If the ceasefire deal allegedly being brokered between the Federal Government and Islamist group, Boko Haram, eventually takes effect, it may not affect the emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
The Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, Alhaji Kabiru Turaki (SAN), disclosed this Wednesday.
He said that the acceptance by Boko Haram to sign a ceasefire agreement with the Federal Government was a demonstration of the trust the group had in President Goodluck Jonathan.
Turaki told reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja that the ceasefire deal was an outcome of a series of painstaking discussions the committee members had been having with the leadership of Boko Haram. He disclosed that the terror group took into account the sincerity of the committee and the President regarding the resolution of the issue of insecurity in the North.
He said: "Unlike their thinking that the committee was meant to serve as a trap for them, they realised that not only is the committee very sincere, government and indeed Mr. President is also very sincere about the whole process. They also took into account the fasting in the month of Ramadan and felt that they should give peace a chance so that our Muslim sisters and brothers will be able to perform their religious obligation this month without any harassment, without any fear of any bomb exploding and any firing at them while they are in their place of worship."
Turaki, who is also the Minister of Special Duties, pointed out that a frame-work whereby an agreement would be signed openly between the government and the separatist group was being put in place.
"We will sign an agreement and we will make that public wherever and whenever we agree on the time and place and the international and local media, all Nigerians will be privy to it. It is something that will be done openly and transparently for everybody to know that indeed not only have we been speaking with the proper people but that there has been a lot of good faith on both sides of the divide. 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 realised that yes, we are dealing with the proper people and with the proper leadership of the organisation," he said.
On how long the ceasefire would last, Turaki said: "Of course, it is not something that is done for a specific period of time; it is something that should be forever. As far as we are concerned, it is something that has been agreed and I don't think there will be any basis for anybody reneging on the agreement."
However, according to him, despite the ceasefire, the state of emergency would stay but in such a way that security agencies would be fully satisfied that normalcy has been restored.
"Let us not forget the fact that with or without ceasefire, it is the serious and great responsibility of government to ensure that the lives and property of law-abiding Nigerians are protected wherever they are and in whatever circumstances. So, I think it is the situations that will begin to unfold themselves henceforth that will determine whether the security agencies on ground will relax the period of the curfew and then ultimately they will advise the appropriate authorities whether the need has arisen for the state of emergency to be removed but I think that is not for the committee," he said.
On why Boko Haram continues bombing while the committee is still negotiating, Turaki said: "In the course of the negotiation of the ceasefire, that issue was raised by journalists and they denied that it was not their members who did it. But again as far as the commission of crime is concerned, security agencies anywhere will not rely on the confessions of denial of a supposed suspect as the basis for their investigation. I am sure Nigerian security agencies are very competent and they will look at all the facts and circumstances and then they will be able to carry out their investigation without bias, and then arrive at the final decision of who really was behind that unfortunate act. But they said and for us, it is left for the security agencies to determine that they were not responsible."
But the President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Ortsejafor, has expressed doubt over the genuineness of Boko Haram as regards the ceasefire.
Oritsejafor, who was asked whether the planned ceasefire agreement signals a new hope for Nigeria, said: "Which Boko Haram? There have been all kinds of people that claim to be Boko Haram, now there are two groups, the Shekau group and Ansaru group. Have you heard from them? Even if one person says I want peace, I drop my weapons, we will be happy but I still continue to ask which Boko Haram because we have seen situations in the past where they told us that some people said they now want to reach truce and the next day we saw people killed there."
He spoke shortly after the ratification of his second term in office by CAN's National Assembly in Abuja yesterday.
The cleric, who called for more inter-faith dialogue, stressed the need for Nigerians irrespective of their faiths to forget the past, ignore controversies and give precedence to areas of common points.
He said: "Together we are strong, divided we are weak. Together we can build the nation and reposition Nigeria and make it strong, united. We can reach out to our brothers in other religions, sit together and look for ways to stop terrorism. We must not lose hope; we must keep hope alive, God will not forsake Nigeria."
The CAN president stressed the need for Nigerians to work together to build a new nation, respect each other and get to the level where no one is judged by his religion, or tribe but by the content of his character.
According to him, "peace will continue to elude us if we fail to uphold equity and justice in Nigeria."
He described his re-election as part of God's plan to ensure that Nigerians have a strong nation, adding that CAN would continue to dialogue and speak against terrorism and corruption. "I see a great moral burden on me now but there is hope that things will get better," he said.
He urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other agencies of government to leave the churches alone. He warned that CAN could not fold its hands and watch churches being stampeded and asked to bring all sorts of documents or asked to go to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to obtain a form before they could operate their accounts.
Oritsejafor, who alleged that there was a report that a daughter of a pastor in Minna was abducted and was being kept in the house of the emir, called on the monarch to release her.
On whether the Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria had pulled out of CAN as being speculated, Oritsejafor said it is fully a part of the association as "they" were well-represented at this assembly with over 23 delegates."
Also, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam yesterday pleaded with the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa'ad, to restore the Global System of Mobile (GSM) Communications that had been shut following the declaration of state of emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states by President Goodluck Jonathan on May 14, 2013.
The Yobe State governor made the call at the Government House, Damaturu, while receiving Sa'ad who came to sympathise with the Damaturu government and people over the recent attack on a secondary school at Mamudo where 31 pupils and two residents were killed by Boko Haram insurgents last Saturday.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Ahmad Mahmud Gumi of Sultan Bello Mosque, Kaduna, has warned all prisoners who secured their freedom not to commit any offence that would take them back to prison.
The cleric gave this warning yesterday at the Kaduna Central Prisons while receiving 17 convicts who were set free after their fines were paid by a Kaduna businessman, Dr. Shehu Mahdi.
Gumi expressed dismay that some of the convicts who regained their freedom during the 2012 Ramadan went back to the crime world and were taken back to prison.
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