DON’T NEGOTIATE FOR CHIBOK GIRLS,
MUSLIMS TELL SULTAN
The Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic
Affairs has warned the Sultan of Sokoto,
Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, against holding talks
with the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram,
until he receives an official approval from
the Federal Government.

The apex body of Muslims in the country
fears that the Sultan might be blackmailed
by the government if he goes ahead to
negotiate with the terrorist group, especially
on the over 200 pupils of Government Girls’
Secondary School abducted by the sect on
April 14, without an official consent.
The council warned that the Islamic leader
should not be hoodwinked into making such
moves by those calling for his intervention
in the insurgency by the sect.

Some Islamic elite, under the aegis of
Concerned Muslim Professionals, had written
to the Sultan earlier in July, asking him to
lead the dialogue with the Boko Haram sect.
The group told the monarch, who is the
President-General of the NSCIA, to use his
position and engage members of the sect in
dialogue that would make them stop their
campaign of killings.
Similarly, a human rights activist based in
the North and President, Civil Rights
Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu Sani, had
earlier in May asked the Sultan to spearhead
the moves to secure the release of the
abducted pupils from the group’s captivity.
Sani, in a letter to the religious leader, had
said, “You (Sultan) have a moral duty and a
spiritual responsibility to be visibly and
actively involved in seeking the resolution of
this impasse happening within areas you
have religious influence.”
However, the Secretary-General of the
NSCIA, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, while speaking
to SUNDAY PUNCH on Thursday, warned that
the President-General of the council should
not be hoodwinked into taking up the task
of negotiating with the terrorists.
He said, “The Muslim community had always
been taking action; it had always been
appealing to the people (Boko Haram) but
Muslim leaders are also cautious because in
your process to go out to look for these
people; if in the process you’re caught
talking with them, the government can even
turn against you and say you’re part of part
of Boko Haram.

“No matter the level of the Muslim leader, he
has to think twice before he begins to
communicate with these people (sect)
because the same government that you want
to work for can turn against you and accuse
you of complicity; and you will be on your
own.
“They (government) have enough machinery
to present you as a devil such that members
of your family will believe that you’re a
devil.”
When asked if such could be done to the
Sultan, the professor insisted that the
Islamic leader could be implicated without
the backing of the government, especially at
a time when “many of us are being unduly
monitored.”
He added, “I am not the Sultan but
fortunately the Sultan has dual status;
traditionally, he is the Sultan of Sokoto;
religiously, he is the leader of the Muslim
community. I relate with him as far as his
mandate as the leader of the Muslim
community is concerned.

“In that capacity, I will not advise him to
hold any unilateral action with the sect
without having the full confidence of the
government of the day. If anybody makes
such calls, somebody like the Sultan should
think twice before venturing into searching
for people you do not know.”
Oloyede asked why the Federal Government
kept the findings by the Presidential
Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful
Resolution of Security Challenges in the
North, which was chaired by the Minister of
Special Duties, Taminu Turaki.
“I believe that by now, as Muslims leaders,
we should have access to the findings; we
don’t. We are just working in darkness. By
now, even if the report had not been
released, we should have had access to it.
Then, we will be able to have some clues to
what is happening,” the NSCIA scribe stated.
Also, an Islamic pressure group, Muslims
Rights Concern, said it was the
responsibility of the Federal Government,
and not the Sultan, to seek an end to the
insurgency by the group.
The Founder, MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola,
told SUNDAY PUNCH in an interview on
Friday that the Sultan had spoken out
against the activities of the sect on several
occasions, “what else do they want him to
do?”
He said, “I stand by the decision of the
Supreme Council; it is a very correct
position. The Sultan cannot negotiate,
particularly without the Federal
Government’s green light. We don’t support
the idea of the Sultan negotiating because
he would be seen as somebody who has
vested interests. Why can’t the Federal
Government take that up?”
The Professor of Islamic Eschatology stated
that there was no reason for the Muslim
community to rise up to the challenge
separately, as it would be “tantamount to
sedition, separatism and rising when the
Federal Government should rise.”
Efforts to get the Presidency for comments
on Friday and Saturday proved abortive.
Calls made to the mobile phones of the
Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, and the
Special Adviser to the President on Media
and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, respectively,
were not picked.
Also, they did not reply to text messages
sent to them.

In the letter to the Sultan, the President,
Concerned Muslim Professionals, Alhaji
Mohammed Saidu, said, “A failure on the
part of the Muslim leadership (under His
Eminence the Sultan) to discharge these
responsibilities/actions to the later will
render it of questionable ability, doubtful
recognition, decimal loyalty or an outright
dismissal as a mere smoke-screen. As
obedient and loyalists to His Eminence the
Sultan, our hearts bleed on these realities.”
Sani, in an exclusive interview with SUNDAY
PUNCH, had stated that the sect would
prefer Islamic clerics as its negotiators.
He said, “The group (Boko Haram) is mostly
comfortable with Islamic clerics. The
insurgents are more comfortable with people
that are considered neutralists.

“For the purpose of negotiation, if the
government is setting up a team, I strongly
advise that the team should be made up of
Islamic clerics, who are going to reach out
to them to seek the release of the girls.”
Just as the Islamic bodies have requested,
former President Olusegun Obasanjo had
insisted that President Goodluck Jonathan
must approve his planned move to secure
the release of the Chibok schoolgirls.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV on May
31, 2014, the ex-President had said while he
had not been officially mandated to lead the
mediation, his next step was to get an
approval from the government. He insisted
that the President must know about his
moves.
Again on June 12, 2014, in an interview with
the BBC Hausa Service, Obasanjo had
expressed his regret that the Federal
Government had not yet given him the green
light to reach to the insurgents for the
release of the girls.

The Federal Government had, however,
insisted that Obasanjo had access to
President Jonathan, if he truly wanted to
make inputs. Sources at the Presidency had
also expressed doubts over Obasanjo’s
sincerity with his plan.

Source: Punch

After speaking against them! He should not O!
Let Sanusi do that.

All these people behind the Boko boys now want to appear clean before Nigerians. We ain't that silly! Do ur negotiation in the secret and tell ur boys to release our girls and cease fire