More details have emerged on the ceasefire agreement signed by the Federal Government and the Boko Haram terrorist sect which has held most of Northern Nigeria hostage for the past four years.
The amnesty deal which was reached exactly 82 days after the Federal Government constituted a 25-man committee to work out the modalities was confirmed by Imam Muhamadu Marwana, a top member of the sect and one of the close associates of the leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau on the Hausa Service of Radio France International.
“I appeal to those who lost their loved ones to our activities to forgive us and on our side we have forgiven all those who committed atrocities against us. I want to state clearly that we have no hands in the unfortunate attack on the secondary school (Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Yobe State).”
“This ceasefire, in sha’Allahu, from the time I am talking to you (Radio France Hausa Service) we have ceasefire because of the discussion held so as to have peace over this struggle.”
Imam Marwana even stroke a tone of remorse during the interview, saying “I appeal to those who lost their loved ones to our activities to forgive us and on our side we have forgiven all those who committed atrocities against us”
He added that “I want to state clearly that we have no hands in the unfortunate attack on the secondary school.”
It was on the same radio service that Minister of Special Duties and Chairman of the Peace and Dialogue Committee in the North, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki announced the ceasefire agreement with the sect whose activities have claimed not less than 4, 000 lives and destroyed properties worth billions of naira, not to mention crippling an already poor economy in the North.
The announcement came on the eve of the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan expected to commence today throughout the world and also coincided with a vehement denial by the insurgents that they had no hands in the murder of 30 boarding students of a secondary school in Yobe weekend.
“We have sat down and agreed that Jama’atu Ahlul Sunnah Lidda’awati wal Jihad, known as Boko Haram will lay down their arms as part of the agreement so as to end the insurgency. Government agreed with ceasefire and will look into ways to ensure that the troops relax their activities till the final take off of the ceasefire,” Turaki told his interviewers.
A member of the presidential committee, which President Godluck Jonathan gave 90 days to hammer out a solution to the problem disclosed how the agreement was brokered. He said “Shekau’s leadership came out through several fronts and set traps for us. The government gave them confidence, the confidence led to trust and they said they will call their men to cease-fire and they have done so.”
Already, reactions to the ceasefire agreement have started pouring in, with the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress, OPC, Otunba Gani Adams saying it was a step in the right direction.
“It is a step in the right direction and I think from there, they will create room to dialogue with the Federal Government and state their position.
They cannot continue to waste lives just like that. I don’t know what they stand for but no matter what they stand for, their approach is wrong and deadly. Nobody in the world will support their struggle. But calling for a ceasefire will afford Nigerians the opportunity to know exactly what they want.”
Also, Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere was of the view that the identity of the group calling for ceasefire should be ascertained.
Speaking in a telephone interview, their National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yinka Odumakin said “We should be sure which of the Boko Haram sect is calling for a ceasefire. Is it a strategy to rule or what is it all about?
The identity of the group should be ascertained and its genuineness should be known before the Federal Government is taken off guard. Since emergency was declared in those three states (Yobe, Adamawa and Borno), the incidence of bombings has gone down but killings continue here and there. So, we must know how genuine the call is and the identity of the group calling for the ceasefire. Was it not Boko Haram that said it was the Federal Government that needed amnesty?”
In his reaction, former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa expressed optimism that the ceasefire will resolve the insurgency.
“We hope that the Federal Government will respond favourably and effectively to the ceasefire,” he said.
Former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, on his part said: “The development is very encouraging. I am happy about it and I commend the committee for doing a good job. The committee should go on with its mandate in order to achieve a lasting peace. The committee should be encouraged the more at this stage to conclude its job.”
Commenting on the development, President, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Alhaji Yerima Shetima said in spite of the ceasefire, the Federal Government must address the issues that led to the insurgency.
Shetima said: “Whether they cease fire or not, the truth of the matter is that Nigerians must rise to the occasion. Last year, it was the same story we heard when they called for a ceasefire and still, they unleashed a lot of mayhem in Northern Nigeria.
Also, we must appreciate the fact that the whole of Northern Nigeria has been bastardised because everybody is now a member of Boko Haram. If they call for a ceasefire, what about the remaining factions? This does not mean that the Federal Government must go to sleep, the insurgency must be condemned totally.”