Boko Haram writes FG asking for dialogue

The Islamist militant group,  Boko Haram,  has distributed a letter requesting dialogue  with the Federal  Government. The letter, which was  sent through head of journalists in Borno State, Aba Kakami, came less than 72 hours after a double suicide bombing  led to the death of  at least 17 people at the Protestant Military Church, Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Jaji, Kaduna State.

Kakami  has often received and distributed statements from the sect.

According to an  international news agency, Reuters, the letter was signed by Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, a man known  in  security sources to be a moderate senior member of the sect.

The letter, if  genuine,  would  mark a change  of departure  of  tactics by the  group which has been been responsible for  many  bombings in the country.

Nearly 3,000 people have died violent deaths related to the conflict since the sect launched its uprising in 2009, according to a count by Human Rights Watch. Boko Haram has replaced militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta over that time to become the biggest security threat to Nigeria.

Communication  with Boko Haram , which   wants  imposition of  sharia  on Nigeria, has been even more sporadic than normal since the military killed its  spokesman, Abu Qaqa, in September.

Abdulazeez first contacted journalists in Maiduguri earlier this month, setting conditions for peace talks in the teleconference and nominating former Head of State,   Muhammadu Buhari , as a mediator. Buhari has since declined the offer.

“We are by this letter of invitation to our respected elders proving to government that we are not joking with the government, but we are awaiting the response of those concerned,” Abdulazeez said in the letter.

Abdulazeez said he was speaking on behalf of Abubakar Shekau, the sect’s leader.

But even if Abdulazeez does represent Shekau, the extent to which Boko Haram is controlled by Shekau is in doubt, and analysts think military pressure has fragmented it.

The letter nominated  Imam Gabchiya, an official  of  the University  of  Maiduguri, Borno State as  mediator.

Via Punch