The Council of State rose from its meeting on Tuesday with a statement that the Federal Government had yet to reach any agreement with the Boko Haram sect on the fate of the abducted Chibok girls, according Punch reports.
According to Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, stateduring a press brief with the State House correspondents, the media was misinterpreting the take of the federal government as regards the ongoing ceasefire negotiation.
He added that the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) had disclosed to the council of state the efforts being made by the federal government to ensure the safe release of the over 200 abducted school girls from the Chibok area of Borno state.
He said, “The NSA was of the opinion that high level contact with the Republic of Chad was made and that some persons who acted on behalf of Boko Haram and who claimed to have authority also had discussions with them and there are some Nigerian officials with them.
“Of course, no agreement has been reached yet, it is just that the press probably misunderstood what was reported, the discussions are ongoing.
“What came out of the NSA’s briefings was that the President will do everything possible to ensure the release of those young girls and to ensure protection of lives and property.
“That will include dialogue where you can have the people to dialogue with, because you cannot dialogue with people that are faceless and therefore, every opportunity must be explored to ensure peace return to the region.”
He further disclosed the satisfaction of the council with the Defence Ministry and all the agencies in the nation who are bent on restoring and maintaining a peaceful co-existence among the citizens adding that good news would “sooner or later” be broken to Nigerians.
He charged Nigerians to be patient owing to the fact that terrorism is not an issue that takes a little while to tackle.
“There are some instances in which countries had to contend with insurgency for years, but in the case of Nigeria, we said we must find a practical means of bringing insurgency to an end in the shortest possible time so that Nigerians can sleep with their two eyes closed,” Akpabio explained.
