The Federal Government is currently not taking the fresh offer of negotiation being extended by members of the Boko Haram sect with any seriousness, The PUNCH has learnt.
The sect members were quoted in the media on Thursday as expressing its desire to engage the government in fresh negotiation.
They were said to have offered to release the over 200 girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, in April 2014 in exchange for 16 of Boko Haram leaders currently in custody of security agents.
One of our correspondents learnt on Thursday that the thinking in government circle was that the offer could not be taken seriously since there had not been any direct communication with the sect leaders.
A Federal Government source told The PUNCH on Thursday that the government would be cautious so as to avoid a repeat of the embarrassment the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration suffered in a similar situation.
The government official recalled that the past administration on many occasions openly acknowledged engaging leaders of the sect in negotiation only for the process to end as a sham.
The source said the present administration would rather err on the part of caution than be tainted by any negotiation deal that might go awry.
When contacted, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the Federal Government had yet to receive any communication from the sect.
Adesina said, “They (the sect leaders) have not reached out to us. For us, the source of that information is not official. If they contact us formally, we shall reply them officially.
“For now, we have not heard from them and so we cannot be talking on this.”
Adesina had in a statement on Saturday said the government would not negotiate with the violent Islamic group from a point of weakness.
He said the government had already put multinational machinery in place to devastate the insurgents.
Adesina had said, “Most wars, however furious or vicious, often end around the negotiation table.
“So, if Boko Haram opts for negotiation, the government will not be averse to it. Government will, however, not be negotiating from a position of weakness, but that of strength.
“The machinery put in place, and which will be set in motion soon, can only devastate and decapitate insurgency. It is multinational in nature, and relief is on the way for Nigeria and her neighbours.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is resolute. He has battled and won insurgency before; he is poised to win again. It is a promise he made to Nigerians, and he is a promise keeper.”
Meanwhile, the Muslim Rights Concern has described the offer from the sect as a positive development.
The group, in a statement by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, urged the Buhari government to seize the opportunity of the new development
The statement read in part, “Unlike the procrastination and deception which characterised Jonathan’s administration and which caused the prolonged tension over the abducted girls, the new Buhari regime needs to seize every good opportunity at the nick of time. Buhari must not only strike while the iron is hot, he must make the iron hot by striking.”
According to the group, the militants’ offer has opened a new window of opportunity for the commencement of dialogue.
It noted that many experts in the field of insurgency had affirmed that military option alone was not enough to end the Boko Haram phenomenon.
“The foot soldiers need to be rehabilitated. Socio-economic life must be revitalised in the North-East of Nigeria. The Federal Government also needs to speedily develop infrastructure in the affected area,” it added.
The group added that genuine dialogue must be put in place unlike what it described as the phantom talks with fake militants, which took place during the Jonathan regime.
It said that the dialogue would not be anything peculiar to Nigeria because other foreign governments had engaged rebels in similar talks in the past.
The group explained, “Spain dialogued with the Basque Separatists. Italy dialogued with the Red Brigade. Britain held prolonged talks with the Irish Republican Army . Turkey discussed with the PKK. Even the United States recently held a round table with the Taliban in Qatar.
“The whole world is waiting for the girls. We want our daughters back. The biological parents have gone through unbearable trauma. Some of them have lost their lives during the painful wait. MURIC therefore supports such an exchange of prisoners as would bring back our girls.”
