BOKO HARAM: NORTH SEEKS DIALOGUE AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

•Sultan urges FG to push ahead with amnesty  

•Anenih, Tukur, others meet Obasanjo on security, PDP   

•JNI dismisses MEND’s threat

•Traditional rulers suggest release of 400 sect detainees

Various interest groups and individuals  Monday continued the debate on whether or not the federal government should consider granting amnesty to the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, just as northern elders canvassed for the establishment of a dialogue and reconciliation commission to pave the way for the resolution of the crisis.

As part of the search for solutions to the security crisis in the country, National Chairman of the Peoles Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; and Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, among other party bigwigs, met Monday with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta during which they reportedly discussed the security situation in the country and party matters.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, also urged the federal government not to foreclose granting amnesty to the Islamic militants in view of its rejection by factions of the group.

In addition, traditional rulers from the north met with President Goodluck Jonathan Monday night, ostensibly to prevail on the federal government not to relent in its efforts to find a lasting solution to the insecurity in northern Nigeria by granting amnesty to Boko Haram.

Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najeem Hussein Adamu, who briefed  State House correspondents after the closed-door meeting,  said  they presented what they thought was the way out of the insurgency to the president.

THISDAY learnt that one of the suggestions of the traditional rulers was that the amnesty programme for the terrorist group should begin with the release of 400 commanders of Boko Haram detained by security agencies.

According to Adamu, "We recommended the use of dialogue as one of the strategies to resolve the security challenge and at the same time to devise strategies that will encourage or lay the foundation for sustainable peace in this country.

"The issue of amnesty came up, it (dialogue) formed part of the strategies we are recommending but of course it has to be done properly with better appreciation  of the situation rather than haphazardly which people think should be the case.”

The federal government less than two weeks ago had set up a seven-member amnesty commission on Boko Haram, which the sultan is heading to consider the desirability or otherwise of granting clemency to members of the terrorist group.

However, the rejection of the deal by the factional leaders of the group has further dimmed hope of an early resolution of the security crisis, which took a turn for the worse on Sunday with the threat of reprisals by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), to attack Islamic targets from May 31.

But Jama'atul Nasril Islam (JNI) Monday dismissed the threat by MEND to attack Muslim clerics and Islamic institutions in the country, just as a repentant Niger Delta warlord, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, cautioned that any form of religious war or crisis would be inimical to the collective existence of the country.

The northern leaders, under the auspices of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), who were among the stakeholders Jonathan had consultations with before he set up the seven-member amnesty committee, after rising from a meeting in Abuja Monday,  endorsed the proposed amnesty deal for the insurgents.

They called on the federal government to set up the dialogue and reconciliation commission to handle the peace efforts with the insurgents.

They also urged the president to soldier on with the amnesty deal notwithstanding its rejection by Boko Haram.

Addressing reporters in Abuja after a two-hour deliberation on the plan by government to grant amnesty to the insurgents, NEF spokesman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said they supported the setting up of a reconciliation team with full powers to negotiate the resolution of the conflict.

“The meeting noted and endorses the suggestion that the federal government should set up a dialogue and reconciliation commission, which will have full powers to facilitate, ultimately, a full resolution of this conflict,” the NEF said.

Against the backdrop of the hardline posture by parties involved in the conflict, Abdullahi said the elders appealed to both government and Boko Haram to remain flexible and open to new ideas and suggestions on how to resolve the crisis.

According to him, the special meeting was convened to discuss the latest position concerning the federal government's plans to grant amnesty to the Boko Haram insurgents. 

Abdullahi explained that the meeting was able to arrive at some recommendations that would be made available to government for consideration.

“In the meantime, the meeting also appeals to both the government and insurgents to remain flexible to new ideas and suggestions by people of goodwill from within and even outside the country who are making genuine efforts to achieve peace in the nation.

“In particular, the elders noted the need for the conduct of the dialogue and achievement of full reconciliation in an atmosphere that encourages building confidence in the integrity of the process.

“All Nigerians have a responsibility to encourage the government and the insurgents to engage in productive dialogue,” he said.

While answering questions, Abdullahi said the northern elders would like government and members of Boko Haram to engage in honest and genuine dialogue as a means of ending the security crisis.

He said suggestions at the meeting of the elders would be forwarded immediately to the federal government, adding that it is left for the government to decide what use to make of them.

“It is entirely up to the government but we intend to make suggestions on the composition and terms of reference of the negotiating team,” he said.

The meeting, which was attended by retired judicial, security/intelligence officers and technocrats from the north, was convened by the northern leaders to find a way out of likely obstacles before the proposed dialogue with the terrorist group.

Some of the elders at the meeting included the convener of the forum, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule; former Chief Justices of the Federation, Justice Muhammed Uwais and Justice Dahiru Musdapher; a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa; and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Gidado Idris.

