Nigeria: Boko Haram 'Judge' Denies Reported Ceasefire Deal With Nigerian Govt

What the report says

Premium Times, citing HumAngle, reports that Boko Haram’s Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal Jihad (JAS) has denied claims that it reached a ceasefire with the Nigerian government. The denial was presented in a seven-minute video featuring the group’s Sharia judge, identified as Mallam Abdulrahman. The report places the exchange amid renewed attention on possible back-channel contacts involving the insurgent group and state actors in Nigeria.

According to the article, some sources familiar with the matter believe a small Boko Haram team may have accepted a government request without first clearing it with the group’s leadership. That claim followed a separate report from The New Humanitarian saying the Nigerian government had secretly entered a truce with the faction led by Bakura Doro, also known as Abu Humaimah. That earlier report linked the alleged arrangement to efforts to secure the release of more than 300 civilians abducted in Ngoshe, in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State. Premium Times said those reports also mentioned a ransom payment, which the government denied.

In the video, Abdulrahman rejected the ceasefire story as false and accused the government of misleading the public. He said Boko Haram remains opposed to democratic government, while also suggesting that reconciliation is not impossible in principle. The broader context is Nigeria’s long-running conflict with Boko Haram, which has caused widespread deaths and displacement across the northeast, especially in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.