Northern Leaders Fight Over Amnesty for Boko Haram

The Arewa Consultative Forum and two prominent Northern leaders on Monday disagreed on the composition of the committee on amnesty for the extremist Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

While the two activists – Mallam Shehu Sani and Dr. Junaid Muhammed – are of the view that nothing worthwhile would come out of the amnesty, the ACF thinks otherwise. One group is focusing on the larger picture, the other is looking at the material benefits.

Mallam Sani, a respected activist and Executive Director of the Civil Rights Congress, told Punch that the process so far adopted by the Federal Government for the amnesty committee is faulty.

He said, “Before the amnesty, there must be first and foremost, a committee accepted by the government and also recognised by the sect. Now, setting up a committee that is constituted by friends of the government and security agents will not be accepted by the insurgents. All committees that had been set up in the past were dismissed by the insurgents.

“And again, if you have a committee to serve as a mediator, it should extract a commitment to a ceasefire for at least six months and within this period, issues about victims of Boko Haram could now be addressed.”

Mallam Sani said those who attended a meeting that formed the amnesty committee at the Presidential Villa last week are “government apologists” who knew little about Boko Haram and its mode of operations.

He went on to warn that, “If we are not careful, we will fall into a trap where hundreds and billions of naira will be paid to people who are not part of the insurgency. As far as I am concerned, this amnesty is not going to work and it is very likely that the group will dismiss the amnesty."

It was further gathered that those who have set their eyes on the money they will make from the "faulty" process are assuring President Goodluck Jonathan that all is well. But how far this go?