Boko Haram violates ceasefire with government, raids three villages murdering citizens

Justa fter news broke that Boko Haram and government officials had agreed on a ceasefire and the release of kidnapped school girls, the militant Muslims shot and murdered citizens in three northern villages.

The Sunni Islamists reportedly raided the two villages over the weekend and even raised their flag in the third, according to reports from residents.

Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram leader, shown in a YouTube video

Government negotiator Hassan Tukur said Boko Haram had “honored its first promise” by releasing 27 Cameroonian and Chinese nationals after capturing them in separate raids in May and July, Nigeria’s privately owned This Day newspaper reports.

“Since it delivered on its promise to Cameroon, we expect Boko Haram to deliver on the release of the Chibok girls and the cessation of hostilities in north-eastern Nigeria,” he said.

The government said it would continue negotiating with Boko Haram, despite the alleged breach of the truce. It hopes the group will this week free more than 200 girls it seized in April.

Boko Haram has not commented on the announcement that a truce had been agreed, and that the militants would release the schoolgirls abducted from the remote north-eastern town of Chibok.

Boko Haram is reportedly represented in the talks, taking place in neighbouring Chad, by Danladi Ahmadu. However, Ahmadu was “bogus” and an “imposter”, said Ahmad Salkida, a Nigerian journalist with good contacts in Boko Haram.

The abduction of the girls sparked a global campaign to pressure the government to secure their release.

“Since it delivered on its promise to Cameroon, we expect Boko Haram to deliver on the release of the Chibok girls and the cessation of hostilities in north-eastern Nigeria,” Government negotiator Hassan Tukur said in the Oct. 20 BBC article.