Nigeria and Boko Haram Reach Cease-Fire Deal; Girls Reported to Be Released

A cease-fire deal has been reached between the Nigerian government and notorious Islamic militant group Boko Haram, according to a number of sources. Suggested Reading The Ever-Growing List of Lawsuits Against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Take a Look Inside Michael Jordan’s Former Chicago-Area Mansion, Which You Can Now Airbnb For This Heart-Clutching Price Celebrities Known to…

A cease-fire deal has been reached between the Nigerian government and notorious Islamic militant group Boko Haram, according to a number of sources.

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Details are still emerging, but BBC reported earlier Friday that โ€œNigeriaโ€™s military says it has agreed a truce with Islamist militant group Boko Haramโ€”and says the schoolgirls the group has abducted will be released.โ€ Both military and government officials are confirming that deal, the details of which remain sketchy. The BBC and sources who have spoken with The Rootย have confirmed that the Nigerian government and Boko Haram did have a negotiation meeting in Saudi Arabia.

At the time of publication of this article, Voice of Americaย was still reporting that โ€œthere was no immediate word on the fate of the girls.โ€ Self-described Boko Haram โ€œSecretary Generalโ€ Danladi Ahmadu, however, was reportedly disclosing the location of the girls somewhere remote on the Nigerian-Chadian border and that they are โ€œin good condition and unharmed.โ€

The infamous Islamist groupโ€™s abduction of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls earlier in the year sparked worldwide condemnation and a celebrity-studded hashtag campaign, #BringOurGirlsBack. In recent months Boko Haram had made territorial gains in northeastern Nigeria, but recent reports, including a late-September announcement that the military had killed the rebel groupโ€™s leader,ย have suggested that the Nigerian army is pushing back.

Charles D. Ellison is a veteran political strategist and a contributing editor at The Root. He is also Washington correspondent for the Philadelphia Tribune, a frequent contributor to The Hill, the weekly Washington insider for WDAS-FM in Philadelphia and host of The Ellison Report, a weekly public-affairs magazine broadcast and podcast on WEAA 88.9 FM Baltimore. Follow him on Twitter.

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