13th October, 2012
Nigeria’s Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima added his voice to that of the Shehu of Borno, in appealing to members of the Boko Haram sect to cease hostilities.
Shettima made the appeal today when he inaugurated a 12-man committee to compensate victims of the October 8 bomb blast in Maiduguri.
Inaugurating the committee at the Government House, Governor Kashim Shettima gave the committee one week to submit its report.
“As a responsible government, we will do our best to ameliorate the sufferings of the victims, by giving them some compensation.
“It is a known fact that human lives once lost cannot be replaced; we sympathise with those who lost their loved ones in the incident, they should regard it as an act of God,’’ Shettima said.
He also advised members of the Boko Haram sect to stop the ongoing violent attacks because of its negative effect.
“Members of the sect should know that what they are doing is not advancing the cause of Islam; we call on them to embrace dialogue because violence only leads to destruction,’’ he added.
He said government was willing to rehabilitate members of the sect who decided to lay down their arms and dialogue.
“We are going to take up the issue of excesses among the soldiers; and we will hold a security council meeting to discuss the issue of excesses among them,’’ the governor said.
In his response, the Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Babakaka Garbai, promised to submit the committee’s report on schedule.