The Federal Government is in a desperate
manhunt for the leaders of the Boko Haram Islamic sect believed to be
hiding in the desert and mountains of northern Mali.
Security operatives are believed to be
acting on the information that key figures in the sect were sighted in
northern Mali in December.
Saturday PUNCH investigations reveal
that the Nigerian government is committing a huge amount of money to the
prosecution of the campaign against the Islamists in northern Mali
because of the belief in security circles that the area has been a haven
for wanted commanders of the sect.
Prior to the Mali mission, the Joint
Task Force in the Niger Delta had placed a ransom on the leader of the
sect, Imam Abubakar Shekau and 19 others for offences ranging from
“killings and bombings to assassination of civilians, religious leaders,
traditional rulers, businessmen, politicians, civil servants and
security personnel among others,” and the destruction of property worth
millions of naira.
The task force placed a ransom of N50m
on Shekau and N25m each on four others: Habibu Yusuf aka Asalafi; Khalid
Albarnawai, Momodu Bama and Mohammed Zangini, identified as members of
the “Shurra Committee.”
The security outfit also placed a ransom of N10m each on 14 commanders of the sect.
The Federal Government has so far
committed $35m into the campaign to liberate northern Mali from the
control of the Islamists, President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly said.
Jonathan had told the Nigerian community
in Geneva, Switzerland penultimate Tuesday that 50 per cent of Boko
Haram members received training in terror in northern Mali.
“If you don’t solve the problem of Mali,
Nigerians will continue to sleep with one eye because the terrorists
will like to move from northern Mali to Niger, Chad and of course
northern Nigeria.
“Almost 50 per cent of the Boko Haram
adherents were trained in northern Mali. Most of the weapons they use
come from Libya to Mali and then to Nigeria,” Jonathan said.
As a result of the strong belief in
security circles that the Boko Haram top commanders are coordinating
attacks within Nigeria from neighbouring Western African countries, key
security figures are not jumping to celebrate the declaration by a
faction of the group for a ceasefire.
Investigations showed that the nation’s
secret police, the State Security Service, is not taking the issue of
ceasefire with excitement.
The SSS is waiting for the conditions
for the planned negotiation to take a position on the issue of peace
overture from the sect.
An SSS source said that the Federal
Government would observe the sect for at least six months after which
steps could be taken on the issue of ceasefire.
It is the position of the operatives
that the various factions of the sect might engage one another in a
confrontation which might prevent the Federal Government from going into
the negotiations expected to seal the proposed ceasefire.
The source said, “On the issue of
ceasefire, security agencies are waiting for their conditions. Once we
study their conditions, the office will determine what to do, whether to
go ahead or not.
“The SSS is getting close to them. They
are divided, but the government has to study them. The SSS will observe
them for six months. If there is a fight after six months, the
government will know that they cannot be negotiated with; they will be
ignored.
“We are on the trail of the key leaders
of the sect. Security operatives sighted some of them in Mali in
December. Some of them are believed to have left Mali but are being
trailed.”
It was further gathered that this period
has become more precarious for the members of the sect even in the
Islamic North with the recorded attacks on prominent emirs including
Alhaji Ado Bayero of Kano.
It was also stated that the faction of
the Boko Haram members purportedly calling for a ceasefire might have
been compelled to do so because of the waning support base of the group
in the North.
It is believed to be the view of several
Muslims outside the North-East that a group claiming to be fighting the
cause of Islam would not be targeting prominent figures from an Islamic
society for elimination.
“Even among the northerners, there are
people who are opposed to them because they are seen to be attacking the
northern oligarchy, especially with the attack on Ado Bayero and the
Emir of Fika, Alhaji Abali Ibn Mohammed Idrisa.
“Many northerners are of the view that a
group claiming to fight the cause of Islam would not attack leaders of
Islamic societies. Their sympathy base is fast running dry even in the
North,” the source said.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola
Ibrahim, had said that the government would give the Boko Haram Islamic
sect a period of 30 days to stop all forms of violence before it could
take seriously the offer of ceasefire proposed by the sect’s Commander
in Southern and Northern Borno, Mohammed Abdulazeez.
“You see, we must treat that with a
lot of caution. You understand, there are certain objective tests that
will make sense. Let’s assume we can have a long period of about one
month where no bomb explodes, where nobody is shot, where nobody is
beheaded, where no church is bombed, where no mosque is threatened.
“If they can guarantee just one month,
then we can begin to talk. You see, we must take this with a lot of
caution. That is what I am telling you.
“We hope whatever that must have brought
about this will further enhance our security and it’s like a
recognition of the very futile approach to solving whatever they
consider to be their problems. So, we are a bit excited by it but we are
taking everything with a lot of caution,” he said
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