Retired military officers at the meeting included former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Salihu Ibrahim, Air Vice Marshal Alamin Daggash, Gen. Alwali Kazir, Gen. Ahmad Abdullahi, Gen. Paul Tarfa, Gen. Idris Garba and Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi.

The solution to the security crisis in the country was also on the agenda Monday at a meeting in Abeokuta that Obasanjo had with a PDP delegation.

The PDP chairman arrived at the country home of the former president in company with some other top national officers of the party, which included Anenih and Jigawa State Governor, Mallam Sule Lamido.

No one was sure of the reason for their visit, but sources informed THISDAY that the purpose of the visit also included moves to reconcile the former president and Jonathan ahead of the 2015 elections.

After meeting for over two hours behind closed doors, Anenih who briefed reporters, said they came to pay respect to Obasanjo in his country home.

According to him, “I am here to pay my respect and indeed I am here with my colleagues, some members of the Board of Trustees of our party to discuss some issues that affect the corporate existence of this country. 

“Some issues about the insecurity in the country and some issues about the party itself were discussed. When I say party, I mean the biggest party in Africa, PDP. Those are the reasons we are here. My colleagues are all here, we are about eight of us.”

When asked for more details on the meeting, Anenih quickly responded: “As you can see, we are all smiling, don’t you see me smiling? And my leader too is smiling. So we are quite happy with the outcome. For now, it is not for public consumption.

“We discussed issues that affect the party itself and you should wait for results.”

On the chances of the PDP winning the elections in 2015, he said: “Why not? We take it one after the other. When the time comes, PDP is the party to beat; when the time comes, I assure you we will do what we know how to do best.”

The sultan was not left out in making a case for the government to pursue with dogged determination the amnesty deal.

He told State House correspondents in Abuja that the government should not be discouraged by the rejection of the amnesty deal it was considering.

The sultan, who had urged the federal government last month to grant amnesty to Boko Haram, said Monday that government should forge ahead despite the group’s rejection of the proposal.

He spoke shortly after he led other members of the 2012 federal government hajj delegation to present their report to President Jonathan.

When pressed by reporters to comment on the sect’s rejection of the amnesty proposal, which he put forward, Abubakar simply said: “There is nothing impossible in this world.”

But before he could take more questions from the reporters, his aides ushered him into his waiting car.

Also Monday, JNI dismissed threats by MEND to attack Islamic targets in the country.

It also urged the federal government to go ahead with its efforts at dialogue, despite the rejection of amnesty by Boko Haram.

Speaking with THISDAY shortly after a meeting of the group’s leadership in Sokoto, Secretary General of JNI, Dr. Khalid Aliyu Abubakar, said the recent threat to attack Muslims had clearly shown that MEND was behind the killings and recurring bomb blasts in the north. He explained that the threat has heightened the suspicion that Niger Delta militants have been hiding under Boko Haram to perpetrate evil in the north.

He said: “As leaders of Muslims, we are not scared and cannot be intimidated by such empty threats coming from MEND. We strongly believe that God will soon expose those behind such dastardly acts.

“In fact, the recent threat to attack Muslims and Islamic institutions has clearly heightened what we have been suspecting that MEND is behind the bomb blasts and killings in the north and has been hiding under the cover of Boko Haram to perpetrate all sorts of evil.”

According to Abubakar, Islam preaches peace and tolerance, adding that JNI would not fold its arms and allow criminals masquerading as MEND to threaten Muslims.
He also urged the federal government not to be discouraged by the rejection of the proposed amnesty by Bokom Haram, stressing that dialogue was the only option aimed at resolving the security crisis.

Dokubo, a former Niger Delta militant leader, whose group was affiliated to MEND, however cautioned MEND against stoking any religious war through its threats.

Dokubo, who was the leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF), also condemned the federal government for granting amnesty to militants in the oil-rich region, saying the move was “fraudulent” and had set the precedent for the current campaign to grant amnesty to Boko Haram.

He told reporters in Abuja Monday that the reported threat by MEND to attack mosques and hajj camps, among others, would spell doom for the country.

Meanwhile, the Southern Mandate Monday described the call by some prominent northerners to grant amnesty to members of Boko Haram as a booby trap aimed at frustrating Jonathan's re-election bid in 2015.

In a statement signed by the National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Tito Zuokumor, the group urged the president to tread with caution on the amnesty deal for the terrorist group, adding that the intention of those behind Boko Haram was to make the country ungovernable for Jonathan.

On his part, Senate Deputy Whip, Senator Hosea Agboola, expressed the legislature’s reservations to the endless scourge of Boko Haram and vowed to put an end to the scourge.

Agboola said in Ibadan Monday that the menace of the Boko Haram was becoming an embarrassment to the Senate, but the legislature was set to find a permanent solution to the menace.

Source: Thisday