Indications emerged last night that President Goodluck Jonathan may have resolved to declare amnesty for the Boko Haram sect.
This was the outcome of a meeting between the president and the
leadership of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) at the presidential villa,
Abuja.
This is even as Jonathan has summoned a security meeting
with chiefs in the country, which will be held today at the presidential
villa.
Jonathan also used the occasion to deny ever ruling out amnesty for the sect.
The president is expected to set up an amnesty commission to fine- tune details of clemency to the sect members.
Former
Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Prof Ango Abdullahi,
told State House Correspondents after the meeting which ended at
about11:30pm that the president’s response to the call for amnesty at
the meeting, which is sequel to the one held between the president and
the NEF in May last year,
was positive and that he assured the NEF
delegation that the amnesty for the insurgents will be tabled before the
security meeting today.
Abdullahi said, “The meeting is simply a
follow-up visit on the invitation of Mr. President. Many of you will
recall that about eight or nine months ago, we interacted with the
president on matters of the nation.
We submitted a memorandum to
him and he promised that he was going to look at our submission and he
will call us back to further dialogue on the issues we have raised in ou
submission. Ans this is precisely what transpired today.
“The
contention here that there are challenges in the country, especially in
the area of security which is the greatest challenge.
What we
discussed is that general opinion in the country is that amnesty should
be factored into all effort made by government to overcome the security
challenges all over the country or in most parts of the North.
Fortunately the president is already thinking hard on it.
And
he assured us that there is a special meeting on the matter and that
I’m sure that tomorrow something substantial will come out of that
meeting”.
Corroborating Abdullahi’s disclosure, information
minister, Labarn Maku also said the president has never said no to the
issue of amnesty, adding that what the president is saying is that, just
like in the case of Niger Delta, some structures and processes have to
be in place before the amnesty option is fully explored.
The
minister further explained that the insurgents need to be identified and
come forward before the dialogue that would lead to the amnesty
programme is put in place.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the president
intention for convening the meeting was to to give a listening ear to
the umbrella body of Northern elders to clarify on issues partaining to
clamour for the amnesty for the sect and why he may have been reluctant
to consider calls by a section of Nigerians that he should declare
amnesty for the sect.
Spiritual leaders from the North, including
the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III had appealed to the
president to consider granting amnesty to the deadly group, with his
position receiving a boost from the Arch Bishop of Abuja, Cardinal John
Onaiyekan during the Easter period.
But the president had kept
mum over the matter since after his encounter with elders of Borno and
Yobe States respectively after a town hall meeting with them during his
two weeks working visit to the epicenters of the Boko Haram.
LEADERSHIP
learnt that the president may have deemed it necessary to pour out his
mind before the NEF , to let them understand his earlier position that
members of the insurgents must present themselves before him to enable
him know who he is actually dialoguing with, as he was not ready to
grant amnesty to ghosts.
The president’s declaration early March
this year in Borno and Yobe had elicited a lot of mixed reactions, with
most prominent citizens from the Northern region accusing president of
insensitivity to the plight of people from the region that have suffered
great loss due to the gory and gruesome activities of the sect.
Present
at the meeting were leader of the group, Yusuf Maitama Sule, Paulen
Tallen, Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Kali Gazali, Safiya Mohammed, Solomon
Dualong, Sheikh Ahmed Lemu, Shehu Malami, John Wash Pam, Lawal Kaita,
Bello Kirfi, Paul Unongo, AVM Al-amin Daggash, Sani Zango Daura, N.A.
Sheriff, Yahaya Kwande, Saleh Hassan, Muslim Maigari, Bashir Yusuf, Gen.
Paul Tarfa, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, Prof Idris Mohammed, Capt Paul Tahal and Capt Bashir Sodangi.
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