gymer: .

.
A Presidential source said that the committee will consider the feasibility or otherwise of granting pardon to the Boko Haram members and collate the views of those clamouring for amnesty, as well as recommend modalities for the granting of pardon should such a policy be adopted.

12 inches!:
My only question to those very FOOLISH people that support amnesty is what about the bloods of the people blown and killed by boko haram. Not combatants. Regular citizens. Those killed in church with AK 47s, those bomb in this day bombing. Those killed in Kano bombing etc. I'm currently watching a film "Zero dark thirty" of how America went all out to capture and kill osama. Our president and our country is a serious letdown to consider amnesty to a terrorist group with unreasonable and unclear ambition. In short, our lives are worthless.

naptu2: Afghanistan's amnesty for Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

http://mobile.tolonews.com/afghanistan/8491-rights-group-slams-afghan-amnesty-for-war-crimes

Every terrorist believes that his cause is just and everybody affected by terrorism believes otherwise.

toluene12:

afghan is a nation at war, Nigeria is not at war.
I told u compare like with like.
has pakistan(a semi failed state like nigeria) granted amnesty to those terrorist group residing at its mountainous regions?
has Assad considered amnesty for the syrian liberation army?
besides, afghan and allied troops fought the talibans for 13 years before considering amnesty.
Yet, the talibans have scorned all forms of amnesty extended to them and have continued bombing anything that walks.
anytime the talibans accept a call for truce, they simply use the opportunity to reinforce

SAY NO TO AMNESTY FOR TERRORISTS

naptu2:

Click on the link, you'll see that Pakistan also granted amnesty to and released 10 terrorists (hope you won't come up with another excuse to disqualify Pakistan).

By the way, do you hope to wait for more people to be bombed to death before declaring amnesty, or would you take action to stop the bombing? What if one of the people that might be bombed tomorrow is your relative?

basisop: Opportunity to enrich all the northern youths. GEJ, I don't know how to defend you again oo.

re@lchange:


some of you people need urgent psychiatric help.
so nigeria is now pakistan?
btw why didn't nigeria allow biafra to go?
why did nigeria starve 2 million igbos to death rather than accept biafran terms?
you nigerians are very hellish and fatalistic by nature.
tufiakwa.

naptu2:

1) Some posters said that this could only happen in Nigeria. They gave examples of other nations that are fighting terrorists. I have given examples from the UK, The Republic of Ireland, Afghanistan and Pakistan to show that it is not a uniquely Nigerian solution to the problem, neither is it a strange solution (even the americans held discussions with the Taliban).

2) What has this got to do with Biafra? It's a different government, different time (40 years apart), etc.

Onlytruth:

No my friend, the more things change in Nigeria, the more they remain the same. I think that is what the guy was alluding to.
Go and count the number of MASSOB corpses fished out of the the Ezu River in Anambra state. Mind you MASSOB is UNARMED.
Now, why on earth should a Nigerian government give amnesty to an ARMED group? I will tell you why. It is because Nigerians see peaceful agitations as a form of weakness.
That is why your government (encouraged by you) is giving amnesty to armed mass murderers.

naptu2: To an extent I agree with GEJ. Grant them amnesty with conditions.

I do not think that the hardcore members of Boko Haram are interested in any amnesty. However, you can use an amnesty offer to lure the weaker and fringe elements, who might be able to deliver vital intelligence to you. This might also cause a split in the group and weaken it.

However, the main condition that should be attached to the amnesty is that the members of Boko Haram must lay down their arms and disclose the sources of their weapons and funding. Again, as it was in the Niger-Delta amnesty deal, amnesty should not be granted to anyone who has murdered or been involved in the murder of another person.

The military chiefs also have a point (and a huge job to do). It is not easy to tell the ranks that, after their colleagues have been killed and they have faced great difficulty, they now have to accept Boko Haram members as regular citizens of Nigeria. If the announcement is not handled well, it could lead to a mutiny.

naptu2:

So, do you see why I said we are getting ahead of ourselves? If you check my first post, you'll see that I stated that one of the conditions for amnesty should be that people who have been involved in murder should not get amnesty. On this thread I've read about "paying public funds to terrorists", "pardoning mass murderers", where do you guys get these things from? A committee has just been formed to consider the possibility of granting an amnesty and the modalities for granting such amnesty. Have you guys been to the future to see what the conditions will be?

