WE DEMANDED A STANDING COMMISSION ON AMNESTY, SAY NORTHERN ELDERS

AS mixed reactions continue to
trail the Federal Government’s decision to set up a panel to consider amnesty
for the  Boko Haram sect, a prominent member of the Northern Elders Forum
and former Vice-Chancellor Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Prof. Ango Abdullahi
disclosed to The Guardian Friday that the government’s plan was part of the
recommendations made by the Forum to President Goodluck Jonathan nine months
ago.

He said that the forum demanded a standing Commission on Amnesty for
the country that will be saddled with the responsibility of taking care of all
eventualities.

“We made the recommendations during our meeting with the President
nine months and he promised to look into it. He wrote the forum and invited us
for a meeting where we deliberated on our recommendations before the government
decided to raise the panel,” Abdullahi said.

On fears that such standing Commission on Amnesty might encourage
militancy and all sorts of criminality in the country, Abdullahi said: “There are
crimes in the country and there should be way out of it for the peace and unity
of the country. The gain of the amnesty for Boko Haram would be assessed as it
progresses.”

He disagreed with those criticizing the government’s move, saying
that it is in order and expected.

Abdullahi dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the forum
ambushed the Presidency to set up the panel.

He said: “How can we ambush the President? He wrote us and invited
us for a meeting where we discussed on the way out of the insurgency. There
must be a standard for all Nigerians if we want peace in this country. Hasn’t
amnesty for Niger Delta militants ended militancy in the region?