Ceasefire talk still on-going – FG insists

From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

The president Goodluck Jonathan-led administration has, despite the controversy over the ceasefire deal between it and the Boko Haram sect yesterday, insisted that the said agreement of the ceasefire between the parties involved was still on-going.

In a report by the  Hausa Service of the BBC, monitored in Jos, Minister for Special Duty and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolutions of Security Challenges in the North, Alhaji Aminu Tanimu Turaki (SAN), said the dialogue with the sect has not broken down as being variously speculated in some quarters.

According to him, in every ceasefire deal, not all members of a given group always unanimously understand and agree with an issue. He explained that if Shekau alone has denied the existence of any negotiation with his group, that does not mean that the whole deal had been truncated.

He added that the fact that Shekau had disagreed with the deal does not mean that that the government would not continue the discussion with those members of the sect who are willing and ready for peace negotiations.

Turaki said, “the Federal Government is still discussing with Boko Haram on the ceasefire deal. Shekau was quoted to have denied the deal between government and his group . If Shekau alone refuses to agree, that does not mean that the talk is no longer possible.

“We are still discussing with the group and Shekau alone cannot stop our efforts. We are still dealing with those members who are still interested in the deal and Shekau cannot stop them,” he added.

Turaki further disclosed that there are currently two committees, one in Chad and the other in Nigeria, handling the negotiations. He said he belonged to the one in the country even as he assured that the government was committed to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the Nigeria.