The National Security Adviser,
NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), yesterday said that he had contacts of key Boko
Haram leaders for possible dialogue with the group.
Dasuki, who spoke in Jos, the
Plateau State capital, dung a meeting with stakeholders, also said that he was
planning to meet with the group to ceasefire and dialogue.
“I was in Yobe and Borno states
last week and I have got the telephone numbers and contacts of key Boko Haram
members and I will meet with them.
“I saw the dangerous effect of
Boko Haram in these states and what I saw was pathetic.
“But I have the mandate to put
heads together with religious and traditional leaders as well as the state
governments to ensure an immediate ceasefire,” Da-suki said.
News Agency of Nigeria, NAN,
reports that the NSA said he was in Plateau for on-the-spot assessment of the
security challenge and Federal Government’s peace efforts in the north-ern
states.
He expressed confidence that
the people of Plateau State would put their problems behind them and forge
ahead with peace and reconciliation.
“I have a stake in Plateau
State because I have lived in Pankshin and Jos when my father resided here.
“So if we lived peacefully way
back then, it is possible to go back to those good old days.
“Before now, it is difficult
for me to believe that you can see a Fulani and Berom man together on the
street of Plateau fighting. But the presence of various ethnic and religious
groups at this parley is a pointer to the fact that we want to forge ahead.”
Governor Jonah Jang told the
NSA that there was nothing new to discuss that had not been discussed by the
state government to find solution to the conflict among the natives and their
Hausa-Fulani neighbours.
He wondered why some people
were bent on disrespecting constituted authorities, saying some vested
interests operating from outside the state had been fanning embers of discord
among residents.
The governor said that each
time there was unrest in the state in the last 10 years, those arrested for
various offences were al-ways taken to Abuja and subsequently released only for
such elements to return to Jos and cause more harm.
Jang, however, said that Boko
Haram insurgents were faceless, stressing that it would be difficult for any
government to dialogue with them. He said: ‘’We fought the civil war to keep
this coun-try together and some other people are now busy tearing it apart.
What is going on in the northern states is unfortunate.”
Jang added that both
Christianity and Islam do not belong to one tribe or race, but are universal
religions practised by various tribes and race all over the world.
The NSA was also in Kat-sina
where he held a closed-door meeting with the Emir, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir
Usman.
Before the meeting with the
Emir, the NSA had visited Governor Ibrahim Shema, where he lamented that the
security in the North “is not what anybody would be proud of.”
Quoting a Hausa parable, Dasuki
said: “If one’s beard was on fire, there was need for his neighbour to come to
his rescue by pouring water on the burning beard.”
“We are in the state to listen
to you, what your concerns are, where we can assist.”
Shema called for an “eagle-eyed
approach to ensuring security” in the coun-try, and that “all hands must be on
deck to meet the security challenges” facing the country.
Meanwhile, a bomb exploded in
Kaduna yesterday, injuring one person.
It was learnt that the
explosion occurred one kilometer away from the ongoing 2012 Army Day
celebration in Jaji, along the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway, sending residents of
Malaban Jos into a state of confusion.
National Mirror leant that the explosion occurred around
7.40pm when people were rushing home to beat the curfew, which begins by 7pm.
Assistant Director, Army Public
Relations, 1 Mechanized Division, Nigerian Army, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman
confirmed the incident in an inter-view with National Mirror.
According to him, an Improvised
Explosive Device, IED, exploded at Walkata-bu Road at Mararaban Jos along the
Kaduna-Zaria Expressway.
He said that one person
sustained some injuries as a result of the explosion, adding that has since
been taken care of and is recu-perating.
He noted that soldiers are now
on ground and have cordoned off the area, while assuring residents of safety of
lives and property.