A big shadow of doubt is now cast on the Friday announcement of ceasefire between the Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram and the Nigerian military with the latest killings in the north-eastern part of Nigeria.
There have been at least five attacks since the cease fire was declared and more than a dozen people have been killed in the attacks.
General Alex Badeh, Nigeria’s Defence chief of staff had announced the ceasefire agreement on Friday. He had added that the new development meant that the more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, about six months ago would be freed any time soon.
The announcement had been received with a mixed reaction of joy and doubt. Leading the group swallowing the story with a pinch of salt is the United State. They described the claim as a possible political propaganda.
U.S. officials who did not want their names in print, had pointed out that Shekau has denied negotiating with the Nigerian government. They had also pointed out that whenever the Nigerian government claimed to have reached any agreement with the sect, the response from the sect had always been a brutal attack.
Experts in U.S. and Nigeria had also noted that there was no official confirmation of a ceasefire from Boko Haram, questioning the credibility of the man whom Badeh claimed had acted as Boko Haram’s spokesman.
“I have never heard of such a man and if Boko Haram wanted to declare a cease-fire it would come from the group’s leader Abubakar Shekau,” said Shehu Sani, who had, at one time, negotiated with Boko Haram on behalf of Nigeria.
To add to the doubts, the federal government issued a statement shortly after the ceasefire announcement, stating that while it is engaged in talks with Boko Haram, no agreement has been reached to halt hostilities.
“We can confirm that there have been contacts between the government and representatives of Boko Haram,” the National Information Center statement signed by Mike Omeri said.
“The discussions are essentially in relation to the general insecurity in the Northeast and also the need to rescue all captives of the terrorists, including the students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.
“… From the discussions, they indicated their desire for and willingness to discuss and resolve all associated issues. They also assured that the schoolgirls and all other people in their captivity are all alive and well.”
Some parents of the abducted girls, whose hope had already been raised by the ceasefire announcement, expressed great disappointment at the indications emerging that there really may have been no ceasefire.
“We were jubilating. We had every reason to be happy … but since then the ceasefire has been broken in quite a number of places already,” Lawan Abana, a parent of the one of the missing girls, told Reuters by telephone.
“Can we trust him that he can deliver on this promise of releasing the girls when he has not delivered on the promise of the ceasefire?”
There have also been suggestions from several quarters that the ceasefire announcement was only a political publicity stunt that was planned to herald the declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.
But the government insists that the attacks may not have been Boko Haram but one of several criminal groups exploiting the chaos of its insurgency, since there are strong evidences that the sect is heavily factionalised.
