Nigeria 'Engages in Peace Talks with Boko Haram'

Nigeria 'engages in peace talks with Boko Haram'

By The Telegraph

15 March 2012

Credit: Getty

Nigeria’s President Jonathan Goodluck had said in January that his government was open to talks

The indirect talks have been conducted over the past week in order to discuss a possible ceasefire, according to a Reuters news agency exclusive report.

Reports have emerged describing how Boko Haram has used go-betweens to carry messages between its self-declared leader Abubakar Shekau and the Nigerian government.

Boko Haram has mainly been active in northern Nigeria, where the population is predominantly Muslim. Through bomb and gun attacks they have killed hundreds of people this year alone. Although the country is almost equally split between Christians and Muslims, the sect’s goal is to impose sharia law upon the nation and eradicate Western education.

Shekau was reported dead in 2009 after Nigeria’s Army stormed Boko Haram’s mosque-based headquarters. He resurfaced in January this year, appearing in videos uploaded to YouTube, proclaiming himself leader of the sect and threatening Nigerian security forces. It was reported in early February that he had been arrested, but only a month later he successfully made a ‘narrow escape’.

Nigeria’s President Jonathan Goodluck had said in January that his government was open to talks, but because of the clandestine nature of the sect leaders these would like be indirect.

Supposedly, Boko Haram has stated they would agree to a ceasefire on the grounds that all its members are released from prison. The government is reportedly refusing to those terms, but is willing to release foot soldiers.

One problem with the development of a ceasefire is that security experts believe that the Boko Haram sect is comprised of numerous factions. Shekau is thought to lead just one, albeit the one responsible for most of the attacks. This will affect the success of any ceasefire talks, as they may not be able to establish a deal with each and every element in the group.

Security consultancy Drum Cussac’s Peter Sharwood-Smith said, “The difficulty is: who do they actually represent? Boko Haram is a big label for many different command groups. Are they all being represented at these talks or just some of them?” He also called into question whether the negotiations “are going to achieve much”.

“Even some sort of peace deal would ease the pressure and allow the military to mop up more of the breakaway groups,” a foreign diplomatic expert in security in northern Nigeria said.

The last major attack by Boko Haram was carried out in Kano, northern Nigeria, in January. Bombs and drive by shootings resulted in the deaths of 186 people.

Since then, Nigerian security forces have managed to suppress the sect, with several senior Boko Haram members either being arrested or killed, such as group spokesman Abu Qaqa according to Nigeria’s secret service.

Human rights groups have argued that Nigerian security forces’ aggressive tactics have only served to increase hostility towards authorities.

Source: Reuters