The
Presidency on Sunday replied the growing band of northern leaders asking for
amnesty for members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, asking the leaders
to first identify and talk to those to be granted amnesty.
It said it behoved the northern agitators to identify members of
the sect before asking the government for amnesty.
The Presidency also warned them not to turn the Boko Haram issue
to a north versus south case.
“They (those calling for amnesty for Boko Haram members) should
identify the people and talk to them before posing a challenge to government to
grant them amnesty,” spokesman for President Goodluck Jonathan said in an
interview with our correspondent on Sunday in Abuja.
Since the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, asked the
President to grant members of the sect amnesty, a demand that Jonathan has
rebuffed because he said he could not grant amnesty to ghosts, there have been
more voices from the north asking the Federal Government for amnesty for boko
Haram members.
Just on Friday, the Northern Traditional Rulers Council urged
the Federal Government to reconsider its stand and offer amnesty to members of
Boko Haram and other violent Islamic sects who are willing to embrace peace and
reintegration into the larger society.
The call came as a resolution that emerged from the council’s meeting
held at the palace of the Sultan.
In a statement issued by the coordinating secretary of the
council and Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najib Hussaini Adamu, the group comprising
traditional rulers from across the North called for decisive action from the Federal
Government to curb the “unfortunate escalation of insecurity in the country.”
Abati said it would be “wrong and mischievous” for
anybody or group to see the Boko Haram menace and the call for amnesty as a
North versus South issue.
He said the matter was a national issue that required everybody,
including those calling for amnesty, to rally round governments at all levels
to solve.
He said, “The first issue to be made clear is that it is wrong
and mischievous to term the Boko Haram saga and the call for amnesty a North
versus South issue.
“The concern of government is to ensure peace and security in
all parts of the country, not regional or ethnic matter.
“In saying that he can’t grant amnesty to ghosts, the President
made it clear that if members of the sect come forward to lay down their arms
and list their grievances, government will listen to them.
“With that declaration, the President threw a challenge to
leaders in the affected places: local, political and traditional leaders. They
have the responsibility to join hands with government by making efforts. They
should identify the people and talk to them before posing a challenge to
government.
“To move the country forward is a collective responsibility.
They should stop sloganeering. Rather than attacking government, they should
support the government.”
Abati also warned those who hold positions of responsibility to
always refrain from making inflammatory remarks that are capable of compounding
the insecurity in the country.
He said a state governor claimed publicly that the SURE-P was
concentrating its projects in a part of the country at the expense of the
North, saying such a statement was unbecoming of a person occupying a position
of high responsibility like a state governor.
Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso was quoted on Saturday to
have said that some Federal Government’s policies were largely favourable to a
particular section of the country at the expense of the North’s economic and
political interest.
“A situation whereby NDDC is working for a particular region, a
ministry entirely dedicated to serve a particular region and so many resources
invested in the SURE-P project are directed towards a particular part of the
country is not in the best interest of all Nigerians,” Kwankwaso was quoted as
saying while receiving members of the Arewa Consultative Forum’s executive
council during the group’s visit to him.
The Kano State governor argued that a lot of the challenges
currently facing the country today had been caused by the uneven distribution
of resources among all sections of the country by the government, lamenting
that even appointments and political patronage are not as balanced as they
should be.
But Abati said contrary to Kwankwaso’s claim, SURE-P’s projects
cut across all parts of the country.
He said the programme of the SURE-P was a public document that
is open for all to see.
Source: Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment