time, Boko Haram was yet to make a public statement on the issue.
On Saturday, October 18, it was reported that Boko Haram members in a Hilux vehicles stormed Abadam on the evening of the day of the cease-fire killing no fewer than 15 people.
The All Progressives Congress in the North has warned Nigerians to beware of the ceasefire agreement, saying it could be a deception by the government to score cheap political points.
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