Making the pledge while in Paris at a summit with French president Francois Hollande, President Buhari confirmed that negotiations with the terrorist group have already begun. On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram abducted over 200 pupils from their boarding school in Borno State and arte still holding on to about 219 of them.
Over recent weeks, the Nigerian military in conjunction with its counterparts from Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon have enjoyed immeasurable success in dislodging Boko Haram from many of its strongholds in northeastern Nigeria but so far, there has been no sign of the Chibok girls. Keen to secure their release as it would mark a watershed in the fight against the terrorist group, the government is negotiating a release with the terrorists.
President Buhari said: “We are trying to see whether we can negotiate with the Boko Haram prisoners in our custody for the release of the Chibok girls. If the Boko Haram leadership eventually agrees to turn over the Chibok girls to us, the complete number, then we may decide to give them amnesty.”
Promising to stamp out the group’s bloody six-year insurgency, President Buhari said the government would not release any prisoners unless it was convinced it could get the girls in reasonably healthy condition. Boko Haram is believed to be asking for the release of their commanders in government custody before releasing the girls, which the government is reluctant to do.
Government negotiators are also trying to ascertain how genuine those claiming to represent Boko Haram at the talks are. According to President Buhari, it is important to find out if they indeed have the ability to deliver.
“We are trying to establish if they are bona fide, how useful they are in Boko Haram, have they reached a position of leadership where their absence is of relevance to the operations of Boko Haram. The main conventional attacks, where Boko Haram use armoured cars they took from the Nigerian troops, or mounted machine-guns on pick-up vehicles and so on, we believe by the end of the three months, we will see the end of that.
“What may not absolutely stop is the occasional bombings by the use of improvised explosive devices. We do not expect a 100 per cent stoppage of the insurgency,” President Buhari added.
Nigeria offered a similar amnesty to Niger Delta militants in 2008, under which they laid down their arms and were trained by the federal government. It is not yet clear if the Boko Haram deal will involve the terrorists being equipped with any skills as happened to the Niger Delta militants.
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