No compensation for terror victims - Jonathan •Turaki committee submits Boko Haram report

THE Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, on Tuesday, submitted its report to President Goodluck Jonathan, who immediately discountenanced the idea of paying compensation to the victims of Boko Haram terror attacks in the country.

However, he gave hope that such victims of the insurgency would be assisted by the Federal Government to get back to their feet.

Speaking at the ceremony held in the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Jonathan noted that despite the challenges faced by the committee at its inauguration, it had laid the foundation for follow-up action, which would lead to the eventual control of the crisis, cautioning that while progress had been made, the war was yet to be won.

“Even the day we inaugurated you, we noted that it was quite a challenging job. It’s not a ballroom dance because you were asked to meet the kind of characters you cannot even predict their behaviour.

“It is quite risky and I believe that some of you (committee members), within this period, your immediate families believed that if they used to pray two times before, they will be praying 10 times because of the assignment, to make sure that God sees you through.

“We are, indeed, very happy that within the period of this assignment, nothing quite untoward has happened to any of you. We have to thank God for that.

“We have to thank you for concluding, though we can’t say that we have won the war. But listening to the address by the chairman, we believe that the document you have submitted will help us with the follow-up action. Finally, we will be able to bring the issue of the excesses of the Boko Haram to a close,” he said.

The president observed that the country was going through a challenging period occasioned by Boko Haram sect which, he noted, had become known across the world as one of the most vicious sects.

“We never experienced this kind of internal terror, even external terror. Nigeria has never been a victim of external terror not to talk of internal terror group that came up surprisingly and became so violent that it was almost becoming classified as one of the most violent groups all over the world.

“It is quite unfortunate that the country will get to this level, but with your report and the commitment of the security and the intelligence team, we believe that we will bring this situation under a reasonable control,” he said.

Towards this end, he added that a team would be set up in the National Security Council to review the recommendations in the report.

“We agree with you that though this committee is today winding down its activities, we need to set up a follow-up committee that will concentrate on dialogue, so that some of these issues you raised, the committee will be able to anchor them properly, working with other departments of government.

“Government will look into this and other recommendations in your report and see that the right decisions are taken,” he said.

While submitting the report, chairman of the committee and Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Kabiru Turaki, had noted some of the difficulties in having a productive dialogue, including refusal of their leaders to submit to the idea.

He, however, observed that many of the key members of the insurgents, both in detention and at large, responded positively to contacts and had accepted the dialogue option as capable of fully resolving the conflict.
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