CRIME

CHRISTIAN leaders, yesterday, opposed the Federal Government’s plan to offer unconditional amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect, describing it as a misplaced priority and an unjust cause.
This came even as there is skepticism within the military circle that the amnesty will work out, adding that it may turn out to be a colossal failure and the Federal Government may end up embarrassing itself over its non workability.

The Christian leaders asked the government to take urgent steps to compensate and resettle victims of Boko Haram attacks instead of wasting time and resources on a matter that would not yield any positive results at the end of the day.
According to the leaders, the Federal Government was committing a suicide mission by attempting to appease the sect members without their readiness to surrender arms and seek peace with the rest of the society.
They also stated that granting amnesty to the sect would amount to injustice and encouragement to other criminally-minded groups to strike and seek reward from the government.
The Prelate of Methodist Church of Nigeria,  Dr Sunday Ola Makinde, in an exclusive interview with newsmen was of the opinion that granting amnesty to the sect was like putting the cart before the horse and a step in the wrong direction.
Makinde noted: “They are talking about amnesty without saying anything about their victims. They are still killing people even as the government is fine-tuning ways for amnesty.
“I am not comfortable with the government’s decision because they are putting the cart before the horse. Why can’t we first of all dialogue with these people and find out their grievances? The only thing that I read in the paper is that they want to Islamize Nigeria; we know that there are other grievances, which should be known before amnesty is given by the government.
“Then, before amnesty is granted we want to know what they will do for the family of the widows and widowers, their places they have destroyed, what are they going to do for the victims and so on. Amnesty is not the issue now, but how to ameliorate the suffering of the victims.
“So, setting up any committee for amnesty without first looking into how the victims could be compensated is injustice, and if there is no justice there will be no peace.
“As condition for peace, we need dialogue; dialogue will lead them to know the group’s grievances and how to go about it. They are politicizing it and we need to be careful, if we are not, it may lead us to unpalatable end.”
Also speaking, the Bishop of Kubwa Anglican Diocese, the Rt Rev. Duke Akamisoko, threw his weight behind any initiative to bring lasting solution to the security challenges plaguing the north but warned against the offer of amnesty to the sect.
“While we are looking at how to solve the problem, the terminology, amnesty, is what I’m not comfortable with. If the government wants to speak with them to know their grievances, fine!  But I don’t agree that they should be granted amnesty because of the level of havoc committed by these persons without any remorse. What about the Christians who were slaughtered by the sect? What about the churches that were burnt and destroyed?” Akamisoko asked.
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