Principal Secretary to President Goodluck Jonathan, Hassan Tukur has expressed optimism that Islamist sect Boko Haram would not renege on its ceasefire agreement as its deal with Cameroon has shown it can be trusted.
The federal government on Friday announced it had entered into a ceasefire deal with the Islamist sect, with the release of the abducted Chibok girls expected as part of the deal.
Tukur, who is negotiating the ceasefire on behalf of Nigeria, spoke on Arise Television yesterday said negotiations with the Boko Haram sect, brokered by the President of Chad, Idris Derby, would continue this week.
“The sect honoured its first promise to Cameroun which was also brokered by the president of Chad. This led to the release of the wife of the deputy prime minister of Cameroun and the Chinese nationals.
“Since it delivered on its promise to Cameroun, we expect Boko Haram to deliver on the release of the Chibok girls and the cessation of hostilities in North-eastern Nigeria,” he said.
While the ceasefire agreement was announced on Friday, attacks have continued in Nigeria’s northeast.
Commenting on the weekend attacks on Borno and Adamawa communities, Tukur said that the federal government would verify if there was any violation of the ceasefire agreement with the sect.
“We have to verify where the attacks are coming from. As you know, it is difficult to have a ceasefire in an organisation that has many members and cells/units. So we have to verify what is happening on the ground.
“We have to examine the situation first and we cannot take any decision yet (in the eventuality of the attacks being true). So I don’t want to comment on what government would do if the ceasefire is to be violated because I am not the government spokesperson.”
