AS part
of its ongoing tour of states in the North, the Presidential Committee on Dialogue
and Peaceful Resolution on security challenges in Northern Nigeria had a secret
meeting with suspected Boko Haram members in Kaduna on Friday, and also visited
churches and other sites that were bombed in the recent past.
Although, details of the meeting were not
made known to newsmen, sources said the Chairman of the committee, who is also
the Minister of Special Duties and Inter Governmental Affairs, Tanimu Turaki,
assured the suspects that his committee was prepared to engage them in
constructive dialogue with a view to ending the state of insecurity in the
country.
Turaki and other members of the committee
also went to Armed Forces and Staff College (AFSC), Jaji; St. Andrew Protestant
Church, Jaji Military Cantonment, St. Rita Catholic Church, Ungwan Yero,
Kaduna.
While at the AFSC Jaji, a mild drama ensued
when an officer told the committee members that the Commandant, Air Vice
Marshal Effiong Osim, was not going to see them because he was having a meeting
with a permanent secretary from the Ministry of Defence.
Although, the visit was unscheduled, the
chairman of the committee became furious at the information and ordered that
the commandant must see them, as they are on presidential assignment.
“This is rubbish, how can he not see us
because he is attending to a permanent secretary? I am a Minister of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are on presidential assignment. I have left
my office and have not attended the Federal Executive Council meetings for five
weeks now because of this assignment,” he said.
However, the commandant later apologised
for the earlier information from one of his officers, and immediately went into
a closed door meeting with the committee before visiting the sight of the
bombed church.
At the bomb sites, the chairman assured the
victims that the President is particularly worried about the general insecurity
across the country, and he is committed to providing succour to the victims and
families of dead persons in the bombings, just as he requested the commandant
to quantify all the damage in the church in monetary terms and forward it to
the committee.
“We are here to ascertain the volume of
damage in terms of monetary value and recommend appropriate support programme
to the President,” he said.
At St. Rita’s Catholic church, Ungwa Yero
in Kaduna metropolis, prayers were offered at the burial ground within the
church premises for the four persons who died during the church bombing in
October last year, just as the chairman assured that the affected persons would
be adequately compensated.
Source: Tribune
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