Reliable sources at the Presidential Villa where the military chiefs met
with Mr. President revealed that the objection by the military chiefs against
the clemency granted Boko Haram sect by Mr. President centered on his stance
during the recent visit to Yobe and Borno States.
The meeting which lasted for five hours behind closed doors was used by
the military chiefs to disabuse Mr. President’s mind from the amnesty being
contemplated for Boko Haram members. They advised President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan not to fall into the trap set by northern oligarchy on the issue of
amnesty for Boko Haram sect.
They tried in vain pinpointing the security implications of Mr. President resolve to grant
amnesty to Boko Haram, stressing that his actions will be construed to mean
that he is not a man of his word. They also
reminded Mr. President of what he said when he visited Borno State recently
about not granting amnesty to ghosts, noting that since then nothing has
changed to warrant the waving of the olive branch.
The military top brass in addition reminded Mr. President of their men
and other security agents that were killed arbitrarily, cautioning on the
impacts of the current decision on the morale of sworn officers and men.
At
the end of the marathon meeting, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had his way
against the good counsel of the military chiefs, except that he agreed to set
up a committee to handle the issue of amnesty for Boko Haram.
The
committee, whose members are yet to be announced, which is to work with the
office of the National Security Adviser has the following terms of
reference:
*To consider the feasibility or otherwise of
granting pardon to the Boko Haram adherents,
*Collate clamours arising from different
interest groups who want the apex government to administer clemency on members
of the religious sect; and
*To recommend modalities for the granting of the
pardon, should such step become the logical one to take under the prevailing
circumstance.
A Presidential source said that Mr. President
set up an in-house committee with a two-week mandate to consider the clamour
for amnesty for Boko Haram members and consider its feasibility or otherwise.
The source added “If the committee, which will
work hand in hand with the National Security Adviser (NSA) decides that amnesty
would be workable, it will then outline modalities for implementing it’.
The source observed that contrary to insinuations in some
quarters, Mr. President never said there would be no amnesty at all but that he
would do so if people come forward to identify themselves for discussion and
negotiations.
It could be recalled that Mr. President has said that members of Boko
Haram were ghosts and that there were members of the sect in his government. He
also vowed that there was no way he would grant amnesty to ghosts. Has he
identified them now?
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