Last Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan met with a group northern elders. The major topic of discussion at the meeting, which lasted late into the night, was the relentless insurgency that has rendered the North a playground of murderous impulses. The leaders, led by Alhaji Maitama Sule, came under the auspices of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF.
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| Jonathan: weighing the amnesty option |
But at the time of filing this report, there were hints that the elders succeeded in selling amnesty to the President at the meeting. “On amnesty, what we discussed is that the general opinion in the country is that amnesty should be worked into whatever the government is trying to do to overcome the violence that is taking place all over the country, particularly in the Northern part of Nigeria.
Fortunately, the President is thinking hard on it and he assured us that there is a special meeting on the matter tomorrow,” said Professor Ango Abdullahi, spokesman for the NEF.
Very late last Thursday, it was gathered, the President agreed to establish an amnesty commission with the setting up of a committee within the membership of the National Security Council, NSC, to work out the modalities.
Though the identities of the committee members were unknown at press time, it was learnt that they will work closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser.
As this magazine learnt last week, the terms of reference of the committee are: i) to consider the feasibility or otherwise of granting pardon to the Boko Haram adherents (ii) collate clamours arising from different interest groups who want the apex government to administer clemency on members of the religious sect and (iii) to recommend modalities for the granting of the pardon should such step become the logical one to take under the prevailing circumstances.
The committee is expected to submit its report to the President when the NSC meets in a fortnight.
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| Yusuf Maitama Sule… leading northern leaders’ amnesty charge |
Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, kicked off the campaign for amnesty as a means ending the insurgency during a meeting of the Central Council of Jama’atu Nasril Islam in Kaduna early last March. This was about the time the President was planning to visit Yobe and Borno states, headquarters of the fundamentalist sect. While decrying the state of insecurity across the country, the Sultan had emphasised that it is the duty of the government to protect every citizen.
The Sultan then made allusion to the then impending visit of the President and what should happen at the occasion. “We want to use this opportunity to call on the government, especially Mr. President, to see how he can declare total amnesty for all combatants without thinking twice. That will make any other person who picks up arms to be termed as a criminal. If the amnesty is declared, majority of those young men running would come out and embrace that amnesty and some of them have already come out because we have read some of the stories in the newspapers,” said the Sultan.
But the suggestion, which had been bandied by some Northern leaders, who likened the Boko Haram insurgency to the militancy in the Niger Delta, was met with immediate disapproval from aides of the President. There were also strident opposition to the idea, especially from those in the southern part of the country and religious groups. “The Sultan’s call is obviously an indication that the caliphate is encouraging and condoning bloody violence. Our position in Afenifere is that the Boko Haram members are evil. They should be identified and severely dealt with according to the laws of the land,” said Reuben Fasoranti, a leader of Afenifere, the influential Yoruba socio-political group.
Musa Asake, General Secretary of Christian Association of Nigeria, who described Boko Haram members as a “bunch of fundamentalists who have killed, maimed, deformed Christians” said the group must first put an end to its activities before amnesty can be discussed.
Manaidi Dagogo-Jack, Rivers State Chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, also opposed to the Sultan’s call.
“The President would be setting a very bad precedent if he accepts to grant a faceless Boko Haram amnesty. We respect the Sultan’s opinion, but the government should ask him to identify who they are before talking about amnesty,” he said.
But the Sultan has not been without supporters. Abubakar Tsav, a former Commissioner of Police, said the visit of the President to Borno State can only be meaningful if he declares amnesty for the insurgents. But during the visit to Borno and Yobe States, the President did not mince words on whose side of the argument he was on.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Maiduguri, Jonathan dismissed the comparison of Boko Haram insurgency to the militancy in the Niger Delta before the declaration of amnesty for militants. He cited the invisibility of Boko Haram leaders and the vagueness of their demands as reasons for government’s rejection of the demand that they be amnestied. “What I am saying is that in the Niger Delta case, if you call them, they will come and tell you their grievances, right or wrong. They will be there to tell you ‘this is what we want, this is why we are doing this’. But in the case of the Boko Haram, you don’t see anybody who will say he is a Boko Haram member, so we cannot declare amnesty. For us to declare amnesty, we must be communicating with people.
We cannot declare amnesty for people that are operating under a veil,” reasoned Jonathan.
