Nigeria : Why We Agreed To Ceasefire - Boko Haram

* Hope say una mean am ooh? *

A group claiming to be a faction of the Jamatu Ahlis Sunnah lil daawati wal jihad sect, popularly known as Boko Haram, said on Monday that it decided to ceasefire in Maiduguri because they had come to a realization that Muslims suffer from the attacks.

The group is led by one Abu Mohamed Abdulazeez who claims to be the second in command in the sect’s leadership hierarchy. He also claimed to have spoken on behalf of the overall leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau.Mr. Abdulazeez, who spoke in Hausa language, told journalists in Maiduguri that it decided to end the crisis so that fellow Muslims can live peacefully.

“We, on our own, in the top hierarchy of our movement under the leadership of Imam Abubakar Shekau, as well as some of our notable followers agreed that our brethren in Islam, both women and children are suffering unnecessarily; hence we resolved that we should bring this crisis to an end,” he said.

Mr. Abdulazeez, who also said he heads the Southern and Northern Borno cells of the sect, told reporters that the announcement of the ceasefire followed a series of meetings it held with the government of Borno State where it got commitments from the government that its members in captivity will be released.
“We have also told the government to try to live up to our demands that our members in detention should be released.

“We hope the government will not betray us this time around, because we all know that it was because of the continued detentions of our members that this crisis continued for this long. And if government fails to do as it now promised, then this conflict will never have an end,” he said.

Mr. Abdulazeez called on the members of the sect to lay down their arms and asked government to arrest anyone who took up arms and carried attacks in the name of the sect.

“We, therefore, called on all those that identify themselves with us and our course, to from today lay down their arms. Let every member who hears this announcement relay it to the next member who hasn’t heard.

“We have met with the Borno State Government on two occasions and the fallout of the meeting is to ceasefire. Presently we are going to comply with the ceasefire order and by the time we are done with that, then government security agencies can go ahead to arrest whoever they find carrying arms or killing under our names,” he said.