Ukiwe urges FG to shun dialogue with Boko Haram

A former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (rtd), has advised the Federal Government against engaging members of the Boko Haram  in any dialogue.
Ukiwe said it would be impossible for a meaningful resolution to come out of any discussion between the Federal Government and the Islamic sect.
Speaking on Thursday at the fourth triennial delegate conference of the Trade Union Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the former CGS said the activities of the sect had gone beyond dialogue.
The one-time second citizen in the country explained that though the choice of discussing with members of the sect was with the Federal Government, he would not recommend that government should engage those detonating bombs and killing innocent people in a dialogue.
He said, “I don’t know what they mean by dialogue because the sort of crime they are committing does not give much room for dialogue.
“I will not advise the Federal Government on what to do. My attitude does not go with dialoguing. How are you sure he is not coming with a bomb-laden tummy.”
Ukiwe expressed the need for trade union to show vitality, integrity, purposefulness and justice, stressing that there would always be disorder and confusion in any nation without justice.
Declaring the event open, the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, said the problem facing the country had not been the poor Nigerian who lived below $2 per day, but with the elite.
Amaechi, who was represented by the State Commissioner for Information, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, acknowledged that trade unions in the country had contributed a lot to national development, adding that such unions have continued to ensure stability in the system.