Saturday PUNCH learnt that members of the Federal
Government’s amnesty committee would, among
other things, recommend a phased release of
members of the sect currently in detention.
It was gathered that children and wives of the sect
members would be released first before other
detainees.
This, it was gathered, would assist the committee and
the Federal Government in winning the confidence of
the sect.
The committee, which is to be inaugurated on
Wednesday next week, is expected to initiate dialogue
with leaders of the sect at a yet-to-be determined
date, time and venue.
Saturday PUNCH also gathered that members of the
group, who earlier rejected government amnesty
plans, have yet to make public their response to the
latest development.
A top security source, who pleaded for anonymity
because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said,
“Some wives, children and relatives of members of
the sect are among those being detained.
“The government may start with the release of this
category of people as a sign of its commitment to
peace. I believe members
of this committee will be favourably disposed to
making this recommendation.”
As for the venue of talks should members of the sect
accept dialogue, the source said, “They may opt for
Saudi Arabia or any other country they consider a
neutral ground, like they did in the past. This is
because they still cannot trust that government will
not use the venue of the talks to further hunt them
down.
“Trust is still a big issue here; the question remains
whether the sect will trust that government will be
sincere this time around and not resort to behaviours
that led to the breakdown of similar attempts in the
past.
“Just like those in government, they also have
hardliners. This group of members are likely to give
near impossible conditions such as the rebuilding of
their homes and places of worship destroyed by
government forces and the like. ”
The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, had in Kaduna
last month urged the Federal Government to give
amnesty to the sect members.
The call was echoed by a number of prominent
Nigerians. Read more............
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