A mediator appointed by the Nigerian government says the terms and details are being worked out.

Hope was raised earlier this week in Nigeria with the announcement by the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North of progress made in resolving the conflict with Boko Haram Islamic insurgents. 

Dr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, who is also Minister for Special Duties, disclosed that the committee was still making efforts to reach out to the other extremist groups like Ansaru in order to ensure total peace and security in the country, The Nation newspaper reported on Wednesday, July 10, 2013. Speaking at the State House in the capital, Abuja, Dr. Turaki gave assurances that Boko Haram will not renege on the ceasefire understanding reached with the Federal government through his committee.

He said the ceasefire would last indefinitely, though the terms were still being worked out. Dr Turaki however made it clear that the ceasefire deal did not imply an automatic end to the current state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States declared by the Federal government on May 14, 2013 to arrest the activities of Islamic insurgents. According to the mediator, his committee has been holding painstaking meetings with the leadership of Boko Haram - especially its second in command - on the instruction of the leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau.

Meanwhile, thousands of youths from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and environs, earlier this week gathered at Ramat Square in the metropolis to reject the ceasefire offer by Boko Haram. Shouting anti-Boko Haram slogans, they later marched to the Shehu of Borno's Palace to show their total rejection of the offer, Daily Trust newspaper said. Leaders of volunteer youths who have been hunting down, arresting and handing over suspected Boko Haram members to security forces, urged the public to reject the offer, recounting the untold hardship Boko Haram had caused them.

In his response to the announcement, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, dismissed it, cautioning Nigerians not to be hoodwinked by Boko Haram’s antics, Thisday newspaper reported yesterday, July 11, 2013. Oritsejafor maintained that Boko Haram should not be taken for its word because the group was factionalised.