Insurgency: Govt reiterates commitment to negotiations with Boko Haram

The Minister of Special Duties, Mr. Kabiru Turaki, has promised to intensify discussions with insurgent groups with a view to ensuring a quick end to the security challenge facing the nation.

This promise was contained in a Sallah message issued by the minister's Special Assistant (Media), Mr. Okey Muogbo, in Abuja.

Turaki is the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of the Security Challenges in the North.

The message said the chairman and members of the committee were aware of the enormous challenges in the dialogue process and reassured Nigerians of the commitment of the committee to dialogue.

It said as patriotic Nigerians, they were committed to discharging their duty of ensuring that peace returned to the North and by extension, the whole country.

He urged members of the insurgent groups who have not yet accepted dialogue to, as good Muslims, use the occasion of the Sallah to accept the dialogue.

He also called on the insurgents to accept the dialogue option offered by the Federal Government and come to the negotiation table.

'This is the only way to air their grievances and discuss a peaceful end to the crisis in the North.

'The search for a permanent solution to the security challenge in the North requires the efforts and commitment of all Nigerians,' he stated.

He stressed that the committee had made progress in the discharge of its mandate, including recommending the release of innocent women and children detained by security agents.

This, Turaki contended, helped to ease tension and win the trust of members of the insurgents.

He assured Nigerians that the ongoing discussions with the insurgents who had already renounced violence would be intensified in the coming days.

He said the committee expected more insurgents to accept the dialogue option to give peace a chance.

'The business of ensuring that we have a more peaceful and secured society is our collective responsibility.

'I pray that God will guide and assist us in this Herculean task which my committee has been charged to bring to a successful end,' he said.