The President’s position did not sit well with the Borno Elders Forum, a group of leaders in the trouble-riven state. Professor Nur Alkali, a prominent member of the group, told journalists that the minimum expectation of the people of the state is amnesty. “There is no alternative to dialogue. And since they talked about peace, we should work towards it, though it may take some time to achieve. The use of violence brings more violence. The minimum expectation is pardon, rehabilitation. Mr. President is expected to announce this before leaving Borno,” Alkali said in hope.
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| Ango Abdullahi Abdullahi… wants dialogue with Boko Haram |
Opponents and supporters of amnesty have hardened their position since the President’s visit. In the opinion of most Northerners, amnesty for Boko Haram members, just like in the case of Niger Delta, will bring the insurgency that has so far claimed over 3000 lives to a conclusive end. And they have also countered the view that members of the sect are faceless with the argument that the frequent claims of arrests of commanders of Boko Haram by agencies is evidence that they are known. Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has also argued that it is the task of officials of government to seek out leaders of Boko Haram group just like it happened in the case of leaders of Niger Delta militant groups during the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
On the other hand, opponents of amnesty have insisted that doing so would amount grave injustice to the victims and their dependants. They also pointed out that the insurgent group has never, on its own, demanded for amnesty or given reasonable grounds on which it will end its deadly campaign. For instance, the group, in video postings by its leader, Abubakar Shekau, affirmed that its aim is to impose total Islamic rule at least across the northern part of the country. Shekau has also severally disowned a faction of the group that has consistently claimed to be interested in dialogue with the Borno State government.
Boko Haram has also made the staggeringly impudent demand that the President convert to Islam. This is in addition to calls for unconditional release of its members currently in detention or undergoing trials over their involvement in various terrorist activities.
Even then, it is not all Northerners that are for the amnesty or all southerners that are against it. Sheik Ahmad Gumi, a prominent cleric, is one of the few northern religious leaders that have refused to buy into the amnesty argument. While lamenting that many innocent people have been killed, maimed, tortured by soldiers in the guise of fighting Boko Haram, Gumi said government should go all out to crush the group. He noted that Boko Haram sect has its own hypocritical interpretation of the Qur’an or Hadith and fatwa. “They have their own interpretation, anything short of that is part of the enemy that should be killed. So on what basis should there be dialogue or amnesty? It is a creed that must be crushed; it is a creed the Prophet – alaihis Salam–wished he was alive to exterminate,” said Gumi.
During a recent visit to Kano State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, supported the call for amnesty, but argued that it should only be for members of the sect who “have no blood on their hands,” a condition widely considered unattainable.
Yet, at the end of its meeting about two weeks ago, Northern Traditional Rulers Council had urged the Federal Government to reconsider its stand on amnesty to Boko Haram members. In a resolution issued after the meeting held at the palace of the Sultan by the coordinating secretary of the council and Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najib Hussaini Adamu, the council called for decisive action from the federal government to curb the “unfortunate escalation of insecurity in the country.”
“To this end, the federal government is called upon to reconsider its stand and offer amnesty to the insurgents, who embrace the path of peace, reformation and reintegration with the larger society. This is the norm the world over and there exists a precedent in Nigeria,” said the traditional rulers.
It was believed that the persistence of the northern leaders on the issue of amnesty put the Presidency under tremendous pressure, forcing it to modify its opinion on the issue. With such pressure on the President, who is desperate to be in good terms with every significant on account of his second term ambition, analysts had predicted the Presidency would succumb to the amnesty demand. Reuben Abati, spokesperson to the President, had told journalists that it would be “wrong and mischievous” for anybody or group to see the Boko Haram menace and the call for amnesty as issues between the North and the South. “The concern of government is to ensure peace and security in all parts of the country, not regional or ethnic matter,” he said while further clarifying the presidential position on the matter: “In saying that he can’t grant amnesty to ghosts, the President made it clear that if members of the sect come forward to lay down their arms and list their grievances, government will listen to them.” Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, had also challenged northern leaders to lead the amnesty effort by coming forward with information on Boko Haram leaders. It was gathered that it was on account of this that the Presidency invited members of NEF to last week’s meeting.
But the question is: Will the members of Boko Haram and equally deadly cousins, Ansaru, be convinced to end violence and embrace amnesty? Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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