The North has criticised the National President,
Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, for faulting a
ceasefire deal between the Federal Government and the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
The apex body of the North, Arewa Consultative
Forum, on Friday warned Oritsejafor not to instigate the public to scuttle
peace moves in the region.
The Chairman, Presidential Committee on Dialogue
and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, Mr. Kabiru Turaki
(SAN), had last Monday announced a ceasefire deal between the government and
the sect.
But on Wednesday at the ninth National Assembly
of CAN where he was re-elected, Oritsejafor dismissed the ceasefire deal.
He noted that Boko Haram could not be taken
seriously because the group had been factionalised, because there were two
groups –the Shekau group and the Ansaru group.
“Even if one person says ‘I want peace and I drop
my weapons. I will still ask, ‘Which Boko Haram?’ We have seen situations in
the past, where they told us that some people wanted truce and the next day we
saw people being killed,” the CAN President said.
The National Publicity Secretary, ACF, Mr.
Anthony Sani, in an interview with our correspondent, however, said starting
dialogue with a faction of the sect could lead other reluctant members
embracing it.
He also said, “CAN President is expected to
encourage this government, instead of creating doubt in the minds of both the
government and Nigerians. That is unhelpful. This is because it is not possible
for all the members of the sect to agree with dialogue – all at the same time.
The extremist ones among them will always oppose dialogue.”
The ACF spokesman urged Nigerians to support the
moves by the Federal Government, saying security issues should be approached in
bipartisan manner.
While Sani admitted the possibility of a reprisal
by members of Boko Haram over the life sentence passed on five members of the
sect by a court recently, he said it was because the terms of dialogue had yet
to be discussed.
He also said government’s moves
for dialogue could run concurrently with the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe
and Adamawa states.
Sani noted that the emergency rule was only to
enable the government to reclaim Nigerian territories seized by the sect and
not to preclude dialogue.
“ACF believes as soon as the territories have
been fully reclaimed, dialogue will take the centre stage.
“With such assurance from the government that it
has the capacity and capability to execute strategy of stick and carrot, it
would be unpatriotic for anybody to doubt the possibility of the reported
ceasefire,” Sani added.
He added that Orisejafor should allow those
concerned with the affairs of security in the region to make comments.
“He (Oritsejafor) has been making very incendiary
statements; he’s been accusing people left, right and centre. I don’t believe
in his kind of religious leadership. He is not a Muslim; he is not a member of
Boko Haram and he has no business commenting on the leadership structure of the
sect.
“He doesn’t know the working structure of
government. He has never worked in government.”
On his part, the National Coordinator,
Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professional and Businessmen, Dr.
JunaidMohammed, however, expressed his doubt over the ceasefire deal.
“Do you believe any ceasefire deal was signed?”
he asked our correspondent.
He alleged that Turaki was only playing to the
gallery with the ceasefire deal to win the favour of the Presidency.
“If you want to sign any deal with anybody,
you must identify the bona fides. You can call your friend to come and sign a
deal with you but how are you sure he’s the de facto leader? Boko Haram is not
just a terrorist’ organisation, it is also an underground organisation. You
must know the structure of any organisation before you can confirm that you’re
dealing with the bona fide leader.”
On the prosecution of five members of the
sect, he said nobody was above the law, adding that Nigerian justice system
should be scrapped if it dreads prosecuting criminals.
Source: Punch
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