According to The New Humanitarian, sources with links to senior Boko Haram members said the truce was connected to negotiations over the release of more than 300 civilians abducted in March from Ngoshe in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.
The victims reportedly spent about 95 days in captivity before their release, which the Nigerian government attributed to an intelligence-led operation involving Operation Hadin Kai and the State Security Service (SSS).
However, The New Humanitarian reported that negotiations involving government representatives, intermediaries and insurgents took place before the victims were released.
The publication also alleged that N5 billion was paid as ransom, although the Nigerian government has denied making any ransom payment.
A similar claim was made by Borno youth leader Samaila Kaigama and later reported by SBM Intelligence. Kaigama was subsequently arrested and arraigned by the SSS over alleged extortion of families of kidnapping victims.
The reported ceasefire is said to have reduced attacks linked to Doro’s faction, but it does not extend to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which remains active in the Lake Chad region.
The Federal Government has not publicly confirmed the existence of the alleged truce.
Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga reportedly directed inquiries to the Ministry of Defence or the Office of the National Security Adviser, while Defence spokesperson Samaila Uba said the military does not directly engage in such deals and does not support the payment of ransom.
“We do not also support the payment of any ransom,” Uba said, adding that the military’s major responsibility is “kinetic (combat) operations.”
Conflict researcher Malik Samuel cautioned that the arrangement could amount to only a “temporary, tactical ceasefire” that benefits both sides without fundamentally changing the course of the insurgency.
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