Fake Boko Haram
In the same vein, Kaduna-based human rights activist who has been part of efforts to initiate dialogue with the sect, Comrade Shehu Sani, described the claims that Boko Haram had agreed a ceasefire with the federal government as political and deceptive: “A critical issue is not always solved in a hidden manner. The two parties involved should at least be seen. This would help to eliminate any doubts from the minds of the people.”
In further questioning the peace deal, a group of elders in Borno State said at best, the federal government may have negotiated with only a faction of Boko Haram or at worst, impostors, going by the persistent attacks the sect have been carrying out since the announcement of the deal. “If they are aware and they are in agreement that there is a ceasefire, I don’t think they would continue attacking innocent people and taking over places,” Bulama Mali Gubio, spokesperson for the group, told journalists. “It is either (that) those the federal government is negotiating with are not the Boko Haram but the usual 419ers… or it is just some kind of mockery,” he noted.
He added that if the federal government was interested in knowing who the real Boko Haram are, it should contact the group. “The real Boko Haram who are killing us, who are burning our towns and villages, are not the Boko Haram that a peace deal was reached with,” said Gubio. He questioned whether the insurgents would be allowed to keep territories currently under their control. The reference to ‘419’ by Gubio was particularly apt, given the fact that Nigeria had been severally fooled in the past by individuals who claimed to be members of the insurgent group and had presented themselves to government at the federal and state levels for peace deals.

Why Now?
President Jonathan and some of his officials had at times insisted that government would not negotiate with terrorists or that Boko Haram has no representative that could sit at a table for dialogue. At other times, government had indicated that it was in talks with the terrorists through some “back-channel”. So what has changed this time around? This is the question analysts have been pondering when it is realised that the National Assembly recently approved a $1 billion loan to buy arms to prosecute the war against the insurgents.
Also, the country has expended considerable energy and resources in the past few weeks to build a regional coalition counter-force against the rag tag soldiers of Boko Haram. Nigeria, Niger Republic, Cameroon, Chad, and the Republic of Benin had, on 13 October reached agreement to deploy troops in their common borders to check the activities and cross-border movement of members of the insurgent group. And contrary to the position of Nigeria, Cameroun has taken the battle to the camp of the insurgents.
The country’s defence minister announced last week that its soldiers had killed 107 insurgents. Some analysts argue that the ceasefire deal is part of the President’s 2015 plans. They argue that the deal is meant to deflect criticisms that may trail the declaration of the President for a second term of office scheduled to take place before the end of the month. Some elders in the northern part of the country had already stipulated the rescue of the Chibok girls as a condition for supporting the President’s second term ambition. And the inability of government to rescue the girls and the general insecurity in the country will definitely rank high among the issues during campaign for the presidency in the coming weeks.