(By the way, regarding the bodies found in the river, I expect that a full investigation will be carried out and the culprits should be punished according to the law. Furthermore, your comparison with Massob doesn't apply. No where has it been stated that Boko Haram is being granted their wish [which is to islamise Nigeria], rather Boko Haram militants might be given amnesty if they fulfil certain conditions. Similarly, Massob members have been arrested and released in the past, but the government has not stated that it will grant Massob's wishes [to create an independent state of Biafra]. Also remember that, in the same way that we have seen corpses in the river in Anambra, so also have we seen suspected Boko Haram members gunned down without even being put in front of a judge. I of course condemn both.).

pcnwamadi:

1. A ministry of Northern affairs must be established like the Niger Delta Ministry.

2. Each Boko haram member who embraces the amnesty will receive an initial cash reward of 3 million naira to start up a business.

3. Boko haram members who embrace the amnesty program will be giving a house by the FG.

4. Boko haram leaders who embraced the amnesty program will be giving a cash gift of 20 million naira each and other juicy packages will also follow.

5. Selected boko haram members from each zone will be taken abroad for training, just as the Niger delta militants enjoyed.

6. Each boko haram member will be on a monthly salary of N100,000 for a period of 3 years.

7. FG must rebuild borno, yobe and other state they claimed the JTF destroyed.

8. Security contract will be given to Boko haram leaders to secure the north.

8. JTF will be completely withdrawn from the northern states, where boko haram operates.

Onlytruth: I would listen to the military service chiefs if I were Jonathan. It is an indirect insult on them that the same murderous gang that killed many of their own is allowed to walked away, probably with payments sef.
The more Nigeria wobbles along, the more obvious the flawed foundation, and the more likely the future will be settled by extreme violence.

But come on, who gave the president this advice? I honestly think that whoever gave the president this advice must be the greatest enemy of Nigeria.

Ngwakwe: If democracy is the government of, by and for the people, I see no reason why the President shouldn't try to reconcile his decisions with that of majority opinion.

Remember, he is a politician and is still eyeing for a second term mandate from the same people he refuses their opinions.

Even God in the bible ask humans to come and reason with him, and in another verse God said, present your strong reasons.

My conclusion is, apart from the portion I deleted from your text, GEJ or any leader in a democratic setting should not be autocratic rather a listening leader.

gymer: A new plan by President Goodluck Jonathan to grant amnesty to members of the violent Boko Haram sect has upset Nigeria’s military chiefs.

Sources at the Presidential Villa, where the military brass met with the President for several hours today, said they tried in vain to convince Mr. Jonathan not to fall into the trap that has been set for him by prominent northern leaders on the issue.

They were said to have told him the security implications of the action and that it could also be interpreted to mean that the President is not a man of his word. Mr. Jonathan has flip-flopped on federal policy against Boko Haram since he took office in 2010.

The military bosses reminded him of his words when he visited Borno State a few weeks ago when he said that there was no way he would grant amnesty to ghosts, stressing that nothing has changed. Mr. Jonathan once said there were members of Boko Haram in his government, but it is not clear if they are still ghosts or he has identified them.

He was also said to have been reminded that many of their men and other security officers have been indiscriminately killed, warning him that telling the rank and file the decision on amnesty could ignite anger in the barracks.

At the end of the lengthy discussion, which lasted for five hours, the President had his way against the genuine advice of the military chiefs, except one. He set up a committee to handle the issue of amnesty.

The committee, whose members are yet to be announced, is to work with the office of the National Security Adviser.

A Presidential source said that the committee will consider the feasibility or otherwise of granting pardon to the Boko Haram members and collate the views of those clamouring for amnesty, as well as recommend modalities for the granting of pardon should such a policy be adopted.

President Jonathan seems to have adopted the argument of the northern elements after meeting with some of their prominent members in Abuja on Wednesday night. Although today he seem highly disposed to the amnesty idea, he is known to change his mind fairly easily.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/military-chiefs-outraged-over-jonathan’s-plan-grant-boko-haram-amnesty