By Lanre Ola
MAIDUGURI Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected Boko Haram
militants have killed dozens of people in five attacks on
Nigerian villages that occurred after the government
announced a ceasefire to enable 200 abducted girls to be
freed, security sources and witnesses said on Saturday.
However, the government cast doubt on whether the attacks
really were Boko Haram or one of several criminal groups that
are exploiting the chaos of the insurgency. A spokesman said
talks to free the girls would continue in Chad on Monday.
The fresh attacks dashed hopes for an easing of the
northeast's violence, although officials remained confident
they can negotiate the release of girls whose abduction by the
rebels in the remote northeastern town of Chibok in April
caused international shock and outrage.
A presidency and another government source said they were
aiming to do this by Tuesday.
Boko Haram, whose name translates roughly as "Western
education is sinful", has massacred thousands in a struggle to
carve an Islamic state out of religiously mixed Nigeria, whose
southern half is mainly Christian in faith.
Nigeria's armed forces chief Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh
announced the ceasefire on Friday. On Saturday, two senior
government sources said it aims to secure the girls' release as
early as Monday or Tuesday, although they declined to give
further details.
In the first attack, suspected insurgents attacked the village
of Abadam on Friday night, killing at least one person and
ransacking homes, while another assault on the village of Dzur
on Saturday morning left at least eight people dead.
Three other attacks in Adamawa state on Saturday killed
dozens of people, witnesses and a local politician said.
"I was just boarding a bus when the gunshots started," Adams
Mishelia, who was in the adjacent town of Shaffa, said of the
Dzur attack. "People were fleeing into the bush, so I got off
the bus and headed to the bush too. I later learned they
slaughtered eight people."
A security source confirmed that attack and the assault on
Abadam the night before. Mohammed Bulama, a resident of
the main northeastern city of Maiduguri, told Reuters he lost
his uncle in the Abadam attack. Other casualties there were
unclear.
On Saturday suspected insurgents also attacked three small
towns in a local government area called Michika, Adamawa
state.
"Dozens of people are been killed and houses are been burnt
by the insurgents, so what is the meaning of the ceasefire
government is talking about?" said Adamu Kamale, a state
government lawmaker.
"DISCUSSIONS IN CHAD"
When asked about the violence, government spokesman Mike
Omeri said by telephone that "the Boko Haram people have
also said that some attacks are not undertaken by them".
Boko Haram, seen as the biggest threat to Africa's top
economy and oil producer, is believed to be divided into
several factions that loosely cooperate with each other, and it
is unclear with which faction the government has been
negotiating.
"Discussions will continue in Chad next week, and on the basis
of those discussions we'll have more details," on how the girls
will be released, Omeri said.
The announcement of the truce came a day before a rally of
supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja attended
by his vice president, Namadi Sambo, although an expected
announcement of Jonathan's candidacy for February 2015
elections did not materialize during the rally.
Officials at the presidency and military did not immediately
respond to requests for comment.
Boko Haram has also not yet commented on the reported
truce. The group's sole means of conveying messages is via
videotaped speeches by a man claiming to be Abubakar
Shekau, its leader whom the military last year said it had killed.
A history of abortive government attempts at truce deals with
Boko Haram and military claims to have rescued some girls that
proved false, mean Nigerians are likely to greet the newly
reported breakthrough with scepticism.
The second government source said: "We are negotiating with
considerable caution. Boko Haram has grown into such an
amorphous entity that any splinter group could come up
disowning the deal. (But) we believe we are talking to the right
people."
The talks were held with a formerly unknown militant called
Danladi Ahmadu, who says he is the group's "secretary
general".
Underlining the uncertainty over the chain of command in Boko
Haram, Nigeria's military said at the end of last month a man
who had been posing as Shekau in the group's growing number
of videos had been killed in clashes over the town of Konduga.
The schoolgirls' abduction stunned the world, spurred a global
Twitter campaign to get them rescued and heaped pressure on
Jonathan's administration to do more to protect civilians in the
northeast where Boko Haram's insurgency is focused.
Several rounds of negotiations with the jihadist movement
have been pursued in recent years but they have never
yielded calm, partly because of Boko Haram's internal divisions.
Since the girls' kidnapping, the Nigerian military has twice
asserted that it rescued some or all of the girls, only to have
to backtrack hours later.
At Saturday's rally in Abuja, many of President Jonathan's
supporters wrapped themselves in the white and green of
Nigeria's flag and sang and danced under a banner reading
"We Love You Goodluck Jonathan. Our support is 100
percent."
Two candidates for the main opposition coalition, former
military ruler Muhammadu Buhari and ex-vice president Atiku
Abubakar, have declared their candidacy against Jonathan

