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Tag: boko haram

  • Boko Haram: Amnesty committee will unmask sect —Lemu

    Boko Haram: Amnesty committee will unmask sect —Lemu

    A member of the newly set up Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the north, Sheikh Ahmed Lemu, is confident about the ability of the panel to unmask members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram

    The sect has claimed responsibility for much of the insurgency in the north over the last few years.

    Speaking in an interview with Channels Television monitored in Minna, the respected Islamic cleric said that the lack of confidence in previous government moves, fear of possible arrest and prosecution may have informed the decision of leaders and members of the group to go into hiding.

    He, however, expressed hope that the insecurity being experienced in some northern states would soon come to an end, as the committee intends to unveil the group and restore peace to the region.

    According to the cleric, the setting up of the committee would help to enliven mutual trust between the government and the sect, stressing that government’s action has created platform for sincere and genuine dialogue with the sect.

    Lemu argued that dialogue, and not force, remains the only way out of the security challenges in the northern part.

    Faulting the opposition of the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to federal government’s move to grant amnesty to members of Boko Haram, Lemu said government’s olive branch is the best, insisting that the use of brute force will be counterproductive.

    He said: ‘’If amnesty was granted the Niger Delta militants in the South South, why not to Boko Haram in the north. The two groups committed the same offence of killing and destruction. I think federal government’s amnesty plan for members of the sect was a right thing.”

    ‘’The leadership of CAN is in the south and cannot appreciate what we are facing in the north but every Christian here in the north appreciates government’s gesture because we need peace here and there is no price too much to pay for it.’’ he stated.

    Describing his appointment as a call to service, the former Grand Khadi of Niger State said it is not mandatory for President Jonathan to consult with him before appointing him for any national service.

     

    ‘’I cannot reject to serve because President did not consult me before appointing me to serve. President Jonathan is the Allah’s chosen leader for this country now. I know it is Allah that appoints leaders, so I have no cause to reject or refuse to serve when called,’’ he said.

    The religious leader who headed a Presidential committee that probe the post-2011 election violence however expressed disappointment that the recommendations of his committee have not being implemented.

  • Boko Haram: Committee will unmask the sect- Sheikh Lemu

    Boko Haram: Committee will unmask the sect- Sheikh Lemu

    Sheikh Ahmad Lemu has expressed optimism that the Presidential committee on the proposed amnesty for the dreaded Boko Haram sect set up on Thursday by President Goodluck Jonathan would unveil the membership of the sect.

    Speaking in an interview with Channels Television monitored in Minna, the respected Islamic cleric said that the lack of confidence in pervious government moves and fear of possible arrest and pesecution may have informed the leaders and members of the group going to hidden.

    He however expressed hope that the insurgence being experienced in some northern states would soon come to an end, as committee intends to unveil the group and restore peace back to the region.

    According to the Cleric, the setting up of the committee would help to enliven mutual trust between the government and the sect, stressing that the government action has created platform for sincere and geniune dialogue with the sect.

    Lemu argued that dialogue and not force remains the only way out of the security challenges in the northern part.

    Faulting the opposition of the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to federal government move to grant amnesty to members of Boko Haram, Lemu said government’s olive branch to the dreaded sect was the best, insisting that the use of brute force will be counter productive.

    ”If amnesty was granted the Niger Delta militants in the South South, why not to Boko Haram in the north. The two groups committed same offence of killing and destruction. I think federal government amnesty plan for members of the sect was a right thing.

    ”The leadership of CAN is in the south and cannot appreciate what we are facing in the north but every Christians here in the north appreciate government gesture because we need peace here and there is no price too much to pay for it,” he stated.

    On the withdrawal of Comrade Sani Shehu and Alhaji Ahmed Datti from the committee, Lemu said he was ever ready to serve the country in any capacity that would bring peace, unity and progress to the country.

    Describing his appointment as a call to service, the former Grand Khadi of Niger State said President Jonathan need not consult with him before appointing him for any national service.

    Hear him, ”I cannot reject to serve because President did not consult me before appointing me to serve. President Jonathan is the Allah’s chosen leader for this country now. I know it is Allah that appoints leaders, so I have no cause to reject or refuse to serve when called.”

