As you read this, President Goodluck
Jonathan may be on the verge of
granting amnesty to the Boko Haram
insurgent group at the behest of the
Northern Elders Forum (NEF), who met
with him during the week to discuss this sensitive issue. Advocates of amnesty for Boko Haram
are pointing to the Niger Delta
precedent to justify this call which is
clearly symptomatic of the frustration
of the governing elite in the face of a
stalemated war that has no borders, or a specific target or a discernible,
civilised objective. Other than the
abolition of western education and
the imposition of Sharia in the North,
the group isn’t saying anything
worthwhile; even these demands are as idiotic as they are unreasonable.
How do we begin to turn back the
clock of civilisation because of a few
misguided armed marabouts? Amnesty, meanwhile, seems an easy
way out of a crisis that appears to be
turning gradually into a quagmire like
is the case of Afghanistan, Pakistan
and Iraq where living with terror has
become a way of life. It was once a virtual impossibility to imagine that
Nigerians would be living with terror,
but that, for us, is now a terrifying
reality. And the ruling elite have
themselves to blame for this
embarrassing war. There’s no shred of evidence that the
Jonathan administration, despite its
lackadaisical approach, is not doing
its best in the fight against terrorism
and other violent crimes. The
escalation of violence of all shades- armed robberies, kidnappings, ritual
killings, domestic violence, face book-
related attacks and terrorism, is a
clear indication that its best efforts
are not enough. It is time to change
gear. How this insidious evil became a murderous terror machine, that it is
today under our eyes, is a question the
nation’s ruling elite is unable to
answer; the option of a general
amnesty may be a vivid testimony of
the growing exasperation of the elite with an evil it birthed but could no
longer control. Since the Boko Haram insurgent group
declared war against the country
under the Yar’Adua administration,
government has responded, using
conventional methods to contain an
unusual enemy which operates by the unconventional methods of urban
guerrilla warfare. In trying to nip it in
the bud at the initial stage of the
crisis, he police allegedly killed the
acknowledged leader of the group,
Yusuf Foi, an ex-commissioner in Borno State. That’s one of the main
grudges of Boko Haram and it is
believed that the summary execution
of Foi actually removed the lid from
the tinder box. Since the elimination of the leader,
the group has splintered into different
dangerous factions under faceless
leaders with varying and conflicting
agendas, but all united under the
banner of political Sharia. Today, having developed into a well – funded
international terror organisation, we
have no idea who controls which of its
various tentacles, but one thing is
certain: Boko Haram has managed to
hook up with Al- Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, with dire implications
for the security of the sub-Sahara,
apart from Nigeria. With Boko Haram so fragmented and
dangerously polarised along
ideological, theological and political
divides, including some criminal
elements here and there, it has
become a loose cannon that threatens everybody but themselves. Running an
unprecedented violent campaign first,
against internal rivals, then the police
for an alleged injustice and now
against everyone in sight, Boko Haram
is the biggest agent of destabilization in the country apart from corruption in
high places. Now, the argument for Boko Haram’s
amnesty cannot stand on the logic of
the one granted to the Niger Delta
militants because both armed groups
may have levied war against their
country, Nigeria, their individual motives and corporate objectives are
as different as their tactics and
targets. Boko Haram turned their guns
against innocent worshippers mostly
in churches, and a few mosques,
bombed police and military targets and caused massive blood bathe
through their reckless attacks on
public buildings, residential districts,
public and major business outlets, and
industrial installations. Generally, Boko Haram is a vampire on
the loose whose objective is not just
to Islamise Nigeria, but to rid it totally
of western influence. The group is now
present in every part of Nigeria,
getting set for a bloody campaign down South. Talk about a bull in a
China shop! In contrast, the Niger Delta militants
are environmental activists and armed
campaigners for economic justice for
the alienated people of the Delta
region, whose lands have been
destroyed by decades of oil exploration without any visible
positive impact on the people’s
welfare. The wild boys of Niger Delta never
threatened those outside the realm of
their agitation. They didn’t bring
religious or tribal sentiments into
their campaign or align with foreign
terror groups to levy war against their own people to attain some mindless,
esoteric objectives. The Niger Delta amnesty cannot
possibly be a template any more than
the pardon of Abacha’s coupist
justifies Alameyesiegha’s clemency.
Boko Haram and the Niger Delta
militants are two of a kind but unique in their different colourations. We
knew and still know who the Delta
militants are; but we don’t know the
faces behind Boko Haram. That is why
the government is unable to negotiate
with them. Nobody can justify an amnesty for a
group that is not committed to
dialogue. If Boko Haram’s body
language speaks of peace, the Federal
Government, tired of battle with the
recalcitrant Islamic militants, would have no choice than to bring amnesty
as a bait on the table. Amnesty is justifiable under an
atmosphere of jaw-jaw or during a
carrot and stick situation, not when
one side to the conflict is invisible,
implacable and unwilling to accept
anything but its own terms, which in the case of Boko Haram, cannot stand
on any civilised logic. Nevertheless if the northern leaders
strongly believe amnesty is a way out
at this stage, it is worth giving a try.
However, beyond clamouring for
amnesty for the terror group, the NEF
must give some form of assurance that it would actively participate in
enforcing the peace we all expect.


www.vanguardngr.com/2013/04/the-boko-haram-amnesty-conundrum-by-chris-okotie/