Negotiate with Boko Haram, says FG panel

ROTIMI FADEYI, OMEIZA AJAYI AND MIKE OKEMI

The Ambassador Usman Gaji Galtimariled committee on the Boko Haram insurgence in the North-East yesterday told the Federal Government to dialogue and negotiate with the violent Islamic sect to end the spate of bombings in the country.

The incidents had claimed many lives and property. In the final report submitted to Vice-President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, the committee said that the dialogue and negotiation should be contingent upon the renunciation of violence and rehabilitation programme by the government. The panel also recommended that the ongoing trial of police officers linked to the murder of Mohammed Yusuf, the sect leader and some of his followers should be expedited and publicised to convince the public of government’s sincerity on the matter Galtimari, while submitting the report, which he said was in three volumes, explained that there were palpable operational lapses, service rivalry, underfunding, under-equipment and lack of collaboration on the part of security agencies.

He explained that government also failed to deliver justice and bring immediate relief to the victims of the crisis, adding that the committee discovered during its investigation that there was general failure of effective and coordinated intelligence gathering and its deployment to forestall events with undesirable consequences. “In this direction, there is no high level security network/forum (outside the statutory national security institutions) that will enable an informal meeting between Mr. President and the Governors as well as other top level security stakeholders,” Galtimari said.

According to him; “the lack of an institutional structure/arrangement to primarily cater for interreligious affairs to promote harmonious co-existence confounded the problems” “Most importantly, the committee was inundated with series of complaints that the increasing level of insecurity in the country was amongst other reasons due to the failure of governments to implement reports of various committees that were constituted and had submitted useful recommendations in the past.” The panel chairman listed the causes of the security challenges as follows: *High level of poverty and poverty illiteracy existing in the North-East zone;

*Massive unemployment of youths, both skilled and unskilled;

*Existence of private militias that were established, funded and used by politicians and individuals and then dumped after having been trained to handle arms;

*Presence of large number of almajiris who together with those mentioned above could easily be used as canon-fodders to ignite and sustain crisis;

*Influx of illegal aliens resulting from porous and unmanned borders coupled with provocative and inciting preaching by some religious leaders;

*Extra-judicial killing of the sect leader Mohammed Yusuf and some members of the sect by security agents; and *Weak governance and failure to deliver services in the wake of huge resources accruing to State and Local Governments.

The panel therefore recommended to the Federal Government as follows: The Federal Government should fundamentally, consider the option of dialogue and negotiation which should be contingent upon the renunciation of all forms of violence and surrender of arms to be followed by a rehabilitation programme on the side of government. The Federal government should create an informal forum at the highest level, where Mr. President will discuss national security issues with governors and other stakeholders from time to time. Again, there is an urgent need for arranging an informal forum where Mr. President will grant audience to each state governor on one-to-one basis where issues on security, could be addressed. The Federal Government should diversify and strengthen its means of creating avenues for international intelligence sharing and inter-agency cooperation through diplomatic channels/pacts. 

The Federal government and Borno state government should ensure that human and organization victims most especially, churches and mosques including schools, which were destroyed during the religious crisis in the past and even in the recent past, should be compensated monetarily and by way of resuscitating and reconstructing their properties. Survivors of the deceased victims should be compensated appropriately. The federal government is urged to consider widely, the scope of the present assignment to cover all security challenges facing the nation. This view is well informed by comments, suggestions and counsel made by many concerned individuals to the committee in the course of interactions with stakeholders including the Executive governors of Borno, Bauchi, Kano , Niger and Sokoto.

Therefore government may consider constituting another committee with wider power and with an increased membership to handle the assignment within a reasonable timeframe but not weeks as was given to this committee. The committees power should include dialogue and negotiation with the Jaamatus Ahlus Sunnah Lid Daawatis Wal Jihad (Boko Haram) who have to our understanding, indicated their desire to have the sultan of Sokoto or his representatives as well as the Emir of Bauchi and Sheik Abubakar Gero Argungu as part of any such new committee.

The Vice-President said that about 9.5 million almajiris would be enrolled under the almajiri programme which has a budgetary allocation of N4 billion. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of recent intelligence reports allegedly revealing detailed plans by the sect to commemorate Nigeria’s 51st independence anniversary on October 1 by launching a series of coordinated bomb attacks nationwide and especially in Abuja, the United Kingdom has offered to assist the Federal Government in providing counter-terrorism measures that would help in stemming the tide of suicide bomb blasts and other organised crimes in the country. Britain’s Minister of Immigration, Damian Green who paid a call on Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro said the pledge was to consolidate on the agreement signed by leaders of both countries in July.
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