The Presidential Adviser of Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak has said the Federal Government is going ahead with its plans to set up a committee to work out modalities for granting amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect.
He explained that the pronouncement by the leader of the sect, Sheikh Abubakar Shekau, rejecting the proposed amnesty would not derail government’s plans.
Gulak said this in a telephone interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, in Abuja, on Friday.
The presidential aide noted that President Goodluck Jonathan was determined to explore the possibility of granting amnesty to the sect in spite of misgivings in certain quarters.
He said, “The decision of the Federal Government to set up the committee to work out modalities to grant amnesty to members of the (Boko Haram) sect is on course.
“No pronouncement by any individual or group or an attempt to blackmail government will stop it. Government is serious about bringing this crisis to an end, and we are committed to this.”
Also commenting on the rejection of the proposal by the sect, Executive Secretary of the Civil Rights Congress, Shehu Sani, said the sect rejected the proposal because they saw through the “charade.”
“If you remember, I said the sect is very likely to reject the proposal even before they did. They did so because the whole thing (amnesty) is programmed to defraud the state, some individuals have worked out a carefully laid out plan to make money.
“The sect has never made any monetary demand, so attempting to entice them with money will simply not work. The process of finding lasting peace should begin with building confidence.
“There should be a committee made up of leaders of all the five sects of Islam in Nigeria; they can engage the sect onmatters that have to do with ideology, we can start from there, then other things will follow.”
However, Abdullahi saw things differently. He told SUNDAY PUNCH that the pronouncement by the sect’s leader rejecting the proposal should be seen in a positive light.
According to him, the fact that the leader of the sect has chosen the media to begin the process of dialogue is in itself a good sign.
He said, “Let us look at the positive side of things, at least, dialogue has started in the media. We can now take it from there but I believe when government finally sets up the committee and comes up with its terms of reference, then we can proceed.”
The President had in response to calls by prominent northerners including the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, last week held a meeting with members of the Northern Elders Forum to find solution to the Boko Haram insurgency.
After the marathon meeting, spokesperson for the NEF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, told the media that government decided to form a committee to work out modalities for granting amnesty to members of the sect, as part of a plan to end the insurgency.
In response, Shekau, the sect’s leader, had in a recorded audio message in Hausa, said it was an irony that the Federal Government was considering amnesty for members of the sect , who according to him, had not done anything wrong to warrant being granted amnesty.
He was quoted by the Agence France Presse as saying, “Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you (Federal Government) a pardon.”
