Boko Haram: Why FG opposed amnesty

MORE facts have emerged on reasons the Federal Government refused to entertain amnesty proposal for members of the Boko Haram sect, with a confirmed link with Al-Qaeda being described as a key reason.
Top northern leaders had, in recent days, mounted pressure on the Federal Government to grant amnesty to the Islamic militants as was done for the Niger Delta militants, but President Goodluck Jonathan had consistently refused the request, saying that he could not grant amnesty to ghosts.
A top security official, however, told the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja that the real reason amnesty could not be granted the Boko Haram activists was the confirmed link of the sect with various Al-Qaeda groups within and outside Africa.
“The reality is that amnesty cannot work for Al-Qaeda linked organisation. Boko Haram fight in Mali and the sect is officially an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. So those operating in Nigeria cannot even decide not to fight, as long as the sect is linked with that international network,” the official, who craves anonymity, noted.
He explained further that members of the Boko Haram sect are from Niger, Chad, Cameroon and other parts of Africa, asking:  “how do you grant amnesty to fighters from all over Africa who are fighting based on ideology?”
He said intelligence reports from many countries confirmed Boko Haram as a trans-national network, adding that in Nigeria, amnesty would be meaningless as the demands of the sect could not be met.
According to him, amnesty was easily granted Niger Delta militants, as there was no established case of a trans-national network, as compared to the Islamic jihadists.
Nigerian Tribune was also told that in negotiating peaceful end to insurgents, the first line was not amnesty, with the source noting that “the first step is unconditional ceasefire.”
Tribune