Following the cease fire agreement reached between the Federal Government and the Boko Haram sect, the abducted Chibok girls may be released on Monday. The 218 girls were abducted six months ago in Chibok, Borno State.
This breakthrough in negotiations with the dreaded sect to have the girls released was reached on Friday (yesterday) .
The deal was announced by the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh on behalf of the Federal Government.
It should be noted that the Boko Haram began their onslaught on the country in 2009 and the military had difficulties combating them.
The actions that really projected them as a terrorist force to be dealt with severely was when they abducted the girls. This brought the whole world demanding the girls be released.
Badeh said, “A ceasefire agreement has been concluded between the Federal Government and the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal Jihad (Boko Haram).”
The President’s Principal Secretary, Hassan Tukur, told BBC Focus on Africa that an agreement to end the Boko Haram hostilities had been reached after talks with the violent group.
According to him, the negotiation processes took a month before agreement was reached and was headed by Chadian President, Idris Deby in Saudi Arabia
Tukur said Boko Haram announced a unilateral ceasefire on Thursday and the government had responded.
He said, “The Boko Haram members have assured us that they have the girls and that they will release them. I am cautiously optimistic.”
Tukur and Danladi Ahmadu, who calls himself the Secretary-General of Boko Haram, told VOA’s Hausa-language service that the abducted girls would be released on Monday in Chad.
The girls are alive and “in good condition and unharmed,” Ahmadu said.
As part of the conditions for the cease fire, the group had demanded the release of detained extremists in exchange for the schoolgirls.
In the mean time, all offensive attacks towards the sect have been halted following an order from the Defence Headquarters led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh.
Badeh stated this after a three-day bilateral conference between Nigeria’s military leaders and Cameroon which focused on the coordination of trans-border military operations between the two countries.
The Cameroonian military was led to the conference in Abuja on Wednesday by the country’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Maka Rene Claude.
Badeh said, “Without any prejudice to the outcome of our three days interactions, and the conclusions of this forum, I wish to inform this audience that a ceasefire agreement has been concluded between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Allul Sunna Li Daawa Waj Jihad.
“I have accordingly directed the service chiefs to ensure immediate compliance with this development in the field.”
The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen Chris Olukolade, said that what the “ceasefire means is that there would be no fire.”
When asked to elaborate further if the current development would affect troop deployment in the North-East, he stressed that there would be cessation of hostilities in consonance with the terms of the agreement.
Other principal actors in the negotiations process include the Minister of Special Duties, Saminu Turaki and the office of the National Security Adviser.
It was revealed through an intelligence source that the decision to negotiate in earnest with the Boko Haram was taken during the President Jonathan’s meeting with his Chadian counterpart, Mr. Idris Derby, in Ndjamena, on Monday, September 8, 2014.
Meanwhile, this latest development has generated some sort of mixed feelings from Nigerians.
The leader of BringBackOurGirls campaign team, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, expressed hope that the ceasefire would be sustained.
She said in her Tweet, “Like many of you, I simply cannot afford another heart shattering episode and so we are praying that what we are all reading is true.”