CHIBOK GIRLS: TAMBUWAL ASKS FG TO NEGOTIATE WITH BOKO HARAM

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal, has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to negotiate with the Boko Haram sect, to secure the release of the over 200 girls who were kidnapped from their school in Chibok, Borno State in April this year.
The speaker said this while receiving a delegation of the BringBackOurGirls advocacy group, which paid him a courtesy visit at the National Assembly yesterday.
Tambuwal, who said he had made his position known before now in Kano last year, said it was important to go to the negotiating table with the insurgents if it would ensure the security of lives and in this case, if it would guarantee the safe release of the girls.
“If negotiating is what will bring back, for instance, our Chibok girls, then for God’s sake, we should negotiate,” he stated, adding that Israel and Palestine were holding talks, despite hostilities between them.
“Negotiating does not just mean you are submitting; you are not. It is just a strategy. Whatever we have to do we must do, to bring back these girls safe and alive,” he maintained.
The speaker also called on the president to partner with the BringBackOurGirls group and answer their questions, saying they were only there to provide support for the safe return of the abducted girls. In the same vein, he urged security agents to be civil in their dealings with the group. He was reacting to the barricade at the National Assembly gates by security agents to stop the group, which had a prior appointment with the Senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives, from gaining entrance into the building. Members of the group were drenched by the heavy rain while they struggled to gain access into the building.
“Any citizen of this country can approach the National Assembly without an appointment… There is need to be more civil with the way we handle some of these situations, even if we are not happy with the approach of the people… We mustn’t be seen in any way to be persecuting you. We should even encourage you to do more,” he said.
Tambuwal continued, “Government is not a secret cult. If you are not running a secret cult, you should accept to answer questions, especially coming from a responsible group like you.”
Source: Leadership