Founder and President, Oodua People’s
Congress, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, says Saudi Arabia is not a conducive venue for
any dialogue between the Federal Government and the insurgent group,
Boko Haram.
Fasehun said any dialogue between the government and the sect should hold within Nigeria.
The OPC leader made this known at a press conference in Lagos on Friday.
Fasehun said, “Saudi Arabia as host for talks on a purely Nigerian affair is fraught with danger.
“Therefore, Mecca will not be the ideal
place for the negotiation of the security of a secular state like
Nigeria and the OPC urges the government to change the venue.”
He said Boko Haram should drop former
Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) from its list of
negotiators, except if the former military leader had confirmed his
membership of the group.
Fasehun said since Boko Haram remained
faceless, government should not discuss with the group until its
leaders were unveiled and known.
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| Dr. Frederick Fasehun |
He said, “Much of Boko Haram’s
hostility has been turned against Christians. Therefore, Christians,
through the Christian Association of Nigeria, must be represented at
the talks.
“Negotiations should be opened up to accommodate other ethnic interests in the conflict such as Ohaneze Ndigbo, Afenifere,
Middle Belt Forum, Egbesu, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta and other nationality groups, whose indigenes have been wantonly
slaughtered by Boko Haram.”
Fasehun said professional bodies like
the Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Union of Journalists should also
be appointed as mediators.
He, however, canvassed that government
should guarantee the safety of Boko Haram’s representatives instead of
seeing it as an opportunity for security agents to hound and arrest
their leaders.
Fasehun said the conditions spelt out
by the sect for dialogue had the potential of becoming a stumbling
block to the positive outcome of the talks.
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