Boko Haram declares ceasefire!

After about three years of  attacks on security formations, public and worship  places,   the Jamaatul Ahjlil Sunna lidawati wal Jihad otherwise known as  Boko Haram, in Maiduguri, Borno announced a ceasefire after weeks of meetings with the state government. Commander of the Islamist sect in charge of Borno North and South, Muhammed Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, who had previously been speaking for the group, had surprisingly appeared to some journalists,  two weeks ago, declaring the intention of the sect to halt the three-year-old insurgency.

Declaring the ceasefire Monday through a tele-conference at the Borno State Radio and Television (BRTV), spokesman of Boko Haram, and second-in-command of the group, Sheikh Abdul Aziz said: “This ceasefire being announced today, is a goodwill message from the Jamaatul Ahlus Sunnah Lid Dawatil wal Jihad (Boko Haram), following a series of meetings with government officials and leaders of thought in Borno State.

 second-in-command of the group, Sheikh Abdul Aziz 

For the benefit of seeking the blessing of the leader of the sect, Imam Abu Shekau, in declaring the ceasefire, Idris had promised to talk to the media soon on the issue and by monday afternoon, he kept his promise and announced a ceasefire, starting from monday. Excerpts of the translated briefing by Idris: “I, Sheikh Muhammed Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, the second Commander in charge of southern and northern Borno after Imam Abubakar Shekau of Jamaatul Ahjlil Sunna lidawati wal Jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram.

“For some time now, we the members of Jamaatul ahlil Boko Haram sunna lidawati wal jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, have recently had a meeting and dialogue with the government of Borno State where we resolved that giving the prevailing situation, there is the need for us to ceasefire.

We, on our own, in the top hierarchy of our movement under the leadership of Imam Abubakar Shekau, as well as some of our notable followers, agreed that our brethren in Islam, both women and children are suffering unnecessarily; hence, we resolved that we should bring this crisis to an end.

We therefore, called on all those that identify themselves with us and our course, to from today, lay down their arms. Let every member who hears this announcement relay it to the next member who hasn’t heard.

“We have met with the Borno State Government on two occasions and the fallout of the meeting is to ceasefire. Presently, we are going to comply with the cease-fire order and by the time we are done with that, then government security agencies can go ahead to arrest whoever they find carrying arms or killing under our names. We are very much aware of the fact that some criminals have infiltrated our movement and continued attacking and killing people using our names.

“We have also told the government to try to live up to our demands that our members in detention should be released. We hope the government will not betray us this time around, because we all know that it was because of the continued detentions of our members that this crisis continued for this long.

And if government fails to do as it now promised, then this conflict will never have an end. “Of course, there is a faction within us, but the larger faction of our movement is the one in support of this ceasefire move. Moreover, once top members of our group including Imam Abubakar Shekau are in support of the need for ceasefire, other smaller factions can be dealt with easily.

“This message by the Grace of Allah, comes directly from the office of Imam Abubakar Shekau, the Supreme Leader of Jamaatul ahlil Sunna lidawati wal Jihad.” Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Communications, Alhaji Isa Gusau, said he could not comment on the involvement of the state government in the ceasefire effort, adding that Governor Kashim Shettima had always believed in dialogue as the better solution to end the lingering crisis. “I am not competent to speak on national security issues. We have a Security Council in Borno State, I am not a member of that council and of course, you know as much you will also agree with me that no governor will speak on such critical security issues.

But I know since Alahaji Kashim Shettima became a governor-elect, he was the first to speak on the need for dialogue as the best way out”, he said.

President Goodluck Jonathan

Reacting to the offer yesterday, the Federal Government said it would only make a pronouncement after it must have critically studied the conditions given by Boko Haram while announcing its unilateral ceasefire. A top government source who doesn’t want to be named, said that government was not in a hurry to jump at the offer being made by the sect.

At the moment, nobody knows how many factions there are of Boko Haram and which ones may take orders from Abdulazeez.