Boko Haram amnesty: Let Sultan provides names of sect members-Fasehun

Founder of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun, yesterday demanded that the Sultan of Sokoto should first provide the list of the names of the members of the Boko Haram, if he wanted amnesty to be given to the sect.

Speaking at a media chat with some group of journalists at Okota, Lagos State, Fasehun, who condemned Sultan’s call for amnesty, said that amnesty cannot be given to “faceless people.”

He stressed that Sultan should endeavour to provide a list of the names of the members of Boko Haram; so that the federal government should know the persons it would be dealing with or giving amnesty to.

Fasehun who urged the sect members to sheathe their swords and cease fire, said that it was ironical, that just as the elders of Borno State were urging President Goodluck Jonathan to withdraw the military-run Joint Task Force(JTF) and the Sultan of Sokoto calling for amnesty, the sect went ahead to execute seven foreign hostages in cold blood.

He further said: “The Islamists had similarly killed in cold blood, several polio immunization personnel. Our prayers go to the families of all the foreign and Nigerian victims. All these homicides destroy the case for amnesty or the withdrawal of the JTF from beleaguered states in Northern Nigeria.

“However, in meeting force with force, government must sharpen intelligence gathering and keep the doors of diaglogue open. Boko Haram must know that its current spate of unprovoked killings defies the rules of engagement in civil causes. Freedom fighters will usually not attack the very civilians whose interest they claim to be fighting for. Should this orgy of violence continue, the north will be the loser as violence will only retard development and make the zone unattractive to investors!”

Fasehun recalled the prediction of the US-run CIA, which had earlier predicted that Nigeria, as a nation, would fizzle out by 2015, saying that the current level of insecurity in Nigeria appeared to be facilitating the veracity of that forecast.

“Let us warn that 2015 polls are fraught with danger because southerners may not be able to travel up north to campaign for votes. And in reprisal, the south may create an unhealthy atmosphere for northerners to campaign in these parts,” said Faseun. “It will be recalled that the current Islamists insurgency in the north exploded after a handful of influential northern politicians swore to make their homeland ungovernable should Jonathan contest and win the presidential polls. Jonathan scored a landslide and insurgents embarked on a maiming, killing and bombing campaign against churches and Christians. This madness must stop! Northern politicians must lead the battle for peace in their region and put insurgents on the leash. Otherwise, no one can predict the hostile reception awaiting northern politicians when they attempt to campaign in the south in 2015.”