“I am announcing this ceasefire with the approval and consent of the leader Sheikh Abubakar Shekau. We, therefore, call on all our members to stop all acts of violent immediately and await further directives,” said Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who introduced himself as the second in command to Mr. Shekau.
Reports say the group declared the ceasefire in Maiduguri at about 3:00 p.m. on Monday.
However, the Special Assistant to the state governor on Media, Isa Gusau, in a telephone interview with Channels Television, denied knowledge of any meeting between the Borno State government and any group of Boko Haram.
Mr. Gusau maintained though that the government has been working on several ways to ensure that the crisis is resolved
Sect To Surrender Arms
Mr. Aziz urged the Joint Task Force and other security agents to reciprocate the ceasefire announcement as it takes immediate effect.
On the mode of the ceasefire, the second in command said talks with government officials on how to surrender the arms are also on-going and urged members of the sect nationwide to cooperate fully.
The sect has earlier announced ceasefire with much stiff conditions in the recent past as security and government officials rejected such conditions.
Reasons And Conditions For Ceasefire
He said the adoption of the ceasefire is because of the hardships women and children are subjected to and urged members to abide by the directive of the ceasefire and to extend same to others yet to be aware of the development.
He also demanded that detained members of the sect be released and the destroyed mosque of its late leader, Mohammed Yusuf, rebuilt as a condition for the ceasefire.
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