Boko Haram rejects proposed amnesty, denies wrongdoing
Boko Haram rejects proposed amnesty, denies wrongdoing
• Tells govt: ‘It’s we that should grant you pardon’
IT was neither overt enthusiasm nor cautious optimism but a flat “no” that was the formal response of terror group Boko Haram Thursday to the anticipated offer of amnesty to it by the Federal Government.
Insisting on not doing any wrong, the group said that it was the one that should rather offer the Federal Government pardon for its “atrocities” against it.
The Agence France Presse (AFP) yesterday quoted Abubakar Shekau, the purported head of Boko Haram who has been designated a global terrorist by the United States (U.S.), as claiming that his group had “not committed any wrong to deserve amnesty.”
“Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you pardon,” he said.
The AFP said that the Hausa language audio recording was distributed by e-mail in a manner consistent with previous Boko Haram’s messages, and the voice was similar to that of Shekau in his previous statements.
President Goodluck Jonathan last week formed a panel to look at the possibility of offering an amnesty deal to the violent sect, whose insurgency has left more than 3,000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security services.
Jonathan has come under intense pressure over the issue, with politicians from the country’s violence-torn North as well as Nigeria’s highest Muslim spiritual figure, the Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III calling for amnesty.
The panel, reportedly to be composed of national security officials, northern leaders and others, is due to report later this month.
The move has been widely debated in Nigerian media in recent days.
Boko Haram has claimed to be fighting for an Islamic state in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer.
The group also claimed responsibility for the February 19 kidnapping of a French family of seven over the border in Cameroun. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
Boko Haram ’s demands, however, have repeatedly shifted and the group is believed to include various factions in addition to imitators.
Nigeria offered amnesty to militants in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region in 2009, which has been credited with greatly reducing unrest there, though oil theft has since flourished.
Violence blamed on Boko Haram has been concentrated in the mostly Muslim north.
Christian and Muslim civilians, the security services and other symbols of authority have been among the group’s victims.
Just last Wednesday, former presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, supported granting Boko Haram’s members amnesty.
On Wednesday, former Military Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, said the planned amnesty was a welcome development.
He, however, said he would not comment further on the issue until after the committee had been inaugurated by the Federal Government.
“I do not know the terms of reference of the committee, therefore, I cannot speak about the plan, until the terms of reference have been released”, he said.
Babangida, who spoke during an interactive session with reporters at his residence in Minna, noted that every Nigerian had a role to play in tackling the security challenges facing the nation, pointing out that it was now evident that the government could not possibly tackle the problem alone.
Also, Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has commended the Federal Government for setting up a committee to explore modalities for granting amnesty to Boko Haram insurgents.
Ahmed, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, described the move as a bold step that could lead to the restoration of peace.
His words: “ I whole heartedly support the granting of amnesty to the Boko Haram members because it will provide a platform for them to lay their grievances on the table and the Federal Government, indeed all Nigerians, the platform to understand their grievances.”
Ahmed also called on all Nigerians to be advocates and ambassadors of peace for no society can develop in a state of rancour and violence.
And as the group threatened more havoc, the Chairman of the Niger Delta Communities Projects Monitoring Organisation, Francis Ganagana, has advised its members to lay down their arms or in the alternative limit their operations to the northern part of he country.
Ganagana, an ex-militant, warned the terrorists that taking their indiscriminate campaign of bombings to Lagos and other parts of the South would result in devastating consequences, which could result in the disintegration of the country.
The call for amnesty has, however, generated much controversy with groups such as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) opposing the Sultan.
The President, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has described the planned amnesty for the Boko Haram as a complete “act of wickedness.”
The cleric said the pardon should be granted only when members of the group admitted and regretted their actions.
While addressing journalists at the 80th birthday of the President, Apostolic Church of Nigeria, Pastor Gabriel Oladele Olutola, in Lagos, the CAN president warned that Jonathan should not toy with the future of Nigeria by trading off its security on the altar of politics.
But the leader of the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), Mr. Tony Uranta, on Sunday described the agitations trailing the Federal Government’s amnesty committee as unnecessary, stressing that only the restructuring of Nigeria would guarantee end to terrorism in the nation.
At a press conference, Uranta said the agitations and criticisms that had trailed the amnesty committee were uncalled for, stating: “I am amused at the level of agitation over the Federal Government’s decision to set up a committee to work out modalities for a possible amnesty to Boko Haram.”
Insisting that the Federal Government’s step was good, Uranta, however, said the success of the plan depended on Boko Haram ending the hostilities.
Also, the leader of the Northern Civil Society Coalition, Malam Shehu Sani, warned Jonathan not to waste the nation’s resources by sinking billions of naira into amnesty for Boko Haram unless the insurgents agreed to a ceasefire.
He said that the insurgency in the North might continue unless the leader of Boko Haram, Sheikh Shekau, and members of the group accepted the move and were incorporated into the committee being set up by the Federal Government for amnesty.
