Northern Religious Leaders Want Presidential Amnesty Programme for Boko Haram Terrorists
Northern Religious Leaders Want Presidential Amnesty Programme
for Boko Haram Terrorists
Religious leaders under the auspices of Northern
Inter-Faith and Religious Organisations of Nigeria (NIFROM) have urged the
federal government to consider presidential amnesty programme for Boko Haram
sect members in the Northeast similar to that granted to former Niger Delta
militants.
NIFROM, in a statement signed by its Coordinator,
Bishop Musa Fomson, that following the success recorded by the amnesty
programme in the Niger Delta, there was the need to replicate it in the
northern part of the country currently ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.
He noted that even as the military made gains
against the insurgents, the use of force alone might not be able to win the war
against terrorism.
The bishops specifically commended the efforts of
the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the
Programme, Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd.), especially in the management of funds.
They expressed pleasure that the office has already
trained 17,322 of the beneficiaries, leaving a balance of 12,678, while
embarking on the domestication of its programmes.
"Since taking over the amnesty programme, Boroh
has restored hope to many of the agitators. We believe that with such
confidence in a man who can be trusted, such program can be replicated in the
troubled northern part of the country," he said.
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