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Tuesday, 20 September 2016

Dialogue With Boko Haram Onayikan Tells FG

                                                                  Cardinal John Onayikan


The archbishop of Abuja John Cardinal Onaiyekan has said that said Boko Haram were religious extremists but that some of them were sincere. Onaiyekan stated this In an interview with Vatican Radio published by Radiovaticana. He said they “have very bizarre, sometimes crazy, ideas, which they hold very firmly.” “We believe most of them are sincere: they are sincere, but wrong.” He insisted that although the terrorists have been condemned by the Muslim leadership in Nigeria, he suggested that there should be room for dialogue.
“The good news is that the vast majority of Nigerian Muslims, and the Islamic establishment in Nigeria, have consistently and clearly disowned (boko Haram).” “Government has not done enough to seek other ways of addressing the terrorist insurgency.” “They have put too much emphasis and focus on military engagement, including spending lots of money – buying sophisticated weapons, and maybe even employing mercenaries at high cost. Now, that is partly necessary – and maybe Boko Haram has not been put in a position to be ready to talk.” “We are not aware that government is making enough effort to create a forum for discussion – and I do believe that, at the end of the day, there will be a need to discuss – because the objective of killing off every Boko Haram [member] is first not possible, and secondly, not even desirable: we should rather seek a way of getting their leadership to finally begin to agree that they have taken the wrong course, so that we can start moving forward.” Cardinal Onaiyekan however noted that the terrorists were only affecting a small part of the country contrary to the coverage they get in international media. “The whole world keeps talking about Boko Haram, and even we in Nigeria are surprised at how much press Boko Haram is getting abroad.” “They think the entire nation has been taken over, whereas in fact, it is just one section of the country. “The rest of the nation is busy with other problems.”

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