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Boko Haram Offer of Negotiation: Buhari’s Position Corroborates Centre for Crisis Communication, Centre Says

September 16, 2015

The Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) has thrown its support to the declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari that some members of the Boko Haram terrorist group are in negotiation with the government to release the Chibok Secondary School girls they abducted in April last year.

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In a statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (retired), CCC recalled that in a press briefing on August 4, it disclosed that some Boko Haram elements had approached the Centre for dialogue as a way of ending what appears to be intractable insurgency in parts of the country.

It noted that in their contact with CCC, those members of Boko Haram requested genuine and comprehensive dialogue that could lead to hundreds of them coming out to renounce their membership.
 
CCC expressed support for the declaration that the government is willing to dialogue with genuine leaders of the terrorist group, expressing the belief that the new position became imperative because the military option alone has failed to resolve the issue.
 
“The Centre believes that there is nothing wrong in exploring and exploiting every opportunity that will lead to freeing of not only the innocent school girls but every other Nigerian under shackles of the deadly insurgents,” the group said, reiterating that every window of dialogue should be open but only for genuine leaders or representatives of the sect who are committed to keeping to their side of the bargain.
 
It urged both parties to approach the said negotiation with an open mind and with utmost consideration of the interest of humanity, and urged Nigerians to continue to trust and support the President in his tough decisions such as this, as what is most important is the freedom of the girls and all other captives.
 
“The Centre views this gesture as good. It has opened a window of opportunity for dialogue for those insurgents that are willing and ready to lay down their arms,” CCC said.  
 
It noted that none of the suspected Boko Haram elements that spoke with CCC asked for any form of monetary inducement or compensation as a pre-condition for laying down their arms. 

“In fact, many of them said that they were simply tired of fighting and being fugitives in a war that they were deceived into joining,” CCC said.  
 
The Centre said it would continue to support and encourage all efforts towards bringing insurgency in Nigeria to an end.

Topics
Terrorism