THE new National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd) said on Wednesday in Jos, Plateau State, that he had contacts of key Boko Haram leaders for possible dialogue with the group.Dasuki, who spoke in Jos during a meeting with stakeholders in Plateau, said that he was planning to meet with the group on the need for it to cease fire and embrace dialogue as soon as possible.
“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,” Dasuki said.
According to him, he was in Plateau for an on-the-spot assessment of the security challenge and in furtherance of the Federal Government’s peace efforts, particularly across the northern part of the country.
He expressed confidence that the people of Plateau could put their problems behind them and forge ahead with genuine peace and reconciliation.
“I have a stake in Plateau because I 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.”
In his remarks, Governor Jonah Jang regretted that the emergency rule in the state had not achieved the intended effect as the attacks on the affected local government areas had continued unabated.
On dialogue with the Boko Haram sect, Jang said that it was difficult to dialogue with the group since its leaders and members were not known.
He therefore urged the group to come out and identify itself.
“We only hear that Boko Haram claims responsibility for this and that attack but we never heard anybody coming out to say he is Boko Haram.
“We know the Niger Delta militants had leaders and a cause they were fighting for which made the late President Yar’Adua to succeed with the amnesty programme but who is Boko Haram?”
Jang alleged that some influential people were behind the sect in view of the sophistication of its operations and insisted that the sponsors must be dealt with by the appropriate authority.
In his remarks, a member of the House of Representatives, Bitrus Kaze, alleged insincerity and lack of will on the part of the government to implement various reports on Jos crises.
“In the last 10 years, no single person has been convicted for the crisis in Plateau.
“So what you have is a situation whereby the assailants have become hardened and continued to carry on with the attacks with impunity.”
The parley had in attendance, traditional, religious and community leaders, heads of security services, women, youth groups, and government functionaries, among others.
Meanwhile, the NSA has declared his readiness to work with governors to arrest the spate of insecurity in the country and also condemned imposition of state of emergency at local government level.
Dasuki, who disclosed this at a meeting with various stakeholders in Plateau State at the Ray Field Government House, Jos, condemned the idea of working with individuals in the quest of arresting insecurity rocking the country noting that the problems were best solved working with governors on the ground.
“My intention is to work with state governors towards addressing all these problems; they are the chief security officers of their respective states. Our job is to complement. If there is peace, there would be less burden in Abuja, we will not work with individuals but the governors,” he said.
On the alleged involvement of security men in the crises in Plateau, Dasuki, who assured that the matter will be looked into, however said a military man ought not to be on assignment outside his base for more than six months, adding that this could lead to frustration.
He implored all the warring groups in the state to put all the grievances behind them with the aim of proffering a lasting solution to the problems on ground, and charged all to give him the necessary support in the assignment.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has admitted that the escalated security challenges facing the country is as a result of proliferation of small arms and weapons, occasioned by the ouster of the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, said this in Abuja, on Wednesday, when he received a United Nations (UN) panel of experts on Libya.
The team, led by its coordinator, Mr Salim Raad, was in Nigeria, as part of their mandate on the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on arms embargo on Libya.
The minister said the decision to receive them was predicated on the fact that event in the Libya Republic appeared to have snowballed into Nigeria.
He noted that Nigeria of late had had its share of internal security challenges arising from the crisis in Libya.
The minister noted that terrorism, which had characterised the activities of the sect in Nigeria, was an importation by the extremists, saying the challenges of internal security facing the nation today stemmed from activities in Libya.
He noted that though Nigeria did not share common boundary with Libya, arms and ammunition from there had found their ways into the country because of the porous borders.
While assuring the team on the cooperation of the Nigerian government with the UN on control of arms from Libya, Moro also assured the panel of Nigeria’s readiness to implement UN resolutions.
The leader of the delegation, Raad, had earlier told the minister that they were in the country on a fact-finding on flow of arms from Libya.
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