When the
news filtered into town at the twilight of 2019 that the Federal Government of
Nigeria was considering amnesty for Boko Haram members, many Nigerians had
waved it off as a rumour from the pit of hell.
Many openly
said it was impossible to imagine, not after the dreaded Islamic Sect, caused
the death of over 10,849 in 2014, and also caused the displacement of
2.3million Nigerians. The Sect had further abducted schoolgirls, raped and
impregnated many.
The Sect was
also accused of killing thousands of soldiers, leaving many women widows and
children fatherless.
In 2020,
however, the much touted rumour has become a frightening reality. The FG was
not only going to integrate alleged, ‘born again’ Boko Haram members into the
society, it was also romancing with the idea of creating an agency for their
rehabilitation.
The very
notion heated the polity, with Nigerians dividend over the issue. While one
part insisted that it was a right move, reminding others that FG did grant
amnesty to Niger Delta militants after their countless bombings of oil
pipelines and abductions of foreigners, others stressed that forgiving
repentant insurgents, instead of charging them for murder and treason was akin
to playing with a ticking time bomb.
Nigerians,
kicking against the proposed bill to create an agency for the rehabilitation of
repentant Boko Haram members, accused the lawmaker that sponsored the bill, of
having no love for Nigeria. This was even as many expressed fear over the
security implication.
The proposed
agency, according to the proposed legislation, would provide education for
insurgents. It would also rehabilitate, de-radicalise and integrate the
repentant insurgents into the society.
According to
reports, the military already has a rehabilitation centre for repentant Boko
Haram terrorists and is believed to have rehabilitated over 1,000 insurgents.
The
rehabilitation of Boko Haram members, which many Nigerians only recently got
wind of, had allegedly, being going on for over three years now.
Nigerians
seethed that while country like Chad was taking decisive steps in dealing with
Boko Haram insurgents, the Nigerian government was completely doing the
opposite.
The Network
on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a nongovernmental organisation that acts
as a watchdog over activities of the Police, while expressing misgiven over the
planned amnesty, urged the FG to stop setting members of Boko Haram insurgents
free and do everything within its power to ensure they were prosecuted and
sentenced for extra-judicial killings in Nigeria.
This was
stated by the National Coordinator of NOPRIN, Emmanuel Ikule, while speaking
on, “Extra-judicial Killings in Nigeria.”
He argued
that if Maryam Sanda could be sentenced to death by hanging for just murdering
her husband, there was no reason to free insurgents, who had killed hundreds,
if not thousands of Nigerians.
He said:
“Every week, we see 500 or more Boko Haram members being freed. Why is the
government freeing them? These are people that have killed so many people. A
woman, Maryam Sanda, was sentenced to death for killing her husband, yet Boko
Haram members are being freed and treated nicely under the guise that they have
become ‘born again.’ The President and
National Assembly should live up to the requirements of their office to make
laws, adhere to it and protect lives and property of the people of this
country. And if they cannot, they should leave the office for those who can.”
The Former Director
of Department of State Security Service (DSS), who is also a security
consultant, Mr. Dennis Amachree, said that FG’s plan to send repentant Boko
Haram members abroad to school, in his opinion, was not a sound one.
He said: “The
school authority that the government is planning to send them to, doesn’t know
who they are or what they are bringing to the school. I see no reason why they
should be pardoned. Some of the terrorists arrested by United State of America
during September 11 attack are still in detention at Guatemala Prison, while
those who were released by the government are closely being monitored by
security agents. What is the assurance that if they are release into the
society, they wouldn’t be giving information to their members who are
still fighting? They may also be working with their leader, who President
Donald Trump placed a bounty on recently. I expect the government to think
twice before releasing these Boko Haram members into the society. Even if they
are released, they don't have any economic value; they are going to the
country."
The
Executive Director of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC),
Mr Okechukwu Nwanguma argued that FG should not be seen to be pampering
terrorists and bandits. According to him, criminals ought to be treated
according to the law; investigated and prosecuted for their crimes.
He said: “At
worse, we need to hear how these so-called repentant terrorists have given
information that would lead to the arrest of the criminals and their sponsors,
as well as help in locating and rescuing abducted victims, including the Chibok
and Dapchi students and how to generally bring an end to terrorism and other
violent crimes. The Niger Delta militancy started as an agitation for justice,
a demand on government to use the resources extracted from the land to develop
their land, instead of abandoning the goose that lays the golden egg. In other
words, the Niger Delta struggle had a political objective. Of course, criminals cashed in on the genuine
struggle, kidnapping foreign nationals for self-enrichment. But Boko Haram is
purely a criminal organisation with a purely criminal objective. It will be
demoralizing for soldiers to see that while they are being court-marshalled and
sentenced to death for abuse of human rights in the course of combating
terrorists, the same terrorists are being pardoned and pampered with so-called
rehabilitation.”
A chieftain
of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Chief Willy Akinlude,
also has something to say about the situation and mounting tension in the land.
His words: “I
think it is the highest form of insensitivity and it has also shown another low
point of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration. I think the bill
was sponsored by Senator Geidam from Yobe State and it has passed the first
reading in the Senate. I'm so horrified that someone of his stature will
propose such a bill at a time that Boko Haram insurgency is still raging like
wildfire. Do you know that Niger Republic is executing Boko Haram members but
we are here trying to give them five star treatments? Boko Haram movement is an
ideology and no amount of pardon or pecuniary returns can deradicalised them.
The argument is comparison of Boko Haram with Niger Delta militants who got
amnesty, but this is like comparing oranges with apples. Even if you want to do
that, the war has to be over first after they surrender. Boko Haram should not be pampered and I
believe that Bill should be shut down.”
Pastor
Adebayo Oladeji, who is the Special Assistant, Media and Communications to the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) President, Rev Dr Samson Ayokunle, kicked against
the setting free of so-called ex-Boko Haram terrorists under de-radicalization,
rehabilitation, empowerment of the repentant terrorists by the FG.
He added: “The
programme is troubling, reprehensible, suspicious, condemnable, and totally
unacceptable to the people of this country and CAN. What is the guarantee that
the freed ex-terrorists would not return to Sambisa forest and pick up their
arms against innocent Nigerians? Media reports have it that a kingpin of the
terrorists, who was released, has found his way back to the bush!
The policy
is akin to urinating on the graves of those they have killed and a dirty slap
on the faces of their bereaved. “Today's widows, widowers and the orphans made
by those terrorists are suffering in the Internally Displaced Person Camps
(IDPs) nationwide, while those responsible are enjoying where they are camped.
We wonder why the government cannot go to the prisons and release all the
repentant ex-armed robbers, ex-kidnappers, ex-corrupt people etc. The
scriptures that call for the forgiveness of sinners also call for their
punishment. If those who claimed to have repented are genuine, how come
they have not helped the government to locate all those who were abducted by
them beginning from Leah Sharibu, the over 100 Chibok girls, and other
abductees? That should tell the government the futility of the programme.”
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