Boko Haram ceasefire plan soon, says minister

•DHQ team for Yobe
The Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji
Kabiru Turaki yesterday said the Federal
Government is having a ceasefire
understanding with the mainstream Boko
Haram led by the late Mohammed Yusuf.
He said the government wasworking on
broader terms for the ceasefire and will
unfold it soon.
Turaki, who spoke with our
correspondent, yesterday said no formal
agreement had been signed with Boko
Haram.
He said: "We have reached an
understanding with them (Boko Haram)
for ceasefire, which they have already
directed and which we have accepted.
"We are working on the formal agreement
which will follow in due course."
Asked about which of the factions of Boko
Haram the government is discussing with,
the Minister said: "It is with the
mainstream Yusuf. We are working on the
broader terms now and will announce to
the world in due course."
A statement by the spokesman for
Defence Headquarters, Brig-Gen. Chris
Olukolade, said a delegation led by the
Chief of Research and Development in
the Defence Headquarters had been sent
to Yobe to find out how no fewer than 22
pupils were killed.
The statement said: "A fact-finding team
of senior officers from the Defence
Headquarters is in Yobe State for an on-
the-spot assessment of the deployment
of troops of the Joint Task Force in the
State.
"The team is to pay particular attention to
the security circumstances around the
incidence of the attack on the
Government Secondary School, Mamudo
near Potiskum during the weekend.
"Led by the Chief of Research and
Development in the Defence
Headquarters, the team is visiting troops
deployed in remote locations in Yobe
State to verify the effectiveness of patrols
and cordon and search operations
directed at forestalling any further breach
of security and tracking down perpetrators
of the weekend attack.
"The team is expected to brief the Chief
of Defence Staff, Admiral Ibrahim Ola
Sa'ad in respect of any requirement for
additional troops and logistics for the
operation in Yobe State."
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has
called on Boko Haram members to disarm
totally and permanently in the spirit of
the Ramadan fasting period, which begins
among Muslim faithful in the country
today.
In a good will message to mark the
beginning of the 30-day long Ramadan
fasting by Muslims, the former Vice
President appealed to the Boko Haram
insurgents to permanently abandon any
form of violence against innocent people.
According to him, cold-blooded murder of
innocent people is against the teachings
of Islam and, therefore, advised the Boko
Haram insurgents to embrace peace,
using the Ramadan season as the
beginning of the end of their violence
against defenseless victims.
Atiku Abubakar advised Boko Haram to
embrace dialogue and disarmament to
save the nation this needless violence
against innocent people. He added:
"deliberate violence against innocent
people cannot be justified under whatever
circumstances and it benefits nobody. The
Boko Haram insurgents should take
advantage of this Ramadan period to end
all forms of violence once and for all, and
save us from this endless trauma
Source: the nation