The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, has warned the federal government against rehabilitating the Boko Haram insurgents, saying it may replicate what the Taliban did in Afghanistan here in Nigeria.
AYCF National President, Yerima Shettima issued this warning in an interview with Daily Post.
Shettima faulted the decision of the Federal Government to rehabilitate repentant Boko Haram members.
Read Also: ‘Prepare to deal with IPOB, other separatist groups’ – IGP tells policemen in Delta
He warned that reintegrating them into society could be dangerous because they may regroup and attack again.
According to Shettima: “Things like this should be an experience we should work on ahead of time to avert, and that is why I defer from this ideology of granting amnesty to people who committed so much damage to Nigeria.
“In the case of the Taliban in Afghanistan, you will see that it’s the same thing that replicated itself that we in Nigeria are almost bumping into now.
“Remember that it was the idea of Obama to grant some Taliban leaders amnesty; eventually, they gathered momentum and suddenly ousted a legitimate government because they see themselves as the government already.
“This same experience we are likely to have, but God forbid, we will resist such in Nigeria. Why should somebody who committed the crime of killing people, chasing people out of their homes to IDP camps, killing them still be reintegrated into society?
“Instead of trying to rehabilitate victims back to their homes, the government is celebrating the same man who artificially created the trouble for them that they are exhausted. They may probably regroup and attack again; we are now busy granting them amnesty; I really don’t understand what Nigerians think at times.
“If you grant them amnesty, do you think the society will allow them to sit around? It’s impossible. Government should be all out to fight them once and for all, prosecute them and make them face the law because that would serve as a deterrent to those who felt cheated would be happy, and the society would also know that you can’t do things wrongly and get away with it. This will even serve as a deterrent to those thinking of committing such crimes.
“Today, we have a problem of terrorism with bandits; if you think you can’t prosecute them but grant them amnesty, then there is no need to keep people in prison; allow everybody to come back home, give amnesty to everybody lets know we are in a society where crime becomes the order of the day. Automatically we are in the Banana Republic, where there is no law and order, a place where people can do things and getaway, so we can fall into a state of anarchy where everybody would defend themselves. We can’t think that way, and that is where I defer from those who believe amnesty is the right thing.
“We are faced with the issue of Boko Haram because we can’t wipe them out, and if another force joins them, there are possibilities of the same happening.
“Meanwhile, some of us find it difficult to agree that the Nigerian government has been overwhelmed, I commend the Nigerian Armed Forces, in recent times, their pattern has changed and they are making some efforts, but we expect more from them. No organisation or individual should be seen to be more powerful than the government.”