United States (U.S.) Vs Boko Haram.....

Govt forecloses dialogue with Boko Haram 

• We’ll continue to confront group, Ihejirika declares 

• U.S. ANC urge Nigeria to unite against sect

IT is final! The Federal Government will not under any condition negotiate with Boko Haram. This position is informed by the government’s belief that the war against terrorism cannot be won through negotiation.


In fact, the government said yesterday that those calling for dialogue with Boko Haram would soon realise that the group’s menace cannot be resolved at the roundtable.

These views were expressed in Abuja yesterday by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Onyeabo Azubuike Ihejirika. He declared that the military would engage the sect in a shoot-out whenever it is warranted.

He said: “Whatever measures we put in place, we would not get the best result and fast enough unless the society as a whole reject terrorism. Those who try to justify acts of terrorism inadvertently support terrorists. And some do so only to discover later that terrorism is not a matter to be negotiated and won. The Army is not resting on its oars as it is transforming on the training of its personnel as the last batch of the quick response had just passed out and have been deployed to curtail the movement of the terrorists.”

For the second time in two days, the United States (U.S.), yesterday promised to work with Nigeria to end terrorism and urged Nigerians to unite against the activities of Boko Haram. The African National Congress (ANC) also called for global assistance for Nigeria to curb the growing insurgency in the North.

Ihejirika declared that Nigeria’s war against terrorism could only be defeated if the people joined the Federal Government to fight the perpatrators.

Ihejirika said the terrorists inflicting mayhem on Nigerians were being harboured by fellow citizens, adding that such people helped to fuel their activities.

He told the participants at the 2nd yearly seminar on national security organised by the Alumni Association of the National Defence College (AANDEC) with the theme: “Nation building and national orientation imperatives for national security,” that the last batch of troops who graduated last Friday on quick response to assigned goals have been deployed as part of the onslaught against terrorism....Read More...

 

Braithwaite opposes foreign help, Soyinka seeks dialogue over sect 

• Report says sect killed 935

THE magnitude of violence being unleashed on Nigerians by the Boko Haram, notwithstanding, the Federal Government may have to tackle them without recourse to foreign support due to opposition to such a proposal.
Yesterday, the National Action Coalition being led by Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, specifically rejected any plan to allow intervention from the United States (U.S.) in the fight against the Islamic sect in Nigeria.

On Monday, the Borno Elders and Leaders of Thought (BELT) led by former Minister of Steel and Petroleum Resources in the First Republic, Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno, expressed opposition to the United States (US) intervention in the efforts to tackle Boko Haram.  Monguno said such action would be improper because Nigeria has no defence pact with the U.S.

But this caution came amid a report   by the Human Rights Watch (HWR) that about 935 people had been killed since 2009 when Boko Haram began its onslaught in the country.

And for the umpteenth time, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has urged the Federal Government to immediately convoke a national dialogue for all of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities to iron out the basis of their future co-existence.

Soyinka said such a conversation would enable Nigeria to address debilitating issues, such as the Boko Haram insurgency in the North, as well as other pressing constitutional matters that have continually remained sources of destabilisation in the nation.

Speaking at an event organised by the American Consulate in Lagos, to commemorate the birthday of slain American civil rights leader, Martin Luther King (Jnr.), Soyinka agonised that Nigeria was already disintegrating before the very eyes of its citizens. He said it was now time for Nigerians to sit down as equal partners, and discuss the future of the country....Read More...