The president has also set up a federal government committee on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
The minister of special duties, Mr Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), is the chairman of the Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, while Ambassador Emmanuel Imohe is the chairman of the Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
Both committees will be formally inaugurated by President Jonathan about 10am on Wednesday, April 24, at the Council Chambers of the presidential villa, Abuja.
The constitution of the two committees is also an indication that the president may have bowed to those insisting that dialogue ought to have come first before a declaration of amnesty.
Special adviser to the president on media and publicity Dr Reuben Abati, who gave the hint while briefing State House correspondents yesterday at the presidential villa, Abuja, noted that the second committee on proliferation of arms was set up by Jonathan “in keeping with his pledge that Nigeria will work with the United Nations and other countries to stem the worrisome proliferation of small arms and light weapons, and their use in creating insecurity and instability in Nigeria and other developing nations”.
The two committees set up yesterday followed the recommendation made by an earlier committee within the National Security Council set up by the president on April 4, 2013, when he held a meeting with security chiefs in the country, sequel to a closed-door meeting he had with northern elders a night before.
“Following the consideration yesterday by the National Security Council of the report of the technical committee it set up to review fresh modalities for addressing security challenges in the north, President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the constitution of a presidential committee to constructively engage key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity in the country,” Abati stated.
He listed the committee’s terms of reference to include: “developing a framework for the granting of amnesty; setting up of a framework through which disarmament could take place within a 60-day time frame; the development of a comprehensive victims’ support programme, and the development of mechanisms to address the underlying causes of insurgencies that will help to prevent future occurrences”.
On the second committee, Abati said: “President Jonathan has also approved the constitution of a federal government committee on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in keeping with his pledge that Nigeria will work with the United Nations and other countries to stem the worrisome proliferation of small arms and light weapons, and their use in creating insecurity and instability in Nigeria and other developing nations.”
The committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North include Sheik Ahmed Lemu, Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Col. Musa (rtd.), Sheik Abubakar Tureta, Dr Datti Ahmed, Senator Sodangi Abubakar, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, Hon. Mohammed Bello Matawalle, Ambassador Z Ibrahim, Comrade Shehu Sani, Hajiya Naja’atu Mohammed, Malam Adamu S. Ladan, Dr. Joseph Golwa, AVM A. I. Shehu, Mr. R. I. Nkemdirim, DIG P. I. Leha, Prof. Nur Alkali Member, Malam Salihu Abubakar, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Lugga, Barrister Ibrahim Tahir, Brig-Gen. Ibrahim Sabo, Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda, Group Capt. Bilal Bulama (rtd), Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, and a representative of the Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation who will serve as secretary to the committee.
Members of the Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons include Ambassador Martin I. Uhomoibhi, Ambassador T. Dan Hart, Ambassador Ghali Umar, Ambassador B. G. Wakil, Mr. Opelusi Olureti, representative of Ministry of Interior, representative of NSA, representative of DG (SSS), representative of NIA, representative of Federal Ministry of Justice, representative of Ministry of Defence, representative of DIA, representative of the Nigeria Police Force, representative of the Nigeria Customs Service, representative of the Office of Secretary to Government of the Federation and the director of International Organisations Dept (MFA) who will serve as the committee’s secretary.
CAN urges FG to dismiss amnesty idea
But the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to dismiss the idea of amnesty for Boko Haram members, whom they described as bloodthirsty and unrepentant.
The general-secretary of CAN, Rev. Musa Asake, who made this known on behalf of the association in Abuja, said that granting amnesty to Boko Haram would be an instrument for confusion in the country. According to him, instead of the amnesty, the federal government should as a matter of urgency begin the process of compensating and alleviating the suffering of the victims of Boko Haram.
He added that asking the federal government to grant amnesty to Boko Haram sect members amounts to calling the government to come and kill the snake with a torch, noting that the Boko Haram insurgency is a snake on the roof of the Ja’amatu Nasril Islam (JNI) and that it must begin to query the change in its value system.
He said: “A system that now makes them spokesperson of a murderous and bloodthirsty group without being sensitive to the victims of the sect, a system that allows for the slaughtering of human beings like cow without any remorse. CAN will not fail to point out that the present clamour for amnesty for the Boko Haram sect members by the Sultan and his cohorts is a strategy to drive home the message of reaping from where they did not sow.
“It is a strategy to get a better deal for those they have impoverished for years. By canvassing amnesty to bloodthirsty fundamentalists, who have killed without provocation, the JNI is promoting the culture of crass impunity that desecrates the sanctity of human life. The earlier it retraces its steps and begin to fish out the fundamentalists among them, the better for our dear country.”
CAN further said that it was very embarrassing that the JNI, which should be seen as the shining light of Islam in Nigeria by its truth and fairness all the time, has veered off the path in its quest of hoodwinking the world from the cruelty of Boko Haram against Christians in northern Nigeria.
