Former President Goodluck Jonathan has disclosed that Boko Haram insurgents once nominated Muhammadu Buhari to serve as their negotiator with the Nigerian government.
Jonathan made the revelation on Friday during the public presentation of Scars, a book authored by former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (retd.), in Abuja.
He explained that the insurgents chose Buhari after his administration established several committees to engage the group in dialogue.
“One of the committees we set up then, Boko Haram nominated Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with the government,” Jonathan said. “I thought that if they had nominated Buhari to represent them and engage with the government committee, then when Buhari became president, it could have provided an easier path to negotiations, and they might have surrendered their weapons. But the issue persists to this day.”
Jonathan added that Boko Haram’s continued presence illustrates the complexity of the insurgency, noting that the failure to fully eliminate the group under Buhari’s administration showed that the crisis was far more complicated than often perceived.
