A ceasefire agreement with the jihadist group Boko Haram has been in effect for the past three months and is expected to be extended, but has not been previously reported publicly.
The agreement is linked to hostage negotiations that secured the release in June of 360 civilians abducted by the group from Ngoshe village, in the foothills of the Mandara mountains on the border with Cameroon. The mass kidnapping occurred in March during a Boko Haram attack on a nearby army base.
Three people with contacts among Boko Haram members, some of them senior figures, independently told The New Humanitarian that a truce had been in effect since June and was likely to be extended for a further 40 days. Communities in the Ngoshe area—regular victims of Boko Haram predation—say attacks have stopped since the ceasefire, according to two of the sources.
The deal that freed the villagers also reportedly included a ransom payment of five billion naira ($3.7 million) by the government, a transaction Abuja has denied amid controversy over the alleged misappropriation of some of the money.
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