Northern Governors on Saturday reiterated their support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to offer amnesty to members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect, describing it as the appropriate line to tow.
According to Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, the move underscores the resolve of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government to restore peace to the region, which would reinvigorate its region’s development.
“The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) encourages President Jonathan in his effort to find a lasting solution to the Boko Haram crisis, with the hope that members of the sect would make themselves available for dialogue,” Alityu stated in a release issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Danladi Ndayebo.
“The Forum calls for the expansion of the committee’s membership to include critical stakeholders in the region whose input would facilitate quick resolution of the crisis. State Governors, traditional rulers, the clergy — Christian and Islamic — academics, retired military men, businessmen and former public officers should form part of the current effort at fashioning out strategies to address the disturbing state of insecurity and to proffer practical and enduring solutions to the insecurity in the region.”
Aliyu recollected last year’s inauguration of a 41-man peace committee cahired by former Director General of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Zakari Ibrahim. He commended the committee, saying that even if it had yet to submit report of its findings, its work in the North East laid the foundation for the extent of progress recorded at the moment.
The governors spoke as Northern elders called for the establishment of a permanent amnesty commission to address the issue of pardon for deserving people from time to time.
Speaking with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Kaduna, Former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof Ango Abdullahi revealed that a proposal for an independent Amnesty Commission had been forwarded to the president.
The commission will be different from the committee constituted last week by President Goodluck Jonathan last week to work out modalities for granting amnesty to members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
“We went with this advice in writing. Our thinking was that if the government felt it would be granting amnesty just like that, then there should be an independent body whose responsibility will be to set up how this amnesty will be granted, and also those affected will not be afraid to come out,” he said.
“We suggested the establishment of an amnesty commission. A commission is different from a committee but I hope it is a step that will lead to the commission. If a commission is established by law, it is independent and with honest individuals appointed to lead it, they will set up the process through which the desired objectives would be achieved.”
However, President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor only sees the planned amnesty as an act of wickedness, saying it is inconceivable that government talks of amnesty for terrorists without first discussing compensation for victims of their acts.
Oritsejafor expressed his stand in Lagos at the 80th birthday of President of Apostolic Church of Nigeria, Pastor Gabriel Olutola, in Lagos, where he was a special guest.
“I don’t know if the president has actually set up a committee. It is still a rumour to me,” he said.
“But if he has, I think that is a bit dangerous because some of us are stakeholders. I think it is important to consult with all those who ought to know so that they can share their own opinion and also be able to speak on what amnesty is all about.
“I don’t see why he would have to do that. Let us not turn this situation into politics. Let’s face it for what it is. The security of the people is the number one responsibility of the president. And I think at this point, Jonathan must wake up and just face it and do what he has to do. But these people who are putting pressure on him left and right, may God help them and deliver Nigeria from their hands.”
Oritsejafor, though, denied that CAN is strictly opposed to amnesty Oritsejafor, as it is all about forgiveness.
“When you talk of amnesty, you are also talking about forgiveness. But if you read Luke 15, the Bible is talking about the prodigal son and in verses 17 and 18, the Bible says, ‘when he came to himself.’
“In other words, he realised that what he had done was wrong. But the people we are dealing with, do they accept that what they are doing is wrong? When the prodigal son realised it, then he came to his father to ask for forgiveness.”
He also warned against drawing comparisons between the Niger Delta situation, which was resolved with a Federal Government Amnesty, and the current Boko haram attacks.
“The leaders in the North instead of talking and talking, they should go and identify these [Boko Haram] boys. Jonathan cannot do that. He doesn’t know where to go. That is why he must be careful the way he gets involved with some of these agitators.
“Amnesty did not just happen. What happened was that the leaders from the Niger Delta were able to identify the leaders of these militant groups. Yar’ Adua did not identify them. The leaders in the area identified them and brought them to Yar’ Adua and said ‘these are the boys.’”
Oritsejafor urged government concern for victims, asking: “How are we going to take care of them? How are we going to compensate the people they left behind?
“What about the churches that have been burnt? There are so many unanswered questions that I am wondering why we are putting the cart before the horse.”
