The Federal Government is open to the option of negotiating with the Boko Haram sect in order to find a lasting solution to the security crisis in the country, the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said on Friday.
This, Adesina said in an interview with the BBC, will be predicated on the willingness of the group to come to the table.
In the interview, Adesina said the Federal Government was not ruling out negotiations with the sect if it would put an end to the activities of the group.
The government under former President Goodluck Jonathan had indirect negotiations with the militant group, which the terror gang later repudiated.
At one point, Boko Haram in in one it’s releases said they were ready to negotiate with the former administration but only if Buhari, now president, would agree to represent them.
This suggestion was immediately repudiated by Buhari then.
During the elections, Buhari promised swift end to the insurgency, but what we have seen is heightened activities of the insurgent group in the past month since the new administration came in place.
Adesina lamented that the insurgents had attacked so many villages and killed scores of people.
“These were very vicious attacks. People were killed in scores and it’s so sad,” he said.
The President had during his inauguration speech said he had launched a strategy to deal with the sect by relocating the military headquarters to Maiduguri, Borno State.
When asked whether this would work, Adesina replied, “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.
On the vexed question of negotiating with the deadly group, the presidential spokesman 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.”
