Don’t negotiate with Boko Haram, ACF warns FG

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has urged the Federal Government to shelve any plans to dialogue with the Boko Haram insurgent group arguing that such efforts may be an exercise in futility.

According to a former Inspector General of Police who is also the ACF Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie, previous attempts at a peaceful resolution of the prolonged Boko Haram insurgency did not yield the desired results.

Coomasie who spoke at a press conference in Kaduna yesterday also chided Igbo elders and leaders for allegedly failing to condemn those promoting the revival of Biafra.

He said that government should sustain its current onslaught against the Boko Haram insurgents noting that, “so far, so good, things are going on as they should and very soon, we who’ll finish with Boko Haram.

“If you recall, the Federal Government in the past proposed a dialogue and even set up a mediation group but the so called dialogue collapsed.

“There had also been other issues including a ceasefire agreement which the Boko Haram and even the Federal Government described as false.
“So, with the way things are happening, is it now we should talk of dialogue and who is asking for dialogue in the first place?

“During the last one year, the ACF has made concerted efforts aimed at bringing to the notice of both the northern states and the Federal Government, the killings and other atrocities being perpetrated by the Boko Haram and their collaborators.

“We had put pressure on both the Federal Government and the northern states governments, urging them to save the lives of our people by acting fast and decisively to stop the insurgency.”

The ACF leadership lashed out at elders from the south east over reported renewed agitations for the creation of the Biafra Republic.
According to Coomasie, “the ACF has observed with serious concern the continued agitation by some Ndigbo elements for the creation of Biafra Republic out of the present Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“It is sad and unfortunate that 45 years after the civil war when Nigerians are now united in a democratic system of governance, some elements are busy drumming the idea of another war and secession, through Radio Biafra and MASSOB activities.

“The agitators for this unholy division are in their safe abode outside Nigeria and are openly campaigning in foreign countries.

“The moist painful aspect of this agitation by some young Ndigbo elements I’d the deaf ear and silence from the elders who experienced the bitter pill of the secession attempt.

“The ACF expects Ndigbo leaders to come out and condemn such agitations just as they and others condemned and berated the Boko Haram insurgency in the north east region.

“We cannot afford to transit from one insurgency into another and the ACF therefore calls upon the Ndigbo leaders and groups to come out, not only to condemn but to publicly dissociate themselves from this act of treason against the state by some disgruntled Ndigbo elements.”