Federal Government officials are now trading
blames over the phantom ceasefire deal
brokered by the President of Chad, Idriss
Déby, with sources saying the Chadian leader
might have set Nigeria up.
“Nigerian government officials no longer have
access to Déby, who is now said to be sick.
It appears he set us up to drop our guard
and allow Boko Haram to gain ground,” an
official told online news medium, TheCable.
TheCable had reported how Déby put the
deal together, revealing how he said Boko
Haram got in touch with him, how he
authenticated
the message and how he got the Nigerian
government involved in the negotiations. A
journalist with links to the group had
however described the claim as “shadows
and bubbles” and warned Nigerians not to
believe it.
A government official, who spoke with the
online medium however accused Déby of
setting a trap for Nigeria.
“The period of the phantom negotiations
gave the terror group time to regroup,
reinforce and restrategise, which is the intent
of Déby for asking the Nigerian government
to negotiate a ceasefire with Boko Haram. As
soon as Nigeria began to make a lot of gains
in the war against Boko Haram, owing to the
efforts of the military and President Goodluck
Jonathan, who has been discussing with
regional leaders to halt the insurgency, and
at a time the commanders of the sect were
being rounded up, that was when the
Chadian president approached the Nigerian
government asking that it mediates between
the parties in the conflict.
“The discussions between the government
and the Chadian president on Boko Haram
started in September. However, Déby said he
was already talking with Boko Haram.
“The government was trying to verify the
authenticity of Boko Haram’s representatives
in the supposed negotiations, but Déby asked
the Nigerian government to take a chance
that he had done the verification already. He
affirmed that Boko Haram’s representatives
were truly standing in for the group in the
negotiations.”
“It was at this stage the government
nominated the principal secretary to the
president, Awwal Tukur, to be part of the
negotiations in N’Djamena, the capital of
Chad.
“Tukur was the one spearheading the
dialogue with Boko Haram on behalf of the
Nigerian government. He had the first
contact with group. It was still in the middle
of the supposed negotiations that Danladi
Ahmadu announced on Voice of America that
the group had ceased fire. Following the
announcement of ceasefire by the group, the
Nigerian government equally announced a
ceasefire on October 17 for the supposed
negotiations to continue.
“A Nigerian delegation left for Chad on
October 21 for talks with Boko Haram, but
the Chadian president became evasive. The
Nigerian delegation was told that Déby was
sick and that the meeting be rescheduled for
October 23.
“However, on that date, the delegation was
told that the Chadian president was still sick
after waiting for six hours. The delegation
made visits to Chad a number of times, but
met a brickwall.
“As Boko Haram’s resumed attacks grew in
intensity, the Nigerian government became
worried. Many attempts were made to
inquire from the Chadian president, who was
supposed to be mediating between the
Nigerian government and Boko Haram, but
the attempts were all futile.
“France was privy to the botched
negotiations, but said nothing just like the
Chadian government.
“It became clear to the Nigerian government
that Déby was working for Boko Haram. The
government of Chad has not said a word to
the Nigerian government since Boko Haram’s
resumed onslaughts. It has simply refused to
make any comment or communicate with the
Nigerian government.
“The Nigerian government has also ceased to
speak with the Chadian government on the
matter since it is now clear that Chad is
working with Boko Haram,” the source said.
Boko Haram has killed some 12,000
Nigerians since it started its attacks in 2009.
The efforts of the government in ending the
attacks was beginning to yield fruits until
troops were called to withdraw following a
purported ceasefire deal which was followed
by series of attacks and the takeover of
some key towns in the country’s north east.
The military seem to be back to where it
started in its fight, but recent developments
may help the military to be more determined
in its fight this time around.
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