Repentant Boko Haram insurgents’ Amnesty: CAN disagree, It is a welcome development –JNI
The President on Friday promised to grant amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect who are ready to drop their arms and embrace peace.
Buhari made the promise at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while receiving girls who were abducted from their school in Dapchi, Yobe State last month and were released on Wednesday.
He said, “While further efforts are being made to secure the release of every abducted citizen in Nigeria, the government is ever ready to accept the unconditional laying down of arms by any member of the Boko Haram group, who show strong commitment in that regard.
“We are ready to rehabilitate and integrate such
repentant members into the larger society.
“This country has suffered enough of hostility.
Government is, therefore, appealing to all to embrace peace for the overall
development of our people and the country.”
But while the JNI said the amnesty promised to
repentant Boko Haram insurgents was a welcome development to the peace efforts
of the government, CAN opposed the move.
The Secretary-General of the JNI, Dr. Abubakar
Khalid-Aliyu, told one of our correspondents that it was a good development as
long as it would guarantee peace in the country.
He, however, noted that the amnesty should only be
granted to “those that show remorse,” adding that those granted amnesty should
be monitored before being reintegrated into the society.
CAN, on the other hand, frowned on the move,
describing it as a sign of “weakness on the part of the government.”
The media aide to the CAN President, Pastor Bayo
Oladeji, in an interview said, “Why grant amnesty to
criminals who have killed many people? It shows weakness on the part of the
government or sympathy for them as being speculated.
“In what way are they different from armed
robbers, kidnappers, ritual killers, and corrupt people that are facing prosecution?
“What kind of government are they running? Where
on earth are we having all kinds of messy events being orchestrated by the
government? May God deliver Nigeria!”
The #BBOG said some insurgents that were freed in
the past later backtracked and unleashed terror on the people.
The group questioned the rationale behind the
move, noting that the government had not presented any strategy for preventing
freed terror suspects from going back to terrorism.
Punch
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