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Members of the Boko Haram sect have asked the Federal Government to grant them presidential pardon under the ceasefire deal which the two parties reached last Friday.

They also sought the immediate release of all their detained and convicted leaders so that they can lay down arms.

Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, had disclosed last Friday that part of the Federal Government’s arrangement with the insurgents was to have the over 200 abducted schoolgirls of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State released. He was however silent on the conditions given by the terrorists.

The ceasefire was broken within 24 hours as Boko Haram attacked parts of Borno and Adamawa states over the weekend, with the Nigerian military launching a counter-offensive on Sunday, killing 25 insurgents in Damboa, Borno State.

A report in Nigerian Pilot said that the Boko Haram leaders were demanding immunity from prosecution after they have surrendered their arms, as well as unconditional release of their members in detention facilities across the country before they release the Chibok girls.

It quoted a military source as saying: “This kind of negotiations doesn’t end in a day. There is a raft of issues, like modalities for demobilisation, a list of demands by the terrorists, amnesty for the fighters etc. But the release of the girls is on top of the agenda.”

The paper said it gathered that discussions with the insurgents resumed yesterday in N’Djamena, Chad, and that there was optimism that the Chibok girls would be handed over to President Idriss Derby by the terrorists before the weekend.

•Photo shows Boko Haram henchmen.

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