Boko Haram rejects Jonathan’s amnesty offer

Members of the extremist Islamic group, Boko Haram, may have rejected President Goodluck Jonathan’s anticipated amnesty offer.

The group reportedly said they have not asked for the deal.

They added that they will not accept the amnesty which Governor Kashim Shettima promised them.

A spokesman of the group who spoke in the Hausa language edition of the BBC- under the name Abu Dardam – stated that the group’s reason for not accepting the amnesty was because it does not recognise democracy as a form of government.

Dardam added that the group does not agree with Nigeria’s Constitution, stressing that justice can only be found in the Holy Quran, “that is Shariya system of government.”

However, reacting, Borno State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Hyeladi Inuwa Bwala, appealed to the group to see reason and embrace dialogue with a view to restoring lasting peace in the state.

He noted that most wars and crises in the world were settled mostly through dialogue, and therefore called on the group to see wisdom in the amnesty offer.

Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar urged militia groups in the country to lay down their arms.

Abubakar made the call while reacting to the weekend attack on the private residence of the Adamawa State Deputy Governor by some armed men.

“Armed groups in the country should take the full advantage of the window of opportunity of a peace deal being put together by the Federal Government to negotiate for a peaceful conflict resolution,” he said.

Meanwhile, there are fears among the Northern leadership that hard-liners within the Boko Haram may be influenced by al-Qaeda to frustrate the planned amnesty.

This is in addition to mounting anxiety over whether the amnesty would be extended to the Ansaru extremist sect, a splinter group of Boko Haram which operates across Nigeria, Cameroun, Chad and Niger Republic.

There were indications that Northern leaders have been making contacts over the past 48 hours to ensure that the sect does not disgrace them by refusing to ceasefire even after the amnesty.

A few Northern leaders have confessed that the region is anxious for the insurgents to take the offer when it is eventually made, as refusing it may further weaken the zone and strengthen the President’s political capital as the 2015 elections approach.

A leader from Kano, who declined being named, said: “We are eager and very optimistic that the militants will accept. We are on trial with this amnesty, and our hope is that the sect will listen to us and not their alleged affiliates in al-Qaeda, as this is a possibility we are dreading.”

He said many leaders who met with President Goodluck Jonathan are now worried about the international dimension to the crisis.

“We pray that they will save our region. Another concern of ours is that if Ansarul Islam continues attacks on security forces, the situation won’t get better even with the amnesty.”

However, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has accused the Presidency of trying to trick the North with the offer of amnesty, saying “the political Boko Haram, which is the most dangerous,” is linked with the ruling party.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, RotimiFashakin, said, “The prayer in the North is that these killings stop. But we pray that political Boko Haram will stop once this amnesty is on stream.”

Meanwhile, the Presidency has said contrary to rumours being peddled on social media, no package had been adopted yet by the Federal Government for the amnesty.

The clarification came from Presidential Spokesman, Reuben Abati, on the Africa Independent Television on Sunday.

He said the amnesty committee would work out all the operational details and submit its report to the President.