The North on Friday vowed to oppose any plan to impose a state of emergency in any of the region’s crisis torn states.
Borno, Yobe and a few northern states have experienced sporadic violence in the past few weeks.
Over 55 people including policemen and
prison officials were killed in Bama, Borno State, last week, after
suspected Boko Haram insurgents launched several attacks on the town. A
few days later, over 185 people were killed in the Baga area of the
state with thousands of houses destroyed.
There were reports that President
Goodluck Jonathan, who cut short a foreign trip to tackle the insecurity
challenge, might declare a state of emergency in some of the troubled
states.
The Presidency on Saturday said the Federal Government was studying the situation in the affected states.
Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said, “The Federal Government is
studying the situations in the affected states and would take decisions
that would be in the overall interest of the security of not just the
people of the states affected but also of the country. Declaration of
state of emergency is a serious thing that should not be speculated
about.”
However, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Northern Elders’ Forum and other stakeholders, who spoke to reporters,
said they would resist attempts by the Federal Government to apply more
force in the bid to quell the insurgency of the region.
They insisted that President Goodluck
Jonathan should stick to the plan to grant total amnesty to members of
the sect, just the way it was granted to Niger Delta militants.
The ACF said the recent aggressiveness
in attacks by Boko Haram members should not warrant a declaration of a
state of emergency.
ACF spokesman, Mr. Anthony Sani, said
the forum, which is the apex socio-cultural group in the North, had
resolved that the recurring violence in region could only be halted by
dialogue, thus its opposition to emergency rule.
He said, “I believe the hike in attacks
recently, if by the sect, is their own way of playing hard (to get), so
that they can secure the best of terms in the ensuing dialogue. You seem
to forget what brought about the hankering for dialogue: It was because
the use of force had not delivered the desired results. If military
might were successful in campaigns against terrorism, nobody would talk
about dialogue.
“I want to appeal to Nigerians of all
religions, political colorations and of all regions to please give the
government and the amnesty a chance.”
Similarly, the Northern Elders’ Forum described speculations about emergency rule in parts of the North as wrongheaded.
The northern elders advised the Federal
Government to follow through with the plan to grant amnesty to Boko
Haram, which has claimed responsibility for most of the violent attacks
in the region.
The spokesman of NEF, Dr. Paul Unongo,
said the Federal Government could not justify a state of emergency in
the North, since such a measure wasn’t introduced in the South-South
states at the peak of the violence unleashed on the region by Niger
Delta militants.
He said, “Government did not declare a
state of emergency in the states in Niger Delta. General amnesty was
declared and those who wanted to take advantage of it were asked to come
out and lay down their arms and get some booties.
“Anybody calling for the declaration of a
state of emergency in the North will not be able to justify it. Amnesty
has worked in Nigeria. It can still work.”
The National Coordinator, Coalition of
Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, Dr.
Junaid Mohammed, also warned the Federal Government not to declare a
state of emergency in any part of the North.
He said, “Some people in the Peoples
Democratic Party that are talking about state of emergency are just
playing politics because most of the states affected are not PDP states.
Borno, Yobe and Nasarawa are not PDP states, only Taraba is. Any
declaration now will be nothing but a political manoeuvre to impose the
unpopular PDP mandate on these states, which did not vote for PDP in the
last election.”
The Second Republic lawmaker said a declaration of state of emergency was the reaction of a failing government.
“There is something suspicious about
declaring a state of emergency. The people proposing a state of
emergency should give us good reasons. This is because, clearly,
government has failed in its fundamental duty. This government has
failed woefully.”
Junaid’s view was also echoed by the
National Assembly on Friday. The Senate and the House of Representatives
ruled out a state of emergency as a solution to the crises in some
northern states.
They said an emergency rule would be “premature.”
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, told newsmen that lawmakers would not be in a hurry to initiate any call for a state of emergency.
He said it might heat up the polity the more and compound the situation.
“While our committees are working, the House cannot jump the gun to call for a state of emergency.
“We have to wait to receive the reports of our committees, then we take it up from there.
“For now, a state of emergency is premature,” he added.
Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor
Ndoma-Egba, told one our correspondents on Friday on the phone, that the
violent killings in parts of the North were not enough to warrant the
declaration of a state of emergency.
“A state of emergency is an extreme
measure which should be applied as a last resort. The security agencies
can handle it and I think they are already on top of the situation,” he
said.
Also in opposition to emergency rule,
the Congress for Progressive Change, which is the ruling party in
Nassarawa State, warned the Federal Government against declaring a state
of emergency in the state.
The National Publicity Secretary of the
party, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said though the party condemned the killings
of policemen in the state by a militia group, it would be wrong to use
that as a pretext to declare a state of emergency.
Meanwhile, the Governor of the state,
Mr. Tanko Al-Makura, has vowed that those behind the killings of the
policemen will be brought to book.
The governor, who spoke in a telephone
interview with one of our correspondents on Friday, assured the families
of the dead policemen that their husbands would not die in vain.
“We would get those behind the killings
of these heroes. We would not stop at anything to get them. Wherever
they are hiding, we would get them,” he said.
On the possibility of declaring a state
of emergency in his state, he said, “Governance has not collapsed in the
state to warrant that.”
Our correspondents also learnt that
northern governors had also vowed to resist attempts to impose a state
of emergency on any state in the region.
An aide to one of the governors, who spoke to newsmen on Friday, said his boss and some of his colleagues were aware of the plan.
He said, “We are aware that certain
individuals will want to profit politically from the current sad events
in parts of the North, but we will stop them.
“The solution to this problem is not the
declaration of a state of emergency but the implementation of the
various panel reports and government white papers which government has
not had the courage to implement.
“When Governor Ahmed Makarfi issued a
White Paper and implemented the panel recommendations on the Kaduna
crisis, the problem in the state stopped. We cannot continue to play the
ostrich when our house is on fire.”
Meanwhile, the Army has set up a board of inquiry to investigate the role of soldiers in the recent killings in Bama and Baga.
NE learnt that the investigation team led by a Major General had started work.
However, our correspondents couldn’t get the details of the mandate of the new committee on Friday.
Efforts made to reach the Director of
Army, Brig.- Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, were not successful as calls placed
to his mobile telephone line did not go through.
Also the Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, could not be reached on his mobile phone.
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Why are some people so selfish, is bcos u are not affected by these useless BOKO HARAM sects. Boko Haram sects said they DO nOT want amnesty, u're still saying amnesty. Hard measure has to be taken on them, enough of killing innocent souls. South-South amnesty can not be compared with Boko Haram. Boko Haram have no bases for their killings.
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