The Boko Haram insurgents have vowed to fight governments, following the rejection of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum’s recent call to lay down arms for peace. According to Zulum, the insurgents’ laying down of arms, could lead to the restoration of normal life in Borno state. The leader of armed group, Abubakar Shekau, however; rejected the governor’s pleas to lay down arms. Ahmad Salkida, a journalist renowned journalist for his closeness to the sect on Sunday, disclosed that Shekau has turned down the advice.
Tweeting yesterday (Sunday) via a handle, @A Salkida, the conflict and terrorism reporter said: “Shekau, in a recorded audio in Kanuri and Hausa rejected Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum’s olive branch for peace.” In a calm tone, uncharacteristic of Shekau in the video, he claimed the war was just commencing in Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad region. He vowed that his group was not ready to give up arms, chiding the governor for misinterpreting a verse from the Quran. According to Shekau; Boko Haram members that want to surrender for deradicalisation, know that it is about God; it is not about any human being. Political and informed analysts consider the exchange a good sign, urging the governor not to relent in engaging the insurgents at all levels.
In the last decade, insurgency has claimed over 27,000 lives with the devastation of several communities and towns in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. The Nigeria’s humanitarian crisis remains among one of the most severe in the world with 7.1 million people in need of life-saving assistance and 1.8 million people uprooted from their homes – the vast majority of them women and children. “The decade long crisis; is currently still far from over with more communities being attacked every week,” lamented Mr. Edward Kallon, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria. “In this very critical period, we must collectively redouble efforts, with support at all levels – locally, nationally and internationally,” he said.
