The Boko Haram sect yesterday vowed to fight on, until their demands are met.

The group rejected the recommendations of the Ambassador Usman Galtimari Panel, which prescribed dialogue to resolve the crisis in which many have died.

Boko Haram spokesman Abu Qaga told reporters on the telephone in Maiduguri yesterday that the panel acted on its own.

Qaqa said that the group was not satisfied with the members of the committee. It said those advising the government to involve the Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and some emirs in the Northeast in the talks are doing so at their own peril. He said the group regards the Sultan as a government official.

Qaga reiterated the Boko Haram’s demands.

They are: severe punishment for those who killed its leader Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf and other members of the sect arrested during the July 2009 uprising; reconstruction of its places of worship destroyed by security agencies in Maiduguri and other states; immediate release of detained members; while appropriate compensation should be paid to them for all their belongings destroyed by security agencies.

The group disowned Mallam Ali Tishau saying he’s not its spokesman. Qaga said Tishau was initially not their member as he was sent by security agencies to investigate their activities, but converted to Islam and became a full member who later opted out and now out to tarnish its image.

Tishau’s disappearance from security custody has been causing ripples.

The co-founder of the Islamic fundamentalist sect, which has claimed responsibility for bombings across the North, including the August 26 United Nations House, Abuja disappeared from security custody in controversial circumstances.

He reappeared on Africa Independent Television (AIT), which broadcast his interview, last week.

Since then, there has been a frenzy over his whereabouts in security circles.

The Presidency has launched a probe into how Tishau was transferred between security agencies and how he was released.

Chief of Army Staff Gen. Azubike Ihejirika yesterday said Inspector-General of Police Hafiz Ringim and the Head of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) are in a better position to clear the air on Tishau’s exit from custody.

Gen. Ihejirika spoke at the opening ceremony of the 2011 edition of the Chief of Army Staff conference.

The Panel probing the release of Tishau is mandated to determine three issues:

•whether Tishau was released by the police or the DIA;

•under whose authority he was released; and

•whether his release was on administrative bail or by the order of a court

The National Security Adviser (NSA) is leading the probe into Tishau’s escape.

“A committee comprising representatives of security agencies and the police is looking into the matter,” a source said.

Neither the Police nor the DIA has accepted responsibility for Tishau’s escape.

Said the source: “What is clear so far is that Tishau voluntarily surrendered to the police and he was detained for interrogation, until he was handed over to the DIA on July 7 by the IGP after a formal request.

“The DIA has also maintained that it returned Tishau to police custody. But the probe team would have to check the logs on the suspect’s movement.

“For a high-profile suspect like this, there are standard procedures for detention, interrogation and inter-agency movement.”

A new twist has emerged in the Tishau escape mystery. There is claim that he must have been released following a court order, but no such court order has been produced.