CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT: FG DEALING WITH BOGUS B/HARAM – BORNO ELDERS Written by Hamza Idris, Maiduguri Daily Trust . Troops battle insurgents in Damboa Elders in Borno State yesterday said insurgency attacks that happened over the weekend called into question the Federal Government’s claim of agreeing to a ceasefire with Boko Haram. They said at a news conference in Maiduguri that the government was either scammed by bogus Boko Haram members or it was mocking the victims of insurgency. Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh and President Goodluck Jonathan’s principal private secretary Hassan Tukur announced on Friday that a deal had been reached with the sect for a ceasefire. Tukur also said the abducted Chibok schoolgirls would be released as part of the agreement. But the announcement was followed by violence in Borno and Adamawa states at the weekend. The Borno Elders Forum yesterday said government had exposed people to further insurgency attacks by announcing what appeared to be a one-sided ceasefire. “It is either those the Federal Government is negotiating with are not the Boko Haram but the usual 419ners that would go and take money from authorities and disappear, or it is just some kind of mockery on our blood. Some people are swimming in our blood,” said Dr. Bulama Mali Gubio, spokesman for the forum. Soon after the government announced cessation of hostilities on Friday, Boko Haram militants expanded their hold of territory by overrunning Abadam in Borno State. They killed many people and hoisted their flags, according to survivors who fled to neighbouring villages. Gubio said yesterday there appeared to be no sincerity in the ceasefire since its announcement was almost immediately followed by further violence. “After the announcement of the ceasefire, the Boko Haram had taken over a whole local government which means most of the Boko Haram fighters spread across Borno State and beyond are not even aware of any deal,” he said. “If they are aware and they are in agreement that there is ceasefire, I don’t think if they would continue attacking innocent people and taken over places.” He said the danger of a one-sided ceasefire is that soldiers would lay down their guards while Boko Haram continued to unleash mayhem, as happened in the Abadam attack. “If there is any genuine ceasefire, people from the three affected states should have been invited but for the Federal Government just came out and say soldiers should lay down their arms, there is ceasefire, it means they are giving us to the Boko Haram,” Gubio said. “I know our soldiers, they obey orders and if they obey this one while the Boko Haram are holding their arms and they are using them, it means they may attack us massively any moment from now. “A good example is that they have attacked Abadam after the ceasefire and nobody intervened. So, we are in a dilemma. If the Federal Government does not know who the real Boko Haram are, I think they should come here (Maiduguri) to find out from us, who the Boko Haram are. “This is because, the real Boko Haram who are killing us, who are burning our towns and villages are not the Boko Haram that a peace deal was reached with. “They negotiated with the Boko Haram that are staying in the cities; Boko Haram that are staying overseas; the millionaire Boko Harams and may be they negotiated with the sponsors of the Boko Haram, not the Boko Haram who are killing our people.” He also wondered what a ceasefire means at this time when Boko Haram has seized territory. “In a situation of war, when you talk of ceasefire, it means each side will hold unto its position. Does it mean that the Federal Government will retain the rest of the Northeast where the Boko Haram did not capture and the Boko Haram will hold unto the areas they have taken over?” Gubio said a genuine ceasefire would be a welcome development for people in the violence-wracked areas of the Northeast. “But unfortunately, those of us who are directly affected by the insurgency are not privy to the ceasefire. I am not so sure if our leaderships in the three states, particularly our governors and our traditional rulers are privy to this deal,” he said. He urged the Federal Government to approach the security challenges in the Northeast with seriousness. “Within the last five years, we have lost thousands of our brethren; we lost our economy completely. Agriculture is dead and over 200 of our settlements have been taken over by the Boko Haram,” he said. “In the peace deal they announced, we were not told of what would happen to the hundreds of thousands of refugees that are taking refuge in Maiduguri and other parts of Nigeria and beyond. We were not told anything about our towns and villages taken over by the Boko Haram.” Chadian angle Speaking at the weekend, Jonathan’s private secretary Hasaan Tukur said they were convinced that they are talking to the representatives of the Boko Haram sect. “The people we negotiated with are the people who initiated the discussion and they went through the Chadian leader Idris Deby to initiate contact with the Nigerian Government and after thorough investigation by the Chadian government, they came and we sat down to discuss,” Ambassador Tukur said, quoted by a newspaper yesterday. “People that came they did it in the name of Abubakar Shekau but given the channel which they came I want to maintain confidentiality.” Tukur said discussions would continue this week in Chad, in order to firm up the terms of the agreement, including the release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls. But he added that there is no date yet for the release of the girls. On the issue of areas held by Boko Haram, Tukur said the deal will ensure that “Every territory of Nigeria would return back to normalcy, local governments will function properly, people will go back to their businesses and to their houses and make sure that there is peace and stability.”
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 06:22:37 +0000
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