Nigeria’s Service Chiefs have approved amnesty for Boko Haram members, News Express can report this afternoon.

“I can confirm to you that amnesty has been granted to Boko Haram but with conditions,” said a source close to the meeting held between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Service Chiefs to discuss the issue.

News Express is, however, yet to confirm the conditions but they are likely to include stoppage of the group’s campaign of violence, dropping of its opposition to Western education, and dropping of its demand for the Islamisation of Nigeria or any part of the country.

In breaking the story of the amnesty some minutes ago, News Express had reported that President Jonathan agreed on the issue with northern elders during their closed-door meeting in Abuja last night.

News Express had also reported that “the Service Chiefs would most likely okay the amnesty since the military option has failed to solve the problem.”

Northern leaders, including Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar, have for weeks now insisted on Boko Haram members being granted amnesty just as was done to militants from President Jonathan’s Niger Delta region. Jonathan however maintained that he would not negotiate with ghosts and challenged Boko Haram members to show their faces.

Just yesterday, Chief of Army Staff, Major-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, told media chiefs in lagos that Boko Haram’s tactics are “baffling.”

Boko Haram, has killed over 3,000 people since 2009, with the government having failed to put a stop to the carnage despite having spent many millions of naira in a military campaign against the sect.

•Photo shows Service Chiefs.