    The religious leader who headed a Presidential committee that probe the post-2011 election violence however expressed disappointment that the recommendations of his committee have not being implemented.

  • Kabiru Sokoto pleads not guilty of Church bombing

    Boko Haram accused Kabiru Sokoto has pleaded not guilty of 2011 bombing of the Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State.

    An buja court on Friday ordered that he should be remanded in prison.

  • Datti Ahmed opts out of amnesty committee

    President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, SCSN, Dr. Datti Ahmed has opted out of the amnesty committee set up by the federal government to dialogue with top members of the Boko Haram sect.

    He said his decision was informed by his experience in trying to broker a peace deal with members of the Boko Harm group.

    Dr. Ahmed told the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) monitored in Kaduna on Thursday that the government should be held responsible for the breakdown of earlier peace talks.
    According to him, he was rejecting membership of the committee because of his bitter experience with the government when he voluntarily tried to mediate between the authorities and members of the sect.
    He noted that it was the insincerity on the part of the government that led to the breakdown of earlier peace talk with members of the insurgents, when he initiated dialogue with them.
    While faulting the composition of the Presidential committee on amnesty, Dr. Ahmed alleged that the chairman of the committee  who is a government minister and the secretary, being government officials will not give  the government the correct information.
    He said: ”previously, I made such moves twice and it wasn’t the government that asked me to do that and we reached a stage where, if the government had agreed with what we got, what we resolved with the sect members, by now we would have forgotten  everything, Nigeria would have witnessed peace by now.
    “We told the government everything we discussed with them, and the agreement we had which were not difficult.  If the dialogue was truly genuine, their wives and children that were unjustly detained should have been released because they’ve not committed any crime.
    “We advised the government on that, we said even if you continue to detain them, there was no gain in doing so. The government said they will release them but did not.
    “That act showed there was deceit on the part of government. We also said that if these people were released, a place should be arranged where we would sit and discuss matters.
    “Secondly, this committee, the chairman is a government minister and the secretary too works for the government. So whatever we discuss, they are the ones who will write and take to the government. So I believe if this meeting is done, what they will write will be full of lies.
    “They will feed the government with what the government wants to know and we would be in trouble with the ordinary Nigerians. The minister and secretary will take lies to the government and we would be left quarrelling with young Nigerians, young enough to be our children, ”he said.
    The Islamic scholar said  his previous experience indicate that the government were just telling lies because  during the previous attempt, it was so successful but the government caused everything to crumble.
    He said “It was  just like we were going to have  a peaceful resolution the next day and what the government should have done was not something difficult,
    just to release their wives and reduce the tension in Yobe and Borno state and  stop
    persecuting the people there .
    “The government said it was going to do that but it did not. It is the same government, the same Jonathan and his representative and we are the same people, nothing has changed, ”he said.

  • Jonathan approves committee to dialogue with Boko Haram leaders

    Jonathan approves committee to dialogue with Boko Haram leaders

    President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the constitution of a Presidential Committee to ‘constructively engage’ key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity in the country.

    The decision followed the consideration of the report of the technical committee set up to review fresh modalities for addressing security challenges in the North   by the National Security Council.

    The Committee’s terms of reference will include developing a framework for the granting of amnesty; setting up of a framework  through which disarmament could take place within a 60-day time frame; the development of a comprehensive victims’ support programme, and the development of mechanisms to address the underlying causes of insurgencies that will help to prevent future occurrences.

     President Jonathan  also approved the constitution of a Federal Government committee on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in keeping with his pledge that Nigeria will work with the United Nations and other countries to stem the worrisome proliferation of small arms and light weapons, and their use in creating insecurity and instability in Nigeria and other developing nations.

