Amnesty to Boko Haram Amounts to Insensitivity to Their Victims-CAN

Amnesty to Boko Haram Amounts to Insensitivity to Their Victims-CAN[/B]

As the President appears to have succumbed to pressure from Northern Elders to grant amnesty to Boko Haram by setting up a committee to look into the feasibility of pardon for the sect and its members the Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) yesterday took a swipe at northern leaders calling for amnesty for members of the dreaded Islamic sect, describing such calls as insensitive to the plight of their victims.

The association stated this during a visit to villages attacked in Southern Kaduna by gunmen last Saturday, which led to the death of about 28 people.

As at the time of the visit by the CAN leadership, led by its Secretary-General, Rev. (Dr.) Musa Asake, the number of the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in the two camps set up by the state government had risen to 5,200.

Addressing the victims camped at Model Primary School in Fadan Attakar, Asake said that it was unfortunate that northern elders could be calling for amnesty for perpetrators of heinous crimes rather than demanding for their prosecution.

He stated that the call amounted to outright insensitivity to sufferings of the thousands of victims of atrocities committed by the sect, who had either died or were maimed and displaced as a result of the ungodly activities of a group of dissidents.

He said: “Here are innocent people driven from their homes and displaced from their loved ones for no crime. That is why I consider the northern elders calling for amnesty for Boko Haram members as insensitive. While many people, some of whom are women and children are deprived of their breadwinners, somebody somewhere who does not know how to live without security is saying ‘give amnesty to some faceless individuals’.

“It is unfair and these are the so-called educated elite in the North who would not even visit and see what is happening.”

The CAN Secretary- General also argued that those drawing similarities between the activities of the dreaded sect and the defunct Niger Delta militants, are not educated, stressing that while the former is faceless with no identifiable demands, that of the latter was well known.

“We know what the Niger Delta militants were fighting for. We know their leaders and when government wanted to see them, the militants came out, talked with government and on the strength of that dropped their guns.

“The Boko Haram insurgency started in Maiduguri. If they angered them there, let them talk with the government of Maiduguri. Why will a Maiduguri problem come to Southern Kaduna,” he added.

As part of efforts to keep his word to Northern elders, the President spent hours yesterday meeting with all the security chiefs to review the situation in the country, particularly on the deadly activities of the Boko Haram Islamic sect.

An inside source at the meeting disclosed that the discussions centred on the clamour for granting amnesty to members of the sect.

The source said that in response to the clamour and taking into account public opinion, the President set up a committee within the National Security Council, NSC, to consider the request for amnesty for the members of the sect as well as other options to address the insecurity situation in the country.

According to the source, the committee, which is expected to report to the NSC within two weeks, is also to consider the feasibility of the amnesty request.

The source, however, declined to disclose the composition of the committee for security reasons.

The terms of reference of the committee are to collate opinions from different interest groups that want the government to administer clemency on members of the religious sect and to recommend modalities for granting such.

“If amnesty is eventually considered as an option, the committee is also expected to make recommendations regarding the modalities to be employed in handing the amnesty,” the source said.

The committee is expected to work with the Office of the National Security Adviser.

According to the source, the President has not ruled out the issue of amnesty as an option in the process to achieving peace in the country, especially in the northern region.

The source, however, said that the President has insisted that amnesty cannot be granted to people that are faceless, saying that the members of the group must come out of hiding and make their identities known before the option of amnesty could be considered.

The meeting was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubuike Ihejirika and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) as well as the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar.

Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada, had told journalists after the meeting that issues relating to ways to ameliorate the spate of insecurity in the country were discussed.

She said the meeting discussed what to do on the state of insecurity and how it could be brought under control.

At a late night closed door meeting with Northern Elders Forum on Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan had said that consultations were still ongoing on the issue of amnesty for members of the sect.

At the meeting, members of the Northern Elders Forum led by Alhaji Maitama Sule, had insisted on the option of amnesty for the Boko Haram sect in the process of achieving peace particularly in the North.

The President had also said that government has not ruled out the option of amnesty for the sect but gave conditions for such option to be considered, key of which is that members of the sect must be identifiable.

According to Jonathan, the Federal Government is presently engaged in extensive consultations regarding amnesty and other process of achieving peace in the country.

Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, spokesman of the group and former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Prof. Ango Abdulahi had said that they spent some time discussing security matters.

“We discussed amnesty and the general opinion in the country is that amnesty should be factored into whatever the government is trying to do to overcome this bombing that is taking place all over the country.

“Fortunately, the President is already thinking very hard about it and he assured that there will be a special meeting and I am sure something substantial will come out of that meeting,” Abdullahi said.