Panel to submit report in two weeks
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday approved the setting up of a committee to consider proposals for granting amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect, so as to end its uprising that left thousands dead in the North since 2009.
The committee, which draws its membership from within the National Security and Defence Council, will be co-ordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser and is expected to submit its report in two weeks.
This was the outcome of an emergency meeting of the security council at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where the suggestions submitted by the Northern Elders Forum on tackling the insurgency were discussed.
Jonathan met the northern elders on Wednesday night, where he briefed them on his efforts towards addressing the remote causes of the campaign of violence launched by the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lid Da’awati Wal Jihad.
As a follow up to the Wednesday meeting, the President convened the National Security and Defence Council yesterday, attended by the service chiefs and the Minister of State for Defence Erelu Olusola Obada.
No statement was issued after the meeting, which lasted about three hours, but a senior Presidency official who declined to be named gave a briefing to journalists on what was discussed.
He said President Jonathan summoned the security meeting in response to calls on the government by various interest groups to grant amnesty to Boko Haram.
The official said the committee would consider the possibility of granting amnesty to members of the sect and also outline modalities for implementing it.
He said the terms of reference for the amnesty 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 pardon, should such step become the logical one to take under the prevailing circumstance.
“It is a complex situation, but government has obligation to respect public opinion, especially with the increasing clamour for amnesty from various quarters,” the Presidency official said.
Shortly after the meeting, the Minister of State for Defence told journalists: “The meeting is on the spate of insecurity, I mean what we can do to ensure that it is brought to absolute minimum.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that when asked whether amnesty was discussed, Mrs Obada said: “Some issues to ameliorate the situation; some issues were discussed.”
The issue of amnesty to Boko Haram became a national discourse after a call made by the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar ahead of President Jonathan’s visit to Borno and Yobe states last month.
But Jonathan dismissed the suggestion, saying there was no way he could grant amnesty to ghosts.
The Presidency official who spoke to journalists yesterday said Jonathan never foreclosed amnesty for Boko Haram but only said it could be considered if members of the group came out in the open.
Present at the security council meeting were Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Ola Ibrahim, Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Alex Bade, Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar, National Security Adviser retired Col. Sambo Dasuki, Director-General of the State Security Service Mr Ita Ekpeyong and Police Affairs Minister retired Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade.
The amnesty committee will submit its report to the National Security and Defence Council when it meets again in two weeks.
Earlier on Wednesday night, a member of the Northern Elders Forum delegation Prof. Ango Abdullahi spoke to State House correspondents on their discussion with the President.
“On amnesty, what we discussed is that the general opinion in the country is that amnesty should be factored in to whatever the government is trying to do to overcome the violence that is taking place all over the country and, particularly, in most parts of the North. Fortunately, the President is already thinking hard on it,” he said.
Wednesday’s meeting between the President and the elders forum was a follow-up on a similar meeting held in May last year, when the forum submitted a memorandum on ending the violence in the North.
The 25-member forum was led by the former Nigerian representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama-Sule.
Also, the Minister of Information Mr Labaran Maku spoke to newsmen after the Wednesday night meeting.
He said: “The president said that government has never said that there will be no amnesty but that there must be a process and structure if amnesty is to succeed.”
“In the case of the North, amnesty cannot be granted in a vacuum. There must be a process, there must be a structure and there must be a way of holding everyone to account in terms of the amnesty process if amnesty is eventually considered,” he added.
“The president said that no one has ever said that there will not be amnesty but there must be certain conditions for amnesty to be useful in the process of using it as a mechanism for achieving peace as it relates to the Boko Haram insurgence.”
Maku said the forum was informed of efforts of government toward promoting education in the North, particularly through the construction of more than 100 Almajiri schools to increase access to education by more than 9.5 million children on the streets.
He said the president also spoke about the nine out of 12 Federal Government-owned universities established in the North.
“We also took time to explain the various infrastructural projects in the North. We explained to the forum that most of the road dualisation projects that the government is presently implementing are located in the North. We also explained to them the various dam projects going on in the North, agriculture and irrigation for farming,” he said.
Maku said the elders wanted Lake Chad to be restored to its former status and the President explained the efforts of government to achieve that. He said the Federal Government together with the Lake Chad Basin Commission had agreed to bring water from Central Africa Republic down to Lake Chad.
The minister said the meeting also discussed the allegations of marginalisation of the North in the civil service, particularly in the directors’ cadre.
He said that the new Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, presented a report which allayed the fear of the elders and assured virtual parity between the North and South in the service.
Other members of the elders forum at Wednesday’s meeting were Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Mrs Pauline Tallen, Alhaji Kalli Gazali, Dr Safiya Mohammed, Mr Solomon Dalong, Sheikh Ahmed Lemu, Alhaji Shehu Malami, Sen John Wash Pam, Alhaji Bello Kirfi, retired Maj.-Gen. Paul Tarfa, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, Dr Paul Unongo, retired Capt. Paul Tahal, retired Capt Bashir Sodangi retired AVM A
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