'Ceasefire Agreement' Splits Boko Haram Into Two Groups

Sequel to the purported ceasefire deal the Federal Government entered into with Boko Haram, the violent fundamentalist sect has split into two. While one faction wants peace, the other doesn’t.

Security Agencies Want To Set Us Up, Say BringBackOurGirls Campaigners

The BringBackOurGirls campaigners yesterday alleged that security agencies, who accused them of being on “franchise”, planned to set them up.
They said the “plot” might be the climax of incessant harassment and intimidation of the group in the last
two months.
They however said in spite of threats from security agencies, they would not give up the agitation for the rescue of the 219 Chibok girls, who were snatched off their dormitory on April 15.
The group, in a statement in Abuja by two of its coordinators, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and Mrs. Hadiza Bala
Usman, asked the military and security agencies to take action against terrorists who have abducted the girls instead of hounding its members.

The statement said: “For over two months, security agencies have harassed and sought to intimidate our movement incessantly. The latest was the statement yesterday accredited to the Deputy Director of Department of State Security, Mrs. Marilyn Ogar, who described the #BringBackOurGirls campaign as a
franchise.
“She made the comment in Abuja while responding to questions from journalists at the press briefing of the National Information Centre (NIC).
“This is a dangerous and unprecedented attack because as is well known in security circles, the term ‘franchise’ is used to refer to inter-related terrorist cells. She is reported to have said that if indeed our movement was a protest group, it would not need to force members to register and wear tags.
“Mrs. Ogar also affirmed security forces know about all the activities of the group. We know that they have a bank account,” she said.
“We know that they visit prominent individuals to solicit funds; we know that they have split themselves into
groups; we know that they want to simulate a protest march in Abuja to make it look like they went to Chibok.”
“There is a clear attempt to smear our work with a link of our work with Chibok and Sambisa forest. It is clear
from these comments that the security agencies are setting up the movement for a crackdown based on trumped up accusations.
“Our activities are open and our meetings are in a public space, the Unity Fountain. There is no compulsion to membership and our symbols, such as the red t-shirts, fez caps and pins are donated voluntarily by members.
“We are motivated by empathy and the need to search and rescue these girls. We are shocked that all we get from our security agencies is harassment, vilification, innuendoes and threats. This must stop.
“Security agencies have the responsibility to protect rather than intimidate citizens trying to do a good turn.

“It will be recalled that on 8th May, the Director of Defence Information of the Defence Headquarters had alleged that we distorted the report of what was for us constructive engagement with them two days previously. He claimed that we were trying to pitch public opinion against the armed forces and to project the Nigerian military in bad light and further heat up the polity.”

Courtesy:
The Nation Newspaper

Boko Haram Plans To Exchange the 300 Kidnapped Schoolgirls for ‘Comrades’ Imprisoned in Nigeria

Nearly 300 schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants could be released in exchange for jailed comrades, a former Boko Haram negotiator has reportedly said. 

A former mediator of the group has told the Telegraph he believes the video, where Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau threatens to sell the girls as slaves, shows he plans to use them as ‘bargaining chips’ rather than kill them.

Shekau claimed responsibility on Monday for the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls during a raid in the village of Chibok in northeast Nigeria last month.

Shehu Sani says he believes that the footage, released on Monday, was an attempt to persuade the Nigerian government into a prisoner trade.

He told the newspaper: ‘From my knowledge of the group, to have him saying that he will sell them is proof that this issue can be resolved.

‘The group is most likely to want to attach some kind of conditions to the girls being released, such as the freeing of some of their own prisoners.’

Source:
Mail Online