December deadline on Boko Haram: I will not resign even if I don’t defeat them – Buhari; Nigerian law does not allow for so-called sharia punishments

President Muhammadu Buhari has restated the resolve of his administration to negotiate with the Boko Haram insurgent group in order to secure the release of the kidnapped Chibok school girls.

President Buhari speaking to Aljazeera television network, aired Friday, also reiterated his commitment to defeating the insurgent group by December, this year.

“They have to prove to us that they are alive, they are well, and then we can…negotiate with them,” President Buhari told ‘UpFront’ host Mehdi Hasan, adding: “We said it and we meant it. If we are satisfied that the girls are alive.”

On whether he cis prepared to pay ransom or a prisoner swap, for the release of the abducted girls, Buhari replied: “Well it depends on the negotiations with the leadership of Boko Haram.”

However, when asked if he fails to defeat Boko Haram by December, the president said: “No I will not resign even if I don’t defeat them. I will be determined to stay and fight it out.”

The president claimed not to have seen the Amnesty International report from June 2015, ‘Nigeria: Stars on their shoulders: Blood on their hands’, in which the human-rights group documented abuses, torture and unlawful killings by the Nigerian armed forces and urged the government to prosecute a group of officers and senior commanders. “I haven’t received that report personally,” said Buhari. “If I get those documents… I assure you that I will take action as Commander in Chief.”

On implementation of sharia in Nigeria, Buhari said: “Nigerian law does not allow for so-called sharia punishments, such as stonings and amputations, adding: “I cannot change it. I haven’t been voted by [a] majority of Nigerians to change Nigerian constitution.”

Asked about his record as a military dictator in the mid-1980s, and the alleged human-rights abuses which occurred on his watch, Buhari said: “If there is any injustice that can be proved against me when I was there, I will gladly apologise.” The president refused, however, to concede that his now-notorious ‘war against indiscipline’ in the 1980s featured any such “injustice”.