On
October 16, the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex
Badeh announced a cease fire between the Nigerian government and the
terrorist group Boko Haram which has in the past 5 years killed over
10,000 people mostly in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. Most
Nigerians were skeptical of the said agreement. But, Badeh appeared to
be certain and said he had ordered his commanders on the ground to cease
fire in line with the said agreement with the dreaded terrorist group.
Badeh’s announcement followed a similar announcement by Danladi Ahmadu
on Voice of America. Ahmadu described himself as a general secretary of
Boko Haram.
Following the said cease fire, there was news that
the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, whose predicament had been in the
fore-front of campaigns against terrorism and against the government’s
handling of the insurgency, were soon to be released in line with the
new path towards peace.
But, instead of calm, the terrorist group
intensified its assault on towns and villages in the North East,
hoisting its flag and even overrunning the home town of Badeh in
Adamawa.
The man in the centre of the supposed ceasefire is
Idriss Deby, the president of Chad a former military general, Deby has
ruled Chad for 24 years. It now turns out that the Chadian president
sold a dummy to the Nigerian government as reports say the Deby is now
unreachable to Nigerian government officials and it is unclear if he was
fooled by the people who approached him with the cease fire agreement
or he was in league with Boko Haram all along.
According to our
sources in the Federal Government who are in the know concerning the
said ceasefire agreement, the Chadian president approached President
Goodluck Jonathan with a request from a man called Danladi Ahmadu who
claimed to be Boko Haram’s general secretary. The Chadian president
confirmed the authenticity of the contact he had and the genuineness of
the intentions of the terrorist group to end hostilities. President
Jonathan delegated his Principal Secretary Awwal Tukur to represent the
federal government at the negotiation table.
Soon after, the
terrorist group has produced a video in which some militants are seen
from a long shot, one of them claiming to be Abubakar Shekau and a
accompanying voice-over denying the reported ceasefire and saying that
Ahmadu is an infidel and has no relationship with Boko Haram.
“Nigerian
government officials no longer have access to Déby who is now said to
be sick. It appears he set us up to drop our guard and allow Boko Haram
to gain ground,” the official said.
Last week, a Nigerian
journalist who had linked with Boko Haram Ahmad Salkida, had on a
Twitter interview warned the government over the fathom cease fire
agreement giving some insight into the thinking of the group. He said
that the ceasefire was “shadows and bubbles” and said that the said Boko
Haram secretary general was a fraud and considered an infidel by the
terrorist group.
Another Nigerian government official speaking with The Cable said,
“The period of the phantom negotiations gave the terror group time to
regroup, reinforce and restrategise, which is the intent of Déby for
asking the Nigerian government to negotiate a ceasefire with Boko
Haram,” the source said. “As soon as Nigeria began to make a lot
of gains in the war against Boko Haram, owing to the efforts of the
military and President Goodluck Jonathan who has been discussing with
regional leaders to halt the insurgency, and at a time the commanders of
the sect were being rounded up, that was when the Chadian president
approached the Nigerian government asking that it mediates between the
parties in the conflict.
“The
discussions between the government and the Chadian president on Boko
Haram started in September. However, Déby said he was already talking
with Boko Haram.
“The government was trying to verify the
authenticity of Boko Haram’s representatives in the supposed
negotiations, but Déby asked the Nigerian government to take a chance
that he had done the verification already. He affirmed that Boko Haram’s
representatives were truly standing in for the group in the
negotiations.”
“Tukur was the one spearheading the dialogue with
Boko Haram on behalf of the Nigerian government. He had the first
contact with group. It was still in the middle of the supposed
negotiations that Danladi Ahmadu announced on Voice of America that the
group had ceased fire. Following the announcement of ceasefire by the
group, the Nigerian government equally announced a ceasefire on October
17 for the supposed negotiations to continue.
“A Nigerian
delegation left for Chad on October 21 for talks with Boko Haram, but
the Chadian president became evasive. The Nigerian delegation was told
that Déby was sick and that the meeting be rescheduled for October 23.
“However,
on that date, the delegation was told that the Chadian president was
still sick after waiting for six hours. The delegation made visits to
Chad a number of times, but met a brickwall.
“As Boko Haram’s
resumed attacks grew in intensity, the Nigerian government became
worried. Many attempts were made to inquire from the Chadian president
who was supposed to be mediating between the Nigerian government and
Boko Haram, but the attempts were all futile.
“France was privy to the botched negotiations, but said nothing just like the Chadian government.
“It
became clear to the Nigerian government that Déby was working for Boko
Haram. The government of Chad has not said a word to the Nigerian
government since Boko Haram’s resumed onslaughts. It has simply refused
to make any comment or communicate with the Nigerian government.
“The
Nigerian government has also ceased to speak with the Chadian
government on the matter since it is now clear that Chad is working with
Boko Haram.”
The official also said that the next move for the Nigerian government is a full-scale military assault on the terrorist group.
“The
only option left for the Nigerian government is to continue to use
force to end the crisis. As it is now, there is no negotiation or
mediation going on. The statements by some government officials that the
abducted Chibok girls would return soon were based on assurances by the
Chadian government, but now there is no negotiation going on anywhere,”
he said.
“It is important to add that the Nigerian government
decided to honour Chad’s request for negotiations with Boko Haram,
because it was the first time a foreign government would be mediating in
the protracted insurgency in the country. Other individuals have tried,
but the government has always spurned them.”
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