    The composition of the two committees is as follows:

     

    COMMITTEE ON DIALOGUE AND PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE NORTH

    1.                  Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, Minister of Special Duties    –Chairman

    2.                Sheik Ahmed Lemu                                                     –        Member

    3.                Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed                                            –        Member

    4.                Col. Musa Shehu, (rtd.)                                               –        Member

    5.                 Sheik Abubakar Tureta                                                          –        Member

    6.                Dr.Datti Ahmed                                                            –        Member

    7.                 Senator Sodangi Abubakar                                          –        Member

    8.                Senator Ahmed Makarfi                                              –        Member

    9.                Hon. Mohammed Bello Matawalle                              –        Member

    10.            Amb. Zakari Ibrahim                                                   –        Member

    11.              Comrade Shehu  Sani                                                   –        Member

    12.            Hajiya Naja’atu Mohammed                                        –        Member

    13.            Malam Adamu S. Ladan                                              –        Member

    14.            Dr. Joseph Golwa                                                         –        Member

    15.             AVM A. I. Shehu                                                          –        Member

    16.            Mr. R. I. Nkemdirim                                                    –        Member

    17.             DIG P. I. Leha                                                              –        Member

    18.            Prof. Nur Alkali                                                            –        Member

    19.            Malam Salihu Abubakar                                              –        Member

    20.          Alhaji Abubakar Sani Lugga                                        –        Member

    21.            Barrister Ibrahim Tahir                                               –        Member

    22.           Brig-Gen. Ibrahim Sabo                                               –        Member

    23.           Amb. Baba Ahmed Jidda                                             –        Member

    24.           Group Capt. Bilal Bulama, rtd.                 –                            Member

    25.           Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi                                                   –        Member

    26.           Representative of  OSGF                                              –        Secretary

     

    COMMITTEE ON SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS

     

    1.      Amb. Emmanuel Imohe        –                                     (Chairman)

    2.    Amb.  Martin I. Uhomoibhi            –                                     Member

    3.    Amb.  T. Dan Hart                                    –                           Member

    4.    Amb. Ghali Umar                                      –                           Member

    5.     Amb. B. G. Wakil                                      –                                     Member

    6.    Mr. Opelusi Olureti                         –                                     Member

    7.     Representative of Ministry of Interior –                               Member

    8.    Representative of NSA                             –                           Member

    9. Representative of DG (SSS)                      –                           Member

    10. Representative of NIA                                       –                           Member

    11. Representative of Federal Ministry of Justice –                  Member

    12. Representative of Ministry of Defence           –                             Member

         13.  Representative of  DIA                                   –                             Member

    14. Representative of the Nigeria Police Force       –                 Member

    15. Representative of the Nigerian Customs Service –              Member

         16. Representative of OSGF                                       –               Member

          17. Director, International Organisations Dept (MFA) –           Secretary

    Both committees will be formally inaugurated by President Jonathan at 10 am on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

  • Boko Haram: FG urges northern leaders to be more courageous

    The Federal Government has challenged Northern leaders to be more courageous in the efforts to end the activities of the Boko Haram sect.

    The minister of Information, Labaran Maku also  reminded northern leaders that the peace in the Niger Delta did not come easy but for the courage and direct involvement of leaders from the region who went to the creeks to talk to the boys.

    The minister spoke during the pre-briefing on the planned Niger Delta stakeholders’ forum slated for Uyo, Akwa-Ibom state.

    The stakeholders conference and inaugural meeting of the National Council on Niger Delta is to launch the Niger Delta Action Plan, a set development milestones to be achieved in the next few years.

    The plan contains a comprehensive, integrated infrastructure framework which will involve everybody, which is meant to give ownership of projects in the region to the people through collective involvement.

    Speaking at the occasion, the minister stressed that the people must understand that it is impossible to have development when peace in the absence of peace.

    He noted that with the return of peace in Niger Delta, the region he said in the  next 10-15 years would have achieved a lot in terms of development.

    He urged all the leaders in the country who believed in one Nigeria to join in the search for peace in the country.

    “Whenever violence becomes a way of life development can never be visible”, he said stressing that resources of other region are equally significant, but without peace the country cannot see development.

    He therefore charged Northern leaders to follow the steps of Niger Delta leaders who had to go all the way even as far as into the creeks to talk to the militants to embrace peace.

    The result he said is evidential now as the country is benefiting from improved production of crude oil which translate to improve income for the country.

    He also added that for the fact that the Niger delta are moving forward,we all we move forward because if we move forward,Nigeria will move forward and if any part of this country is moving backward we can’t move forward so that if the Niger Delta  presents an example of what  we can achieve when leaders stand up and  become courageous and identify with the problems” in the country

  • Boko Haram: Youth group gives FG condition for reconciliation

    Nigerian Youth on Tuesday told the Federal Government to be more proactive on security issues just as they responded to the cases of flooding in the country.

