Nigerians may have to wait a bit longer to see an end to frequent attacks by the dreaded Islamist insurgents, in spite of the state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan in three north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
The sect, Boko Haram Saturday denied entering into any ceasefire agreement with the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North.
In a new video obtained by AFP, the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, said the chairman of the Presidential Committee and Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki lied to have claimed there was an agreement between his committee and the group.
According to Shekau, “The claim that we have entered into a truce with the government of Nigeria is not true. We don’t know Kabiru Turaki. We have never spoken with him. He is lying”.
The Committee Chairman, Turaki had on Wednesday confirmed to State House correspondents that his committee had actually entered into a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram.
He however, declined to give details, saying the framework and terms of the agreement would be worked out and made public through the media who will be allowed to cover the formal signing.
“We have been having series of painstaking discussions with the leadership of Boko Haram. And like most of you must have heard, the directive for cease fire that was given on tape, basically they took into account, one; the sincerity of the committee which by necessary implication also the sincerity of the President regarding resolving the issue of insecurity in the North.
“Number two, also unlike their thinking that the committee was meant to serve as a trap for them, they also realized that not only is the committee very sincere, government and indeed Mr. President is also very sincere about the whole discussion.
“We have spoken with somebody who is second in command as far as Boko Haram is concerned and he has informed the media that he has been discussing with us with full knowledge and authority of Imam Abubakar Shekau and so we have no cause to doubt him.
“We have done checks on him, just as they have done checks on us also and we have realized that yes we are dealing with the proper people and with the proper leadership of the organization,” Turaki had claimed.
Shekua in the video said his group fully supports and will continue to attack western education school, but was empathic that they do not support killing of children.“We fully support the attack on this Western education school in Mamudo”, he said.
A Government Secondary School in Mamudo, a town near Potiskum in Yobe state was recently attacked by gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram, killing no fewer than 20 students and a teacher.
The sect had also claimed responsibility for series of attacks that have left hundreds of people dead and several injured in the northern part, including attacks on the Police headquarters and United Nations building, both in Abuja.
The group also claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Catholic Church at Madallah in Niger state, near Abuja on a Christmas Day.
