Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Arewa Consultative Forum yesterday urged the Boko Haram sect to end its campaign of violence and embrace dialogue with the government in the interest of peace.
Abubakar and the ACF made the separate calls against the backdrop of the Gombe and Jos attacks for which the sect claimed responsibility.
In a statement by his media office in Abuja, the former vice president said Boko Haram should come out so as to allow for dialogue, as no one will take the group seriously when it continues to remain faceless.
"If Boko Haram and its leadership have something to say; if they have any grouse against the Nigerian state, the proper thing for them is to come out in flesh and state it, so that a process of dialogue that will eventually lead to the resolution of the crisis and the siege on Nigerians can commence in earnest," he said.He said there could be no justification for killings, and that the activities of Boko Haram amounted to a declaration of war on the Nigerian state.
ACF, in a separate statement in Kaduna by it spokesman Anthony Sani, appealed to Boko Haram to stop the killing of innocent people in the country.
"ACF frowns at the spate of bomb explosions by Boko Haram that are directed at innocent Nigerians, including worshippers, as symbolised by the recent attacks in a mosque and COCIN church.
"The forum is also sad over any reprisal attack, especially on innocent people who have nothing to do with the perceived grievances by the contending parties.
"And given the sacred inviolability of individuals as espoused by tenets of all religions, ACF condemns all forms of violence and killing of innocent people under any guise," the statement said.
The forum urged the group to embrace dialogue and end the spate of bombings which led to the destruction of property in the country.
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