[size=15pt]Shebi we warned government to be mindful of this Boko Haram cease fire trick being used to re-arm Boko Haram and train more of their fighters now that they are close to defeat?[/size]

Why will dey reach such agreement with animals

Front page material
MYND44

Terrorists remains a menace to the society,erase them all to set as an example !

Jnrbayerno:
Why will dey reach such agreement with animals

boko haram has splinter groups . If a deal is struck with the main group , others will fall in line with time .

One PDP guy in Borno state called Danladi Adamu decided to fool our ever clueless presido. Is it not obvious that a group like BH cannot ceasefire?

How can u agree a ceasefire with people fighting for their faith?

onatisi:
boko haram has splinter groups . If a deal is struck with the main group , others will fall in line with time .

And u think its possible to meet with this splinter groups

seankafor:
How can u agree a ceasefire with people fighting for their faith?

And you really think the issue of boko haram has no political undertone

This story lacks substance. The cease fire is here to stay. shame to all those who love to promote negative stories about our beloved country. viva Nigéria.

GEJ na dullie my guys. Doesnt he know the Boko Haram dealing ceasefire is an impostor and a brigande? Will ISIS ever enter a ceasefire? gej na fool i swear

Jnrbayerno:

And u think its possible to meet with this splinter groups

let me give u an illustration . If you follow the story of the australian negotiator. He said there was a time the boko haram and fg decided exchange prisoners . He said another splinter group hijacked the girls but the main boko haram group went and rescued the girls before the fg decided to abandon that discussion. There are more than one group operating in the north. But if the main group can be reined into line ,it is this main group and other groups in the peace process that will whip the other into line.

There can't be peace without justice.
Give Nigerians justice.
Squash boko haram.

Monsters

like writer stated, which faction is fg negotiating with? I hope all these is not because of election

It is well. No matter what negotiations or war boko harams time is up.

GEJ is becoming the most stupid man that I have ever seen. I was expecting this and more of it.

Afam4eva obinoscopy Front page material Alert

reedonne:
Afam4eva obinoscopy Front page material Alert

Organize your post before lobbying for front page.

There is no way the suicide bombers will agree to negotiate with the FG or whatever. They believe they are fighting for Allah and would be rewarded by Allah, since they can sacrifice their lives what will you give them to appease them? The so called Negotiators and repenting Boko haram members are fraudsters(419ers) who are deceiving the FG and are equally enriching themselves with billions of naira in the name of negotiations. FG should arrest them now.

diluminati:
GEJ na dullie my guys. Doesnt he know the Boko Haram dealing ceasefire is an impostor and a brigande? Will ISIS ever enter a ceasefire? gej na fool i swear

SHAAAARRRRAAAPPP GO TELL MAHAMA TO SOLVE UR ECONOMIC WOES, HE IS THE MAIN FOOL

Kosovo

Jnrbayerno:
Why will dey reach such agreement with animals

says the guy from the comfort of his bed in a Southern state. Why don't you go and spend a night in Bama or Gwoza?

politricks:
And you really think the issue of boko haram has no political undertone

it may have in the name of sympathy.but i don't believe that a human being is sponsoring boko haram to win election.but if so i fear

Nobleval:
says the guy from the comfort of his bed in a Southern state. Why don't you go and spend a night in Bama or Gwoza?

See dis one... I was born nd broight up in Maiduguri,stayed dere all my life...so u see

Frankenstein:
Organize your post before lobbying for front page.

How do I organize it.
This is not about me asking for front page but what everybody should know. That the ceasefire is a scam