The Federal Government says it is willing to negotiate with Islamic terrorist sect, Boko Haram.
The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the government would negotiate with the terrorists, provided that they are open to the idea.
Adesina revealed this on Friday, July 3, in an interview with the BBC.
He was asked whether the President’s strategy of relocating the military headquarters to Maiduguri, Borno State, is effective enough to tackle the insurgents.
Adesina replied saying;
“This is going to work. There are machineries being put in place. It’s going to work. The recent killings by the sect were meant to break our resolve, to weaken it, but that will stop. It remains a priority to him (Buhari) to deal with the group.
You will notice that his first two weeks of administration were dedicated to tackling the insurgency. He visited Chad and Niger Republics and the following week, the Presidents of those countries also visited him in Abuja.
The President of Benin Republic and the Defence Minister of Cameroon visited him; machinery is being put in place and once we’re through, we will see the end of the group. The target time for the deployment of the multinational force is July ending; that is in a couple of weeks.”
When asked if the Federal Government was considering negotiations with the insurgents, Adesina said;
“If they are willing, why not? You know attempts have been made for negotiations in the past and they didn’t work. Every reasonable person would want to see the end to this insurgency. So if they are willing, why not? You can’t rule that out.”
Leave a reply