Information available to 247ureports.com through multiple sources within national security agencies in Abuja indicate that the ongoing talks with the Boko Haram Islamic terrorist group appear on a positive path judging by the developing trust between the two entities – the Boko Haram and the federal government of Nigeria.
According to the information gathered, the office of the National Security Adviser [NSA] to the President had engaged the men of Boko Haram in a dialogue in the early days of February 2012 – where the number 2 and number 3 men of the Islamic group was walked into the office of the NSA by a “middleman” for a start of negotiation. Azazi, the NSA to the president, was said to have served the two boko haram men tea. The boko haram men drank the tea.
In the process of the discussions between the boko haram men and the NSA, the boko haram men were told to hold fire as a sign of good faith – and in return the men of boko haram requested for the release of their men and for the security men to halt the arrests of their men.
To this, Azazi refused. But Azazi assured the men of boko haram that while the arrests will continue, the safety of their men will be assured in custody – that they will be treated well in custody. The two men representing boko haram, in turn, agreed to hold fire on major attacks for a period of eight days – a period covering from February 10 to February 18. The boko haram men promised to hold their end of the bargain for 8-days while active talks are going on.
Our source with the boko haram indicates that they decided to hold their end of the bargain for the sake of peace. They added that they are ready to continue the fight till Nigeria is destroyed. “But we were impressed by Azazi” said one of the boko haram men. “He did not try to be funny. He was very good to us. He was like a good moslem“, he continued. He added that he had to place calls to their spiritual leader in Sudan to impress on him of the manner they were treated by the NSA to the President.
The source from boko haram noted also that although the deadline has passed, the talks continues. He did not disclose the details of the discussions with the NSA but he revealed that the dialogue had so far been “positive”.