    They said the present reconciliation moves being proposed to tame the Boko Haram sect can only succeed if certain precautions are taken into consideration.

    The Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria, YOWICAN, who made this known in Abuja through their National President, Dr. Simon Dolly, said, “We want the Federal Government to be proactive on the security crisis just the way they treated flooding issues.

    “The victims of the crisis should be compensated before reconciliation. They have to be attended to first before proposing reconciliation and absence of it will show high level of injustice. We all want peace, we need dialogue”, he said.

    Dolly, who attributed the lingering crisis in country to lack of forgiveness on the part of Christians, called on Christians to have the heart of forgiveness, tolerate one another and avoid the politics of killing.

     

  • Governors not in touch with Boko Haram, says Shehu Sani

    Rights activist Mallam Shehu Sani has said Northern governors cannot play any role in the ongoing effort by the Federal Government to get members of the Boko Haram sect to embrace amnesty.

    Sani, who is the President of the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress (CRC), said none of the governors has access to the sect’s members, and, therefore, cannot help in stopping the insurgency.

    The activist warned the government against disbursing the tax payers’ money to enrich some people in the name of amnesty, more so that the group has rejected the amnesty offer by the government.

    Speaking with reporters in Kaduna, Sani said members of the sect never demanded money from anybody, adding that the government was only playing to the gallery with the constitution of a committee on the insurgency.

    Drawing a line between the activities of militants in the Niger Delta and those of Boko Haram, Sani said the militants made monetary demands, which the Boko Haram group never did.

    He said: “I don’t think it is true that Northern governors are in touch with Boko Haram. If it is true, Boko Haram members will even acknowledge that they are in touch with them.

    “But the leader of Boko Haram has made it very clear that they are opposed to amnesty. So, anybody who wants to use amnesty for his own pecuniary gain is quite different.

    “The fundamental issue is, you cannot give amnesty to people who do not want it. You want to give something and somebody said he doesn’t want, and so what happens? I think we have failed in this amnesty deal because of the wrong steps taken.

    “First of all, they set up a committee and nobody knows who the members of the committee are. If you set up committee with people of high-level and don’t have access to the leadership of Boko Haram, you are simply wasting your time.

    “I am using this opportunity to call on Nigerians not to let tax payers’ money be used in the name of settling insurgents. Let tax payers’ money not be used on amnesty issue. Boko Haram has never made any financial demands. I believe they are not opposed to the issue but approaches.

    “Money cannot solve the problem of Boko Haram. They have not made financial request and, secondly, they are not fighting because they need money.

    “Those wanting to use cash to quell this insurgency are those working to profit from the case. If we think we can apply and adopt the amnesty that was used in Niger Delta to what is happening here, I think we have misread the situation.”

  • ‘Boko Haram politically motivated’

    The senator representing Oyo North in the National Assembly, Hosea Agboola, yesterday said the Boko Haram crisis was created by politicians and can only be resolved by the same politicians.

    The senator spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, at a media forum organised by the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). He said Boko Haram was born through political power play, adding that since the Islamic sect is a child of politics, it can only be tamed by politicians.

    According to him, technocrats cannot solve the problem arising from the sect’s activities.

    Agboola noted that only the political class can proffer solutions to the problems they have created for the nation.

    The Senate Deputy Chief Whip said the National Assembly has been on its toes to resolve insurgency across the country, adding that it had invited security chiefs before the lawmakers went on Easter break.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Boko Haram: FG can still go ahead with amnesty – Sultan

    Boko Haram: FG can still go ahead with amnesty – Sultan

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Monday said Federal Government can still forge ahead with amnesty for the Boko Haram sect despite the group’s rejection of the proposal.

    The Sultan stated this while speaking with State House correspondents shortly after leading other members of the 2012 Federal Government Hajj delegation to present their report to President Goodluck Jonathan.

    When pressed by journalists to comment on the sect rejection of the amnesty proposal which he put forward, Abubakar simply said “there is nothing impossible in this world.”

    He was later whisked away by his aides in waiting vehicles.