Rivers State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Barrister Chuma Chienye, inspecting an item at the Port Harcourt Christmas Discount Market in Port Harcourt last Thursday.
Photo: Chris Monyanaga

President Goodluck Jonathan said Federal Government was still open to dialogue if it will end the Boko Haram menace. Also, the government has approved the disbursement of N1 billion to the military to upgrade detention camps for insurgents across the country.
The President made the disclosure on Saturday in Paris at the close of a two-day summit on peace and security in Africa, hosted by President Francois Hollande of France.
Jonathan said he approved the disbursement of the fund following series of complaints by local and international human rights groups on the conditions of barracks which housed the detention camps.
Specifically, the President said, he was concerned about human rights report on the situation of Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri, where some of the suspected Boko Haram detainees were kept.
“They were talking about conditions in the barracks and because of that, not quite long, I released N1 billion to make sure that they expand the facilities in detention camps, particularly the camp in Giwa Barrack in Maiduguri that they complain about.
“The Boko Haram suspects are being detained in a number of places, not only the Giwa barracks. “So, following complaints that I received about that particular barrack, I called the Chief of Defence Staff to go and use the army engineers to quickly expand and improve the facilities so that people arrested will live under normal human conditions,” he said.
The President noted that reports of human rights abuses by the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) were over-bloated by the media.
He said “most of the reported torture and killings were carried out by members of the Boko Haram group and not the military. “The issue of human rights abuses is blown out of proportion.
“Whenever there is a major encounter, the Boko Haram group destroys at will and kill at will, some of these destructions being ascribed to the Nigerian Army are actually by the Boko Haram sect.”
Jonathan said the state of emergency declared in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states had helped tremendously in curbing the excesses of the Boko Haram.
“Before the emergency rule, even Abuja, which is at the centre of the country was not safe. “You could recall how the world became alarmed when the UN building in Abuja was bombed and the Police Headquarters in Abuja and a military market also bombed, as well as a popular newspaper house,” the President said.
According to him, “with the declaration of the state of emergency, we have been able to get to a point that our challenges are now in Borno and Yobe states. “Even in Adamawa, the third state that the state of emergency covers, there are no issues in a long while, unlike before where there were repeated issues of killings and bombings. “Though we still have occasional attacks, definitely the emergency rule has helped.”
The President disclosed that the recent attack by Boko Haram in Maiduguri had confirmed that the group has international backing stating that the operations of the sect had gone beyond the local militia group which it was hitherto classified as.
“Initially, we felt that they were local and as such some people advocated that because of poverty, these locals carried weapons against the state.
“So, you expect that sophistication will be minimal and you will be able to contain it easily.
President Jonathan said government was working on available clues to unravel the external supporters of the sect,” and appealed to the international community to assist the government in tracing the sources.