Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to consider dialogue with the dreaded Islamist sect- Boko Haram and other outlawed groups causing violence in the country as the best option.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion titled “Urgent need for the Federal Government to open avenues for dialogue as a means of addressing security challenges in the country,” which was moved by Muhammed Bashir Galadanchi

Galadanchi, while moving the motion, expressed concern that the present approach of the government of “military action, random arrests and imprisonments obviously had limited effectiveness and escalated trends of insecurity, indicating that they are only short-term solutions”.

He added that, “if this approach is not reversed and more long-term solutions deployed, these incessant incidents will pose serious threats to our security, democracy, rights and freedom of our innocent citizens and ultimately destabilise the nation’s fragile stability and unity”.

He therefore called on Jonathan to “embrace dialogue to resolve the present insecurity bedevilling the nation”, while “initiating programmes that will promote rule of law, strengthen civil institutions and address the underlying factors of fuel insecurity and violent extremism”.

The reps also commiserated with the Emir of Kano and the families of those who died during the recent violent attack on the state.

 


Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, had assured the people of the volatile Yobe state that the Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed many lives and property in 2011 and 2012 will become history.

He said it would end like the Maitatsine of 1980’s in Kano and Maiduguri and the Nigerian Civil War that lasted for three years.

According him, with the fizzling out of Boko Haram insurgency in Yobe State, business activities have been restored through prayers in Mosques by the Muslim communities, as well as the support and commitments of the Joint Task Force (JTF).

Gaidam who made the assertion at the swearing–in of local government chairmen in Government House, Damaturu, the state capital, noted that the Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges in the state had made it difficult to conduct elections by the Yobe State Independent Electoral Commission (YOSIEC).

He added that as the Boko Haram insurgency persists in the state, YOSIEC has commenced preparations for the conduct of elections into the 17 councils by May/June 2013.

He said that with the Joint Task Force (JTF) and Police’s support and commitments in protecting people’s lives and property in the state, residents are returning to their respective houses and communities to continue with their daily businesses and other social activities in Damaturu, the state capital as well Potiskum, Gashua, Gujba and Geidam that were affected by the insurgency since November 14, 2011.