28th January, 2013
A self-proclaimed commander of the Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria’s north-eastern state of Borno has announced a peace offer , even as the state was horrified by another brutal killing by militants of the sect.
The commander who identified himself as Sheikh Muhammed Abdulazeez spoke to journalists Monday in Maiduguri, where the Islamist sect known as Boko Haram got its start.
Abdulazeez described himself as a second-in-command to sect leader Abubakar Shekau and said there would be a ceasefire as the Borno government had promised to release some sect members.
Abdulazeez reportedly met with Governor Kashim Shettima today.
While a government official later welcomed the announcement, it came as soldiers and police still hold Boko Haram members and violence continued unabated in the region.
A local resident of Gajiganna, a nearby village, said he saw eight bodies — some decapitated — after an attack, that bore the violent trademark of Boko Haram.
Boko Haram had offered unilateral ceasefire in the past, which it never kept, choosing instead to launch brutal attacks on the Nigerian state.