The group further said, in respect of support for amnesty by Cardinal John Onaiyekan and Bishop Mathew Kukah, who are well respected Catholic leaders and strong friends with the Sultan of Sokoto, that it respects the fundamental rights of the two men to such a relationship, and even encourage more of such among Nigerian Christian leaders, but that the friendship between their brothers has become curious on the matter.
“The two men do not have any moral or institutional authority to speak for Nigerian Christians; their positions remain very unpopular amongst the persecuted church in the north. Only CAN is vested with such powers, notwithstanding the constitutional rights of the two men to air their opinions on any national issue.
“Therefore, Cardinal John Onaiyekan and Bishop Mathew Kukah do not speak for Nigerian Christians, not even for CAN in any of the 19 northern states. What they are saying is their personal opinion that does not take into consideration the plight of the victims.
“CAN as the major victim of Boko Haram, cannot be the special adviser to the president on perpetration of insecurity; CAN is not part of those trooping in and out of the Aso Villa to be part of the amnesty project, and the probable perk that may come with it. CAN is concerned about justice, peace and wellbeing of its members and for every Nigerian citizen.”
CAN also stated that, in the last three years, besides bombings in Abuja, the Boko Haram had bombed over 200 churches and killed over 1,500 Christians worshiping in their churches, burnt and destroyed entire villages, targeted specific communities and individuals, and have made good every threat they published at inception, to wit the elimination of all Christians from northern Nigeria and the total Islamisation of the north by imposition of strict sharia rule.
“We are therefore maintaining our stand again as Christians: we are tasked to forgive those who offend us, and we so encourage even the victims of Boko Haram to do so. But as Nigerian citizens, our advice is that any process of seeking peace, sustainable security and development in Boko Haram-infested areas that does not take the issue of its victims very seriously will be an exercise in futility in the long run,” he added.
Modu Sheriff warns against politicising security matters
Sequel to the comment credited to Ahmed Sule on “Sunrise Daily” programme of Channels TV on Tuesday, former Borno State governor Ali Modu Sheriff has warned politicians against politicising security matters in Nigeria.
Modu Sheriff, who spoke through his special assistant, Umar Duhu, in a statement made available yesterday in Abuja, also called on security agencies to investigate Ahmed Sule for his appalling statement which could create havoc especially at this time when issues of security are taken seriously.
Sule, a national secretary-general, Arewa Consultative Forum Youth Wing, was quoted as condemning the call for amnesty for Boko Haram by Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, and other peace-loving Nigerians.
But Duhu added that it is not only despicable to Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) but a great fundamental decay in the forum itself.
He also frowned at those who have turned ACF into more of a political pressure group, deviating from the ideology it was conceived, hence losing respect in the face of an ordinary northerner.
Jonathan moves to ban chemical weapons
Meanwhile, President Jonathan has written Senate president David Mark, announcing his administration’s plans to outlaw the production and possession of chemical weapons in Nigeria, a move that may not be unconnected with heightened terror campaigns in some parts of the country.
Jonathan’s letter to Mark, which was read at plenary, was to introduce for formal consideration and enactment into law the Chemical Weapons Prohibition Bill (2012).
The menace of the Boko Haram sect in the northern part of the country in recent years and renewed terror campaigns of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) may have prompted the presidency to consider the ban on chemical weapons.
The bill, when passed into law, will be in consonance with the chemical weapons convention worldwide which aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by countries.
Countries, in turn, must take the steps necessary to enforce the chemical weapons prohibition on persons (natural or legal) within their jurisdiction.
Shehu Sani rejects Jonathan’s dialogue committee
Meanwhile, the president of the Civil Right Congress of Nigeria, Comrade Shehu Sani, has rejected to be part of the 26-man Presidential Committee to engage key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity in the country.
Sani, who had mediated talks between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and members of the Boko Haram sect in 2012, told LEADERSHIP in an interview that he could not be part of something that would eventually fail.
He said: “I thank President Jonathan for giving me such honour and consideration; however, I decline to serve as a member. My advice remains that government must reach out to people like Ahmed Sakilda, Hamza Idris, and Barrister Mustapha if they are serious about amnesty to Boko Haram.
“I should have been consulted before dropping my name. No matter the high level of names that have been mentioned in the committee, it may not have the respect of Boko Haram members. If we don’t have their respect, we cannot have a breakthrough. We have failed by putting the cart before the horse. And I cannot be part of something that will eventually fail.
“If the Boko Haram members had been consulted before the granting of the amnesty to them, and if they had been consulted to make their input into this committee, that would have been understandable. But arranging appointees of government with my name as part of it is not in the best interest of my own integrity and reputation.
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