ABUJA — Nigeria’s government is in talks with Islamist militant group Boko Haram about a possible cease-fire with the ultimate aim of securing a permanent cessation of hostilities, the country’s information minister said on Sunday.
It is the first time in years the government has said it is talking to Boko Haram about a cease-fire in an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people since 2009. President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has repeatedly said it is willing to hold talks with the group.
“Unknown to many, we have been in wider cessation-of-hostility talks with the insurgents for some time now,” said Information Minister Lai Mohammed in an e-mailed statement outlining the background to the release of more than 100 schoolgirls freed last week by the group.
They had been kidnapped on Feb. 19 from the northeastern town of Dapchi. The kidnap of about 110 schoolgirls was the biggest mass abduction since around 270 girls were taken from the town of Chibok in 2014.
Boko Haram fighters stunned Dapchi’s residents on Wednesday when they drove into the town and released the girls, who said five of their group had died in captivity and one had not been freed.
Mr. Mohammed said a week-long cease-fire, starting March 19, had been agreed to enable the group to drop off the girls. He said 111 girls were taken from the school — one more than previously thought — and six remained unaccounted for. The girls were returned home to Dapchi on Sunday after meeting Mr. Buhari in Abuja last week, according parents of at least two girls.
“We were able to leverage on the wider talks when the Dapchi girls were abducted,” said Mr. Mohammed. “The ultimate aim is the permanent cessation of hostilities.” — Reuters
