The Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, has distributed a letter requesting dialogue with the Federal Government.
The
letter, which was sent through head of journalists in Borno State, Aba
Kakami, came less than 72 hours after a double suicide bombing led to
the death of at least 17 people at the Protestant Military Church,
Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Jaji, Kaduna State.
Kakami has often received and distributed statements from the sect.
According to an international news agency,Reuters, the
letter was signed by Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, a man known
in security sources to be a moderate senior member of the sect.
The
letter, if genuine, would mark a change of departure of tactics
by the group which has been been responsible for many bombings in the
country.
Nearly
3,000 people have died violent deaths related to the conflict since the
sect launched its uprising in 2009, according to a count by Human
Rights Watch. Boko Haram has replaced militancy in the oil-rich Niger
Delta over that time to become the biggest security threat to Nigeria.
Communication
with Boko Haram , which wants imposition of sharia on Nigeria, has
been even more sporadic than normal since the military killed its
spokesman, Abu Qaqa, in September.
Abdulazeez
first contacted journalists in Maiduguri earlier this month, setting
conditions for peace talks in the teleconference and nominating former
Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari , as a mediator. Buhari has since
declined the offer.
“We
are by this letter of invitation to our respected elders proving to
government that we are not joking with the government, but we are
awaiting the response of those concerned,” Abdulazeez said in the
letter.
Abdulazeez said he was speaking on behalf of Abubakar Shekau, the sect’s leader.
But
even if Abdulazeez does represent Shekau, the extent to which Boko
Haram is controlled by Shekau is in doubt, and analysts think military
pressure has fragmented it.
The letter nominated Imam Gabchiya, an official of the University of Maiduguri, Borno State as mediator.
There
was no immediate reaction from Federal Government officials, but
President Goodluck Jonathan had said on November 18 that no talks were
going on with Boko Haram .
The
handover of the letter came three days after the army offered a
N290m bounty for information leading to the capture of 19 leading
members of the sect.
Meanwhile,
the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Olasa’ad Ibrahim, has said that
due process will be followed in meting out punishment to soldiers on
duty when suicide bombers attacked the military church in Jaji on Sunday
Ibrahim,
who was in Kaduna on Tuesday, noted that the board set up to
investigate the twin attacks would spell out the appropriate
punishment.
He
described the incident as sad and pointed out that the military
would put some mechanism in place to forestall future occurrence.
The CDS, who spoke with newsmen shortly after visiting the scene, argued that the explosions were least expected.
He
said, “We expect that the Board of Enquiry will reflect blame
worthiness of the few and then we will treat it on its merit, but we
cannot pre-empt what took place and how the bomb-laden vehicles got into
the cantonment.
“We
also respect due process and the rule of law and there are codes out
there that we must insist on because those are the only ways we can
render justice but the report itself is the only thing that can define
precisely who is to blame and who is not to be blamed and who is to be
rewarded for exemplary actions.
“Perhaps
with the lesson now, we could not afford to take anything for granted.
So, we will put it behind us quickly after the board of inquiry and then
we will put some other mechanisms in place to prevent such incident in
the future.”
Also,Canada has warned its citizens against all un-essential travels to Nigeria.
In
its travel advisory accessed by one of our correspondents on Tuesday,
Canada said that “terrorist attacks could occur at any time and could
target locations frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers,
including hotels, bars, markets and shopping centres.”
It therefore enjoined Canadians “to maintain a high level of security awareness in these public areas.”
The travel warning noted that there have been a number of large scale coordinated terrorist attacks over the last few months.
The
United Kingdom had in its website, on Monday, also warned its
citizens against travels to Borno and Yobe states as well as the
riverine areas of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River
states. Its specifically listed Warri and Kano among the no go areas.
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