Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno says his government is in support of Federal Government’s decision to dialogue with the moderate elements within the Boko Haram sect.
Shettima, who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri on Monday, noted that most conflicts in the world, including the country’s 1967-1970 civil war, were sorted out at the conference table.
“Unless we want to engage in an endless war, I believe it is irrational for anyone to oppose dialogue as a means of resolving conflicts.
“I see no reason why we should not engage the moderate elements in Boko Haram, who are willing to lay down their arms and who have recognised the territorial integrity of the nation, in a dialogue.
“The Northern Ireland problem was eventually resolved through dialogue; today, the Israelis are talking to their Palestinian cousins and many other global conflicts, much more complicated than ours, were eventually resolved through dialogue.”
He said the Federal Government had nothing to loose because it was negotiating from a position of strength.
Shettima said, although the Columbian rebels were talking with the Columbian Government, that did not stop the government from attacking their position.
He said that although there were elements within the Boko Haram sect that were opposed to dialogue, that should not stop the government from negotiating with the moderate members of the sect that were ready and willing to do so.
“I am for dialogue and will always be for dialogue. I will always support any Nigerian who wants peace; we support Federal Government’s dialogue with the Boko Haram.”
The governor also dismissed the claim in some quarters that the Boko Haram crisis was fermented as part of a grand design by Muslims to Islamise the country, saying that majority of the victims of the sect were Muslims.
“In fact, at the onset of the insurgency, churches were never targeted. They were killing village, district and ward heads, who are largely Muslims.”
He described members of the sect as fringe elements “whose condition is further aggravated by poverty and illiteracy.”
Shettima said that members of the sect, who were as old as Islam itself, were descendants of the Kharijite Sect that came into existence few years after the death of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
According to him, they are out to pursue their own narrow and selfish agenda.
