Indications appear that President Goodluck Jonathan may have yielded to pressures from the North to grant the members of the Boko Haram Islamist group amnesty, as the Federal Government on Thursday set up a committee to explore the possibility of that option.
The membership of the committee is said to be made up of persons familiar with the intricacies of amnesty programmes drawn from the various security agencies. It has been given two weeks to review and make recommendations on the call for amnesty as a way of ending the security crisis in the North.
It is also expected to suggest ways of implementing the amnesty programme should it recommend the declaration of amnesty as a means of ending the insurgency.
A top security source informed this correspondent in confidence that the committee will work closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser.
President Jonathan had previously been staunchly against the idea of granting the Boko Haram sect amnesty, which he made known during his visit last month to Borno and Yobe States, the strongholds of the sect.
He had declared that he was not ready to grant amnesty to ‘ghosts’ and said they would have to come out of hiding before he would consider that option.
However, he did a turn-around in his position on the issue of amnesty following his meeting with the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) during which they explored solutions to the crisis.
The meeting, which lasted for four hours and was convened by the President, concentrated mainly on the issue of amnesty for Boko Haram, being pushed by Northern leaders led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, amongst other national issues.
Jonathan had assured the elders that he was not against the idea of amnesty for members of the radical Islamic sect but on the condition that they identify themselves and embrace dialogue.
President Jonathan followed that meeting up with a meeting of the National Security Council which he presided over, during which issues arising from his previous meeting with the Northern elders were discussed.
It seems that he has softened his stance on the amnesty issue as he has given the opportunity for the option to be explored even while the Islamist sect is yet to identify itself.
Former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Prof Ango Abdullahi, who spoke to State House Correspondents after the Wednesday meeting which ended at about11:30pm, said that the president’s response to the call for amnesty at the meeting, which is sequel to the one held between the president and the NEF in May last year, was positive and that he had assured the NEF delegation that the amnesty for the insurgents will be tabled before the security meeting today.
Abdullahi said, “The meeting is simply a follow-up visit on the invitation of Mr. President. Many of you will recall that about eight or nine months ago, we interacted with the president on matters of the nation.
“We submitted a memorandum to him and he promised that he was going to look at our submission and he will call us back to further dialogue on the issues we have raised in ou submission. Ans this is precisely what transpired today.
“The contention here that there are challenges in the country, especially in the area of security which is the greatest challenge.
“What we discussed is that general opinion in the country is that amnesty should be factored into all effort made by government to overcome the security challenges all over the country or in most parts of the North.
“Fortunately the president is already thinking hard on it. And he assured us that there is a special meeting on the matter and that I’m sure that tomorrow something substantial will come out of that meeting”.
Corroborating Abdullah’s disclosure, information minister, Labaran Maku also said the president has never said no to the issue of amnesty, adding that what the president is saying is that, just like in the case of Niger Delta, some structures and processes have to be in place before the amnesty option is fully explored.
The minister further explained that the insurgents need to be identified and come forward before the dialogue that would lead to the amnesty programme is put in place.
Members of the NEF present at the meeting were leader of the group, Yusuf Maitama Sule, Paulen Tallen, Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Kali Gazali, Safiya Mohammed, Solomon Dualong, Sheikh Ahmed Lemu, Shehu Malami, John Wash Pam, Lawal Kaita, Bello Kirfi, Paul Unongo, AVM Al-amin Daggash, Sani Zango Daura, N.A. Sheriff, Yahaya Kwande, Saleh Hassan, Muslim Maigari, Bashir Yusuf, Gen. Paul Tarfa, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, Prof Idris Mohammed, Capt Paul Tahal and Capt Bashir Sodangi.