Boko Haram agrees to ceasefire
ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s government said Islamic extremists from Boko Haram have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, but many people expressed doubts Friday about a development that could end an insurgency that has killed thousands and left hundreds of thousands homeless in Africa’s most populous nation.
The fate of more than 200 missing schoolgirls abducted by the insurgents six months ago still is being negotiated, said Defence Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade.
But French President Francois Hollande welcomed the “good news” and said the girls’ release “could happen in the coming hours and days.” France has been involved in negotiations that led to the release of several of its citizens kidnapped by Boko Haram in Cameroon.
Neither Hollande nor Nigerian government officials gave any details.
Boko Haram negotiators “assured that the schoolgirls and all other people in their captivity are all alive and well,” said Mike Omeri, the government spokesman on the insurgency.
The chief of defence staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, announced the truce Friday and ordered his troops to immediately comply with the agreement.
“Already, the terrorists have announced a ceasefire in furtherance of their desire for peace. In this regard, the government of Nigeria has, in similar vein, declared a ceasefire,” Omeri said.
But there was no immediate word from Boko Haram, which limits its public engagement to video announcements by its leader, Abubakar Shekau. Last year, when a government minister charged with negotiations announced an agreement, the group quickly published a video with Shekau denying it. He said at that time that whoever the government negotiated with did not speak for him, and that he would never talk to infidels.
The United States, which had sent a team including hostage negotiators to help free the girls, said it could not confirm a ceasefire.
Boko Haram — the group’s nickname means “education is sinful” — drew international condemnation with the April kidnapping of 276 girls and young women at a boarding school in the remote northeastern town of Chibok. Dozens escaped in the first couple of days, but 219 remain missing.
It could take days for word of a ceasefire to get to fighters of Boko Haram, which is broken into several groups.
In August, Boko Haram began seizing and holding territory where it declared a caliphate, apparently copying Islamic State, which is fighting in Iraq and Syria.
But the tide appears to have turned in recent weeks, with the military wresting some towns from the extremists.