Boko Haram Agrees to Cease Fire

Mohammed Yusuf, leader of Boko Haram, was executed while in the custody of the Nigerian authorities. Hundreds have been reported killed in an effort to crush the Islamic movement based in several northern states., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Boko Haram agrees to cease fire, Britain bans group

MONDAY, 08 JULY 2013 00:00
FROM SAXONE AKHAINE (KADUNA), MUYIWA ADEYEMI (ADO EKITI), AZIMAZI MOMOH JIMOH (ABUJA), TOPE TEMPLER OLAIYA, BOLA OLAJUWON (LAGOS) AND EMMANUEL ANDE (YOLA)
Nigerian Guardian

• Army reviews curfew in Adamawa ahead of Ramadan

• Muslim body doubts effectiveness of emergency rule

• Fresh outrage at Yobe killings

A MONTH after the Federal Government proscribed Jamaatu Ahlis-Sunna Liddaawati Wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, the terrorist group agreed to cease fire on Monday .

The government had equally banned Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan, also known as Ansaru.

The ceasefire deal is coming on the eve of the Muslim Holy month due to begin Wednesday throughout the country.

The Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki announced the ceasefire deal on Radio France International Hausa services monitored in Kano on Monday afternoon.

Turaki who is the chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Committee on Dialogue and Peace Resolution on the security challenges in the north-east, spoke in Yola, the Adamawa State capital in north-eastern Nigeria yesterday, while fielding questions from journalists.

Turaki said that his committee had contacted some top leaders of the group and there was a positive response from the gang leaders that they would drop their arms for peace and unity in the north-east region.

The chairman of the committee who pointed out that the members of the committee were in Adamawa State to meet with the stakeholders and security chiefs to discuss the way forward on how to resolve the security crisis in north-east zone, called on the entire people of the area to support the presidency in tackling the crisis.

This is coming as Britain banned Boko Haram and Minbar Ansar Deen, a United Kingdom-based Islamist extremist group.

Announcing the ban yesterday, the British interior ministry said the proscription of the two groups would begin from Friday, subject to parliamentary approval. “This will make membership of, and support for these organisations a criminal offence,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The government is determined to work with the international community to tackle terrorism and take the steps necessary to keep the UK public safe. Proscription of these groups sends a clear message that we condemn their activities.”

The British government said its ban on Boko Haram would give the police the power to target British support for the group.

The British-based Minbar Ansar Deen allegedly promotes terror through its website and encourages people to travel abroad to engage in extremist activity, the Home Office added.

Under the 2000 Terrorism Act, the home secretary, or interior minister, can ban an organisation if it is believed to have terror links.

If the ban on Boko Haram and Minbar Ansar Deen is approved by the parliament, it will be a criminal offence in Britain to belong to or support the groups, as well as arrange meetings or wear clothing supporting them. Al-Qaeda and Somalia’s Shebab insurgents are also proscribed under the British law.

Some 3,600 people have been killed during Boko Haram’s four-year insurgency in the North and Central Nigeria, according to Human Rights Watch. In the latest attack last Saturday, gunmen killed 42 people, almost all of them students, as they stormed a boarding school in the north-eastern state of Yobe.

Also, authorities of 23 Armoured Brigade in Yola yesterday announced the review of a curfew imposed on Adamawa State following the declaration of a state of emergency in the state. A statement issued by the brigade’s Public Relations Officer, Lt. Ja’afar Nuhu, said the 8.00 p.m. to 5.00 a.m. curfew in force had been reviewed to 11.00 p.m. to 5.00 a.m.

The army noted: “In view of improved security situation in Adamawa and the up-coming month of Ramadan, the headquarters of the 23 Brigade wishes to inform the public that with effect from July 8, 2013, the curfew timing will be from 11.00 p.m. to 5.00 a.m. This is to enable law-abiding citizens pursue their religious obligations in an atmosphere of peace and harmony.”

Since the declaration of the state of emergency in May, this is the third time the army is reviewing the curfew. The earlier curfew was from dusk to dawn when the state of emergency was announced before it was reviewed to 7.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m.; it was later reviewed to 8.00 p.m. to 5.00 a.m.; and now 11.00p.m. to 5.00 a.m.

Also, Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, yesterday condemned the killings in Yobe State.

The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, described the killings as ungodly, reprehensible and savagery taken too far. The latest act of terror, according to the governor, is an indication that much work still needs to be done on the nation’s security.

Fayemi expressed dismay that the attack took place when the state was under an emergency, which was declared by President Goodluck Jonathan in May. He, therefore, called for a more strategic approach to government’s response to the offensive by the Boko Haram sect against the state.

On his part, the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Manuel Fontaine, yesterday said: “As we extend our sympathy to the families of the victims, we would say in the strongest possible terms that there can be no justification for the deliberate targeting of children and those looking after them.

“UNICEF is calling for those responsible to be brought to justice and for communities to demand that schools be considered as places of safety,” Fontaine said, noting that since June 16, it is reported that a total of 48 students and seven teachers have been killed in four attacks in the region.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also expressed shock at the killings, describing them as “monstrous and horrible.”

PDP Acting National Publicity Secretary, Tony Caesar Okeke, in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday said “the killing of the innocent children is a direct effrontery to God and the height of wickedness only fit for the devil.”

In proscribing the sects last month, President Jonathan authorised the gazetting of “an order declaring their activities illegal and acts of terrorism.”

The Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, while announcing the President’s directive to proscribe Boko Haram and Ansaru, said members, supporters, and collaborators would now face prosecution under Section 2 of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended).

“The proscription order warns the general public that any person participating in any form of activities involving or concerning the collective intentions of the said groups will be violating the provisions of the Terrorism Prevention Act.

“Section 5 (1) of the act prescribes a term of imprisonment of not less than 20 years for any person who knowingly, in any manner, directly or indirectly, solicits or renders support for the commission of an act of terrorism or to a terrorist group.

“For the purposes of sub-section (1) of the section, “support” include:

(a) incitement to commit a terrorist act through the Internet, or any electronic means or through the use of printed materials or through the dissemination of terrorist information;

(b) receipt or provision of material assistance, weapons including biological, chemical or nuclear weapons, explosives, training, transportation, false documentation or identification to terrorists or terrorist groups;

(c) receipt or provision of information or moral assistance, including invitation to adhere to a terrorist or terrorist group;

(d) entering or remaining in a country for the benefit of, or at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group; or

(e) the provision of, or making available, such financial or other related services prohibited under this Act or as may be prescribed by regulations made pursuant to this Act.”

Meanwhile, apex Islamic organisation in the North, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), has faulted the effectiveness of the emergency rule in the three states in the North East, as it also condemned the Yobe school massacre.

Besides, the Muslim body appealed to the Federal Government to restore the use of Global System for Mobile (GSM) Communications in the affected states to facilitate security alert in a situation of insecurity that has pervaded the states.

In a statement by the Secretary-General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, JNI said it received with consternation the senseless killings in Yobe State.