'We can't rule out negotiation,' Presidency

The Federal Government of Nigeria is open to negotiations with the Boko Haram sect if the leaders of the sect are willing to negotiate.

This according to the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, is in order to find a lasting solution to the security crisis in the country.

In an interview with the BBC on Friday, June 3, 2015, Adesina said, 'If they are willing, why not? You know attempts have been made for negotiations in the past and they didn’t work. Every reasonable person would want to see the end to this insurgency. So if they are willing, why not? You can’t rule that out.'

Lamenting on the insurgents' various attacks on villages and killing scores of people, Adesina the effort to end the sect remains a priority to President Buhari.

'These were very vicious attacks. People were killed in scores and it’s so sad,' he said.

Read Terrorists kill 145 in multiple Borno attacks

On the President's relocation strategy of the military headquarters to Maiduguri, Borno State working wonders, Adesina said, 'This is going to work. There are machineries being put in place. It’s going to work. The recent killings by the sect were meant to break our resolve, to weaken it, but that will stop. It remains a priority to him (Buhari) to deal with the group.

Read New President orders relocation of Military Command to Maiduguri

'You will notice that his first two weeks of administration were dedicated to tackling the insurgency. He visited Chad and Niger Republics and the following week, the Presidents of those countries also visited him in Abuja.

'The President of Benin Republic and the Defence Minister of Cameroon visited him; machinery is being put in place and once we’re through, we will see the end of the group. The target time for the deployment of the multinational force is July ending; that is in a couple of weeks.' he disclosed.