“Who will be the Boko Haram that will dialogue with anybody? Has Al-Qaeda ever dialogued? Do you see any terrorist in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and others lining up to be biometrically registered?” he queried.
IT was neither overt enthusiasm nor cautious optimism but a flat “no” that was the formal response of terror group Boko Haram Thursday to the anticipated offer of amnesty to it by the Federal Government.
Insisting on not doing any wrong, the group said that it was the one that should rather offer the Federal Government pardon for its “atrocities” against it.
The Agence France Presse (AFP) yesterday quoted Abubakar Shekau, the purported head of Boko Haram who has been designated a global terrorist by the United States (U.S.), as claiming that his group had “not committed any wrong to deserve amnesty.”
“Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you pardon,” he said.
The AFP said that the Hausa language audio recording was distributed by e-mail in a manner consistent with previous Boko Haram’s messages, and the voice was similar to that of Shekau in his previous statements.
President Goodluck Jonathan last week formed a panel to look at the possibility of offering an amnesty deal to the violent sect, whose insurgency has left more than 3,000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security services.
Jonathan has come under intense pressure over the issue, with politicians from the country’s violence-torn North as well as Nigeria’s highest Muslim spiritual figure, the Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III calling for amnesty.
The panel, reportedly to be composed of national security officials, northern leaders and others, is due to report later this month.
The move has been widely debated in Nigerian media in recent days.
Boko Haram has claimed to be fighting for an Islamic state in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer.
The group also claimed responsibility for the February 19 kidnapping of a French family of seven over the border in Cameroun. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
Boko Haram ’s demands, however, have repeatedly shifted and the group is believed to include various factions in addition to imitators.
Nigeria offered amnesty to militants in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region in 2009, which has been credited with greatly reducing unrest there, though oil theft has since flourished.
Violence blamed on Boko Haram has been concentrated in the mostly Muslim north.
Christian and Muslim civilians, the security services and other symbols of authority have been among the group’s victims.
Just last Wednesday, former presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, supported granting Boko Haram’s members amnesty.
On Wednesday, former Military Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, said the planned amnesty was a welcome development.
He, however, said he would not comment further on the issue until after the committee had been inaugurated by the Federal Government.
“I do not know the terms of reference of the committee, therefore, I cannot speak about the plan, until the terms of reference have been released”, he said.
Babangida, who spoke during an interactive session with reporters at his residence in Minna, noted that every Nigerian had a role to play in tackling the security challenges facing the nation, pointing out that it was now evident that the government could not possibly tackle the problem alone.
Also, Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has commended the Federal Government for setting up a committee to explore modalities for granting amnesty to Boko Haram insurgents.
Ahmed, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, described the move as a bold step that could lead to the restoration of peace.
His words: “ I whole heartedly support the granting of amnesty to the Boko Haram members because it will provide a platform for them to lay their grievances on the table and the Federal Government, indeed all Nigerians, the platform to understand their grievances.”
Ahmed also called on all Nigerians to be advocates and ambassadors of peace for no society can develop in a state of rancour and violence.
And as the group threatened more havoc, the Chairman of the Niger Delta Communities Projects Monitoring Organisation, Francis Ganagana, has advised its members to lay down their arms or in the alternative limit their operations to the northern part of he country.
Ganagana, an ex-militant, warned the terrorists that taking their indiscriminate campaign of bombings to Lagos and other parts of the South would result in devastating consequences, which could result in the disintegration of the country.
The call for amnesty has, however, generated much controversy with groups such as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) opposing the Sultan.
The President, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has described the planned amnesty for the Boko Haram as a complete “act of wickedness.”
The cleric said the pardon should be granted only when members of the group admitted and regretted their actions.
While addressing journalists at the 80th birthday of the President, Apostolic Church of Nigeria, Pastor Gabriel Oladele Olutola, in Lagos, the CAN president warned that Jonathan should not toy with the future of Nigeria by trading off its security on the altar of politics.
But the leader of the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), Mr. Tony Uranta, on Sunday described the agitations trailing the Federal Government’s amnesty committee as unnecessary, stressing that only the restructuring of Nigeria would guarantee end to terrorism in the nation.
At a press conference, Uranta said the agitations and criticisms that had trailed the amnesty committee were uncalled for, stating: “I am amused at the level of agitation over the Federal Government’s decision to set up a committee to work out modalities for a possible amnesty to Boko Haram.”
Insisting that the Federal Government’s step was good, Uranta, however, said the success of the plan depended on Boko Haram ending the hostilities.
Also, the leader of the Northern Civil Society Coalition, Malam Shehu Sani, warned Jonathan not to waste the nation’s resources by sinking billions of naira into amnesty for Boko Haram unless the insurgents agreed to a ceasefire.
He said that the insurgency in the North might continue unless the leader of Boko Haram, Sheikh Shekau, and members of the group accepted the move and were incorporated into the committee being set up by the Federal Government for amnesty.
“Who will be the Boko Haram that will dialogue with anybody? Has Al-Qaeda ever dialogued? Do you see any terrorist in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and others lining up to be biometrically registered?” he queried.
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