The Federal Government on Tuesday
reacted to the offer of ceasefire by a faction of the fundamentalist
Islamic group, Boko Haram, by giving a condition to the sect.
The condition: Boko Haram must stop its violence in the North for a period of one month.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola
Ibrahim, stated the Federal Government’s position just as the Federal
Capital Territory Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, summoned an
emergency security meeting over increased presence of foreign
immigrants in the FCT.
Ibrahim spoke with journalists at the
opening of the 2013 seminar on National Security with the theme,
Contemporary National Security Challenges: Policy Option, organied by
the Alumni Association of the National Defence College, Abuja.
He said that while security chiefs were excited by the development, the olive branch offered by the sect called for caution.
Ibrahim said the government would only
take the peace overture seriously if Boko Haram could ensure that
attacks of whatever form did not take place for 30 days.
He stated that security operatives would
wait for the period to see if no public place, security formation and
place of worship was bombed before taking the sect seriously.
Ibrahim also said he was optimistic that the development would culminate in improved security in the country.
He said, “You see, we must treat that
with a lot of caution. You understand, there are certain objective tests
that will make sense. Let’s assume we can have a long period of about
one month where no bomb explodes, where nobody is shot, where nobody is
beheaded, where no church is bombed, where no mosque is threatened.
“If they can guarantee just one month,
then we can begin to talk. You see we must take this with a lot of
caution. That is what I am telling you.
“We hope whatever that must have brought
about this will further enhance our security and it’s like a
recognition of the very futile approach to solving whatever they
consider to be their problems. So we are a bit excited by it but we are
taking everything with a lot of caution.”
Boko Harama’s commander for Southern
and Northern Borno, Muhammed Abdulazeez, had in a statement on Monday,
said the sect resolved to stop its violence after a dialogue with the
Government of Borno State in Maiduguri.
Abdulazeez urged all Boko Haram members to lay down their arms in honour of the declaration.
He said that the ceasefire had become
necessary as a result of the hardship caused other Muslims and citizens
of the North by the activities of the sect.
He stated that security operatives were
free to arrest anybody found to be fomenting trouble after the
perfection of the ceasefire deal.
Abdulazeez had said, “For sometime now, we the members of Jamaatul ahlil Boko Haram sunna lidawati wal jihad
otherwise known as Boko Haram have recently had a meeting and dialogue
with the government of Borno State where we resolved that given the
prevailing situation, there is the need for us to cease fire.
“We, on our own, in the top hierarchy of
our movement under the leadership of Imam Abubakar Shekau, as well as
some of our notable followers agreed that our brethren in Islam, both
women and children are suffering unnecessarily; hence we resolved that
we should bring this crisis to an end.
“We therefore call on all those that
identify themselves with us and our cause, to from today(Monday) lay
down their arms. Let every member who hears this announcement relay it
to the next member who hasn’t heard.
“We have met with the Borno State Government on two occasions and the fallout of the meeting was to cease fire.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had in 2011 initiated a dialogue between the Federal Government and the sect.
Obasanjo had visited the family of the
late leader of the sect, Mohammed Yusuf, in Maiduguri, where he was
received by the father-in-law of the leader, Babakura Fuggu.
Fuggu was killed a few days after Obasanjo’s visit.
In November last year, the sect named a
former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and six others
to mediate between it and the government.
Meanwhile, the FCT Minister, Senator
Mohammed, on Tuesday met with the FCT Police Commissioner; Director,
Department of State Security; FCT Commandant of the Nigerian Security
and Civil Defence Corps as well as representatives of Customs,
Immigration and Prisons in his official residence in Abuja.
Others at the meeting convened by the
minister over the rising number of illegal immigrants in the FCT were
the FCT Permanent Secretary, Chairmen of the six Area Councils in the
FCT, as well as top officials of the FCT Administration.
SUNDAY PUNCH had reported that two Nigerian affiliates of the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb — Boko Haram and the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis- Sudan — are planning major reprisal to protest Nigeria’s participation in Mali.
Nigeria has deployed forces in northern Mali to flush out the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist groups, who have taken control of the vast desert territory.
Security agents had said that the sects
planned to protest Nigeria’s participation in the Mali war, and had
therefore brought into the country, terrorists that may be used to carry
out attacks on government installations and in kidnapping
high-profile persons.
The FCT minister stated that the meeting
was called to appraise the security situation in Abuja, adding that it
was normal for the FCT Administration to take proactive measures to
reduce any possibility of security breach in the territory.
He emphasised that the government would
not want to be taken unawares as the security of lives and property
remained important to the Federal Government.
The minister called for continued
collaboration,and sharing of information with a view to ensuring
synergy amongst all the security outfits in the FCT.
While reminding them of the constant
need to share intelligence , Mohammed promised to support the security
agencies by procuring new equipment to ease their operations.
He said, “Security agencies in the
Federal Capital Territory should be on red alert to effectively take
precautionary measures against any unforeseen circumstances. Residents
are enjoined to be vigilant and report any suspicious movement to the
security agents.”
The NIS could however not be reached for
comments on the alleged influx of immigrants into the FCT as its new
public relations officer, Ekpedeme King, could not be reached on the
phone.
He did not respond to a text message sent to his phone.
The Federal Government’s military
intervention in the Malian crisis was part of the moves to solve the
terrorism problem in the country, which is believed to have foreign
backing.
Speaking also on the crisis in Mali, the
CDS, stated that Nigerian troops were performing very well in their
peacekeeping operations in the embattled francophone country.
He said that things were moving very
fast in Mali and commended Western powers such as France, the United
States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and the African Union for
the support they gave to ECOWAS in the challenge to free Northern Mali
from the grip of terrorists.
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On the 15th of November, precisely by 5pm, I checked my twitter handle and saw a post by Reno Omokri that President Goodluck Jonathan will be addressing the nation by 7pm Nigerian time. What immediately came to my mind was that the President will talk about the recent killings of security operatives in Nasarawa state; my mind didn't reason any declaration of a state of emergency.
Ibrahim spoke with journalists at the
opening of the 2013 seminar on National Security with the theme,
Contemporary National Security Challenges: Policy Option, organied by
the Alumni Association of the National Defence College, Abuja.
Airfares on domestic routes have crashed
by about 50 per cent from an average of N32,000 to N16,000 for an
hour’s flight, following the recommencement of flight operations by Dana
Air and Chanchangi Airlines, as well as the coming on board of a new
carrier, Med-View Airlines, findings by our correspondent have revealed.
The
party, which explained its merger talks with some opposition parties,
said it wanted Buhari to contest because of the passion he had for the
country.
