We may negotiate with Boko Haram, says Presidency

The Federal Government has said that it is open to
negotiations with the Boko Haram sect in order to find
a lasting solution to the security crisis in the country, if
the group is willing.
This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to President
Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi
Adesina, on Friday, in an interview with the BBC .
In the interview, which was monitored by our
correspondent, 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. He 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.”
When the BBC also asked if the Federal Government
was considering negotiations with the insurgent group,
Adesina replied in the affirmative.
He 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.”