Jonathan to Amnesty Committee: Help end excesses of Boko Haram

INAUGURATION—President Goodluck Jonathan (4thL); Vice-President Namadi Sambo (5thL) with members of the Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North after their inauguration at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

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ABUJA—President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, expressed the determination of his government to put an end to the excesses of the Boko Haram sect.
President Jonathan who expressed this resolve while inaugurating the Presidential Committee on engagement with members of the Boko Haram Sect charged the committee members to come up with solutions that will restore peace in the troubled Northern part of the country.
Inaugurating the committee as well as the committee on the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday, President Jonathan prayed Allah to grant members of the committees the wisdom to do their job.
He said: “Nigerians are expecting this committee to perform magic and we pray that Allah should give you the wisdom to do so, because without peace we can’t develop no matter how committed we are”.
He charged members of the committee to establish a link with members of the Boko Haram sect and develop a framework through which disarmament will take place.

Jonathan tasks committee on peace options

The president further enjoined the committee to work out a sustainable option that will lead to the granting of amnesty to members of the sect and develop a comprehensive victim support programme, “because a number of people are victims of the excesses of the Boko Haram. And as we try to address the issue of the Boko Haram, we must also comprehensively address the issues directly affecting the people. The committee must also come up with suggestions on how to address the underlying causes of the crisis, to ensure that as a nation we don’t face similar threats in the future,” the president said.
He continued: “The Federal Government is ready to work with you and any other organization to make sure that these excesses of Boko Haram are brought to an end so that as a nation it is issues of development not issues of conflicts, issues of peace not issues of disaster that will engage us.
President Jonathan, last week, announced the setting up of a committee to ‘constructively engage key members of the Boko Haram sect’ with a view to defining a “comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity in the Northern part of the country”.
The setting up of the committee ostensibly followed the recommendation of the National Security Council which met in Abuja to deliberate on the workability of granting amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect.
Members of the committee headed by Minister of Special Duties, Mallam Kabiru Taminu Turaki include Sheik Ahmed Lemu, Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Col. Musa Shehu, (rtd.), Sheik Abubakar Tureta, Senator Sodangi Abubakar, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, Hon. Mohammed Bello Matawalle, Amb. Zakari Ibrahim, Hajiya Naja’atu Mohammed, Malam Adamu S. Ladan, Dr. Joseph Golwa, AVM A. I. Sheh, Mr. R. I. Nkemdirim, DIG P. I. Leha, and Prof. Nur Alkali.
Others are Malam Salihu Abubakar, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Lugga, Barrister Ibrahim Tahir, Brig-Gen. Ibrahim Sabo, Amb. Baba Ahmed Jidda, Group Capt. Bilal Bulama, Rtd, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi and Representative of SGF as Secretary. Two members earlier nominated, Mallam Shehu Sani and Alhaji Datti Ahmed rejected their membership of the committee, saying they were not consulted by the Presidency before announcing their names.

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