Buhari Gives Conditions For Negotiating With Boko Haram

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said he was willing to negotiate with the Boko Haram, if the group can provide him with enough proof that the kidnapped Chibok school girls are alive and well.

Buhari, who made the pledge while speaking to Al Jazeera English’s Mehdi Hasan in a wide-ranging and exclusive interview, also vowed to defeat Boko Haram by December.

“They (Boko Haram) have to prove to us that they (Chibok grils) are alive; they are well; and then we can negotiate with them,” President Buhari said.

He added: “We said it and we meant it. If we are satisfied that the girls are alive, we shall negotiate with them.”

When asked whether he would offer them money or  release their members who are being detained in return for the girls, Buhari did not rule out either option, saying: “Well, it depends on the negotiation  with the leadership of Boko Haram.”

The president insisted that the Nigerian military would defeat Boko Haram by the end of 2015.

“As soon as the rainy season comes, which is by the end of the year, Boko Haram will virtually be out of their main stronghold and that will be the end of it. Attacks by Boko Haram on townships and military installations will certainly stop,” he said.

The president also said he had not seen the Amnesty International report from June 2015, entitled ‘Nigeria: Stars on their shoulders: Blood on their hands’, in which the human-rights group documented alleged abuses, torture and unlawful killings by the Nigerian armed forces and urged the government to prosecute a group of officers and senior commanders.

“I haven’t received that report personally,” Buhari said. “If I get those documents, I assure you that I will take action as Commander-in-Chief.”

He denied the rumours that he supports the total implementation of the Sharia in the country, saying: “I cannot change it. I haven’t been voted by a majority of Nigerians to change the Nigerian constitution.”

It will be recalled that more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram from a government-run boarding secondary school in the town of Chibok, a largely Christian populated remote town in Borno State, North-East Nigeria, on April 14, 2014.

While some of them managed to escape, more than 200 still remain with the terrorists.

Thenationonline extract.