On amnesty for Boko Haram

The issue of possible amnesty for the Boko Haram terrorists has remained a controversial topic. Therefore when in his Democracy Day address, President Goodluck Jonathan hinted at the possibility of amnesty for the sect members, a number of interests were aroused. The issue of amnesty was raised by the Minister of Youth Development, Boni Haruna at a special event to mark the Democracy day for selected youth.
However, in a clarification which typifies the controversial nature of any amnesty for the members of the sect, the spokesman to the president, Reuben Abati denied that his boss made any offer of amnesty to the terrorist group. This has left many wondering as to what the true situation is and underscores the dilemma confronting the government if such an issue were to be considered.
In his broadcast to the nation, President Jonathan had said, ‘ For our citizens who have joined hands with Al Qaeda and international terrorists in the misguided belief that violence can possibly solve their problems, our doors remain open to them for dialogue and reconciliation, if they renounce terrorism and embrace peace. He said further, my government, while pursuing security measures, will explore all options, including readiness to accept unconditional renunciation of violence by insurgents, and ensure their de- radicalisation, rehabilitation and re- integration into the broader society’.
The above shows that the president actually talked about possible amnesty for the Boko Haram especially those among them that renounce violence unconditionally. While we support the position of the president, the question need to be asked,’ what happens in a situation where the all- out war ordered by the president against the group does not yield the expected result in a particular time period? ‘Should there not be an incentive to the sect members to encourage them to lay down their arms? We think that the president should go the extra mile to provide carrots together with the stick of increased military action.
Many Nigerians are not comfortable with granting amnesty to the Boko Haram because of the widespread destruction of lives and property caused by the group in the past four years. Rather, most would like the group defeated militarily and its members made to face trial. This could be the case if the Nigerian military had the wherewithal to overwhelm the terrorists and take them captive. On the contrary, recent events have given the group the upper hand especially with the successful kidnap of the more than 270 Chibok school girls and subsequent successful acts of abduction of women and children!
It has been more than three months now that the Boko Haram kidnapped the school girls from Chibok in Borno state and nothing concrete has happened by way of freeing them despite the assistance of foreign countries to the nation’s security forces. If the government has to negotiate with the militant sect to secure freedom for the girls by swapping them with captured members of the sect in detention, then the government has to make concessions and put certain things on ground for the sect members to finally renounce violence.
One is of the view that the government need to weigh carefully the issue of amnesty with the Boko Haram against the ability of the security personnel to protect the citizenry from attacks.Given the fact that if the Jonathan administration pursues the military option only to deal with the group, the latter, to sow confusion, mayhem and insecurity would continue to attack soft targets to the detriment of the citizens. The more the group can attack and inflict injury and death on the citizens, the more the impression is created that the government is failing in the anti- terror campaign.
However, given that there is an economic and social dimension to the campaign against the nation by the Boko Haram, the government should have a rehabilitation and re- integration plan for those terrorist who abandon violence. Like it was done in the Niger Delta, there ought to be an amnesty programme designed to keep former Boko Haram terrorists away from terrorist activities.

Alhassan wrote from Maitama, Abuja