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Peace talks between Boko Haram and Nigerian government cease

Peace talks between the Nigerian Federal Government and members of the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram stalled when a Muslim cleric, Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad, … Continue reading Peace talks between Boko Haram and Nigerian government cease


Boko Haram

Peace talks between the Nigerian Federal Government and members of the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram stalled when a Muslim cleric, Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad, who was a mediator in the discussions called it quits on Sunday.

Datti Ahmad, the President, Supreme Council of Shariah in Nigeria, said in a statement that he had come to doubt the sincerity of the Nigerian government after information from a confidential meeting was leaked to the press.

A former close ally of Boko Haram’s founder, Datti Ahmad, was integral to the peace talks which were aimed at bring an end to several months of gun battles and bomb blasts that have claimed over 1,000 lives in the northern part of Africa’s most populous nation.

In the statement released by Datti Ahmad today, he confirmed that his group had made contact with “leadership of the Sect and established from them that as Muslims they were prepared to consider ‘Sulhu’ which mean ‘broad reconciliation’ regarding the dispute between them and the Government.”

Dr. Ahmad had then set up a meeting with members of the top echelon of government in Nigeria to discuss a possible reconciliation. The meeting, he said, had taken place on 5 March 2012. Private details of the confidential meeting hit the media.

“To our shock and dismay, no sooner had we started this dialogue; Nigerian newspapers came out with a lot of the details of the meeting held.”

He said the development was an embarrassment and has “created strong doubts in our minds about the sincerity of the government’s side in our discussion, as the discussion is supposed to be very confidential to achieve any success.”

“In view of this unfortunate and unhelpful development, we have no option but to withdraw from these early discussions.”

Nigeria’s government has not yet confirmed word of possible peace talks with the sect. Though President Goodluck Jonathan has said in interviews that he’d be open to dialogue, he adds that the sect members are always hidden, making direct talks unlikely.

On the other hand, spiritual leader of the dangerous sect, Abubakar Shekau, had ruled out possible talks, adding that arrests of the sect’s key members negated the Nigerian government’s call to dialogue.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for various major attacks in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, including the coordinated bomb blasts and gun battle that killed at least 186 in Kano earlier this year.