The battle to subdue the Jihadist based insurgency of the group; Boko Haram may have gone beyond the active battlefield into the negotiation and/or dialogue table between the dialogue committee set up by the federal government of Nigeria and the Boko Haram – but the menace of Boko Haram and the troubles associated with the Jihadist group appear far from a realistic resolution.
Information available to 247ureports.com obtained from a competent source in Abuja indicates that the dialogue / ceasefire process initiated by the committee put together by the President of the federal republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan may have hit a hard brick wall in the process of its take off talks with leaders of the insurgent group. Our source who claims to know the inner workings of the Jihadist group revealed that the Jihadist group does not trust the ceasefire committee due to the manner it was set up. The Jihadist group claims that the peace committee was set to toe the line of the federal government and not that of an impartial arbitrator.
Particularly, the source points to the make of the committee being selected by persons who are ‘not sympathetic’ to the Boko Haram cause – and that the Boko Haram had not asked for a peace dialogue. “They are forcing them to the negotiation table” said the source.
In one case that occurred in North West Borno, the source indicated that the ceasefire committee had managed to reach out to a group of the Jihadist militia operating in the area – for possible talks and/or dialogue. Through superior intelligence maneuvering, the peace committee was able to send a message to the group through secure means – without compromising the security or location of the Jihadist group. After efforts at engaging the group began to foster, the Jihadist began letting their guards down – as they began to some of the members of the peace committee as trustworthy.
However an interesting thing happened which took the peace effort irreversibly back to the drawing board. When the group of Jihadist militias who had been engaged in a pseudo-dialogue with the peace committee finally opened up to the committee – and stepped out their hiding places, in trust that the committee meant well, they were immediately arrested by men of the Joint Task Force [JTF] and detained at an unknown detention area – for ‘interrogation’.
The source continues in his revelations which posits as the chief reasons the peace committee has failed before it began. He points to the recent declaration by Shura Committee of the Boko Haram – Shura Committee is the highest decision making body of the Jihadist group. They had recently made a call for peace dialogue with the Turaki – led peace committee. The call was made from detention. The body made the call for peace while under detention of the JTF. For this “I doubt their sincerity for dialogue”.
The source went on to explain that the peace committee needs disbandment. In his words, “it is just buying time because it has lost bearing and achieved nothing other than visits two places. The main assignment has not been done and may never been done”.
Meanwhile, attacks suspected to be Boko Haram attacks have continued unfettered.
