The presidential committee on dialogue and peaceful resolution of the security challenges in the north has said that members of the Boko Haram sect had been very open and frank with them in the course of their ongoing dialogue with the insurgents.
The 25-member committee set up by the federal government to create common ground for amnesty for the sect stated this yesterday when they met and held talks with commanders of Boko Haram being detained in Kuje Prisons, Abuja.
The committee said the visit to the detention camp was part of its move to create a room for dialogue with the groups which majority of Nigerians except some politicians have kicked against.
Chairman of the committee and minister of special duties, Mr Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), who briefed journalists after the talks with members of the sect, said: “The interactions have been very useful. They have been very open, they have been very fair and they have been very frank. And some of them, I would even dare to say, have shown a lot of sense of patriotism even while being detained under serious allegations.
“They have shown that, yes, they have the love of this nation at heart. These are issues we will leverage upon and come up with a modality that would bring about a very frank dialogue that, at the end of the day, God willing, will be able to bring a total solution to the security problem we have in this country.
Dialogue, reconciliation is the way forward - US
Meanwhile, the US government has also refuted reports that its president Barack Obama was scheduled to visit Nigeria. According to a senior embassy official, Obama will not visit Nigeria anytime soon, but a long time plan is not ruled out.
The disclosures were made by the United States Department of State deputy assistant secretary, bureau of democracy, human rights and labour, Karen Hanrahan, during a roundtable with editors in Abuja, yesterday.
A statement by the US embassy in Nigeria yesterday expressed concern on ongoing reports of excessive use of force by Nigerian security forces in the name of combating Boko Haram, including extrajudicial killings, prolonged detention and disappearances.
It called for an independent and transparent probe by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the attacks.
Reports from the investigation must be made public and those who committed or ordered these crimes, regardless of position, must be held accountable, the US said in the statement.
While condemning Boko Haram’s “campaign of terror”, the US feared that increasing insecurity in northern Nigeria posed a threat to the stability in both Nigeria and the region.
The US insisted that members of Boko Haram responsible for the violence must be held accountable in accordance with the rule of law.
The US statement reads in part: “The April attacks in Baga, with reports indicating civilians indiscriminately killed and homes and businesses wantonly burned, demonstrate the extent to which the Nigerian people continue to suffer from this violence. Counterterrorism and counterinsurgency campaigns are complex and difficult. As a partner, we seek to find ways to help Nigeria build its capacity to address multiple threats to its security.
“As they did this week in Bama, Boko Haram has terrorized the people of northern Nigeria, killing thousands over the past three years with bombings, shootings, kidnappings and coordinated attacks on the security forces facilities.
[Leadership]
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