By: chichi ikebuiro
Bla Bla Bla..Plop plop plop! And the arguments were just flying left right center-The amnesty argument. All of a sudden everybody forgot the dead!
That nobody even got to think about Boko Haram not wanting to be granted amnesty baffled me. These are terrorists for crying out loud. They thrive in destruction. It is either their way or the high way.
It surprised me when not so long ago the Sultan of Sokoto called on the federal government to grant amnesty to Boko Haram.This is a group that have care-freely slaughtered thousands of human beings,women and children inclusive.So many families have been ruined,destinies destroyed,and there is a call for amnesty?Dialoguing with Boko haram should not have been considered. They are terrorists and you do not negotiate with terrorists.
Every Nigerian (well almost all) wants an end to this Boko haram madness,the Sultan too,but granting them amnesty?I got to ask if we had even considered the fact that Boko Haram might not want this proposed amnesty.When a man is always ready to die for a particular course, then there is no stopping such man.
Dialoguing with them will be conceding to a demand which will be impossible to grant by the government. Granting the amnesty will only spring up more Boko Harams with the belief that they can get away with murder and still get compensated.All at the expense of the poor ordinary Nigerian.To actually think the amnesty was going to take the Tax of the ordinary Man’s income.Very Very hard earned cash?God are you watching?
You can now Imagine how delighted I was when the President said granting amnesty to Boko  Haram was out of the question as he could not dialogue with Ghosts only for him to prove himself indecisive when he started putting together a high level committee to consider granting the same people he called Ghosts amnesty.
Well Boko Haram have since spoken. They do not want the frigging amnesty. In fact for all they care we can shove it all up our behinds.They have done the Nigerian state no harm as far as they are concerned.It is even supposed to be the other way round. They should be granting us all amnesty. What arrant Nonsense. What insult to them and what they stand for.
Now that Boko Haram have spoken can we all now stop this mockery of the dead and look for a real solution to this menace.
Only a few countries of the world can claim to be relatively free of what has now become a real monster- Terrorism.
That the boko haram is a terrorist group is no longer debatable.The Boko haram is a terrorist group that strongly opposes man made laws as well as westernization and at the moment is threatening the existence and unity of Nigeria .Now that the Boko Haram believes the Nigerian State has wronged it,despite it claiming over three thousand innocent lives and counting can we now look for a solution to this menace, before we are all wiped out. Before they spread to every nook and cranny of Nigeria, leaving us with no option than fleeing the country for them?
A strong intelligence network must be encouraged.A network that will effectively share information of threats from groups and individuals who pose threat to our national security.We only end up losing more innocent lives with the JTF and it’s allies engaging the sect in gun battles.I am actually saying the Nigerian government can afford to get the best of trainings for the JTF, SSS and their allies.
Senator Ndume was reported to be linked to Boko haram.His case is still in court.The interrogation of a suspected Boko haram spokesman,Mallam Ali Konduga,who confessed that Ndume indeed has a link with the dreaded sect,led to the senator’s arrest.Can you just imagine how many Ndumes we have in government,infiltrating the government,bringing whatever plan it has to deal with the sect to nothing?
Government really needs to work towards all its employees taking loyalty oath.Loyalty to the Nigerian constitution.Our representatives in whatever capacity,me thinks should not be exempted.Is this impossible?It is an intrusion into people’s lives right?Well tell that to those who have lost everything name it,children,uncles,parents,bread winner and all.
One of the most successful tactics by the Italian government to curb the excesses of the red brigades,a revolutionary group,turn terrorist group(after it killed Aldo Moro former leader of Italy)was to entice convicted terrorists with with reduced sentences among others,in exchange for information about the red brigade leaders and activities.By the mid 1980’s the red brigades was nearly extinct.
We get to hear every day of arrests of boko haram members.Top and ordinary members.Dangle the carrot!Nobody wants to spend the rest of their lives in a jail cell.Individuals convicted of terrorist acts may have their sentences reduced (or some other enticement)if they volunteer to gives top class intelligence information about Boko Haram and its activities to the law enforcement agencies.This is not impossible.If it was ,we would not have known about the Senator Ndumes of this world.There are so many of them in government,as was attested to by the government sometime ago.
An idle mind,they say,is the Devil’s workshop. This sect grows by the day. People volunteer to join them since there are no jobs. The government needs to find a way to Curb the alarming rate of unemployment in the country, especially the North. No man in his right senses , with a good source of living will contemplate losing his life just because he does not want the westernization of Nigeria. Life is good.
Boko Haram is real.It has a face.Its activities is taking its toll on us all.People are dying.Investors are running away as we cannot guarantee their safety anymore.Nigeria’s name is being soiled in the international community.They now label us a terrorist state.
Lastly we need strong and decisive leaders who place the safety of the innocent masses over their own safety. Strong  and decisive leaders who understand the importance of keeping Nigeria safe.
On a lighter note let me quote Mr Shekau Abubakar,Boko Haram leader who said “Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you [a] pardon”.Dear Mr Shekau,believe me the Nigerian people will not mind the pardon.Let us put an end to these killings.
Chiechefulam Ikebuirothalynxis@yahoo.ca