Northern elders back govt. ransome on Boko Haram leaders

Posted by admin Boko Haram, Latest Politics Saturday, November 24th, 2012

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NORTHERN elders, under the aegis of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Saturday, said they welcome the decision of the Federal Government to place monetary ransom on leaders and commanders of the militant Boko Haram sect.

The Federal Government had, at the weekend, promised to pay N50 million to anyone who would assist in hunting down the sect’s kingpin, Abubakar Shekau; and N240 million for information that could lead to the arrest of 18 others, including commanders of the dreaded militant group.

The ACF, which Thursday threw its weight behind the strategy, anchored its argument on the fact that the issue of placing ransom on leaders of terrorist groups has had international acceptance, and cited the cases of how the US placed ransom on former President of Iraq, the late Saddam Hussein, and Osama Bin Laden, leading to their eventual capture and death.

While spokepersons of Borno and Yobe governors, said the issue was entirely a Federal Government’s security affair, Yobe residents applauded the JTF for the decision.

For instance, a Damaturu resident, Yohanna Ishaku of Jerusalem Ward told The Guardian that the placement of N290 million for the arrest of the sect’s leader and its commanders was belated. “Hundreds of lives and property worth millions of Naira have been lost in the Boko Haram-infested states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Sokoto and Taraba,” he said. However, Deputy Chairman of the Northern Civil Society Coalition, Comrade Suleiman Ahmed, and Kano-based Dr Junaid Mohammed, faulted the strategy and insisted on dialogue. They argued that the latest measure by the Joint Task Force (JTF) to rid the country of the menace of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgency would not yield the desired result, going by the announcement.

Mohammed, a critic of President Jonathan administration told The Guardian, last night: “ This latest move is unfortunate and reckless. The security agents have caught and killed many of the Boko Haram members; yet, the same government came out to express the willingness to negotiate with the group. Now, they want to pay huge sums of money to get rid of top commanders of this group. For government to do this is an indication of bad faith.”

Saying that the measure would surely make the government become more unpopular, Mohammed said the latest measure would be an exercise in futility.

He claimed that the latest measure is just another devise deployed by soldiers to prolong the crises in the North. Mohammed said it is unfortunate that 25 percent of the budget is expended on security, which, ends up in the pockets of top-ranking officers involved in the fight against the group.

On the solution, he noted: “In any insurgency situation, you need to have a comprehensive counter insurgency strategy, which must be based on the root causes that brought the insurgency in the first place. There is no evidence that the Chief of Army Staff (who is not elected but is making political decisions) that he understands what is at stake in this insurgency. He and his fellow officers are in it to make money and in the process make the insurgency and the economy

But National Publicity of ACF, Mr. Anthony Sani, who described the move by the JTF as strategic, said: “You saw how American did it in Iraq; you remember? When they placed $25 million on Saddam Hussein. America also said that they were ready to pay $50 million on whoever gave information on where Bin Laden was. Are we the first people to do it? It is not a new thing at all”.

According to him: “dialogue is still standing. All that is happening are part of the dialogue.

“The option for dialogue,” he said, “is still open. When I suggested a way out of the problem, I said, we, in the ACF, welcome dialogue, but we still wanted the government to be cautious about who is making the dialogue. This is because Abu Mohammed Abdulazeez is not well known to anybody. And we are not sure whether he is speaking on behalf of the Boko Haram. I reminded the people to know that when Osama Bin Laden spoke, America didn’t just take it that it was Osama Bin Laden; they had to study the voice very well through experts on whether it was actually Bin Laden’s voice.

“Why should we allow a situation where anybody would come out and say he is talking on behalf of the Boko Haram? Government shouldn’t agree; and even the media shouldn’t agree.

Former British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, had observed the need for Nigerians to volunteer information on the activities of the sect.

However, Mallam Ahmed, an activist, Mallam Ahmed, who spoke on behalf of the Leader of the Northern Civil Society Coalition, Mallam Shehu Sani, argued that “the ransom placed by government on leaders of Boko Haram is a clear reality that there has not been sincerity on dialogue…If you remember, in most of our statements, Comrade Shehu Sani has been saying that there has not been intention of dialogue on the part of government.

“This development has proven now that the issue of dialogue has become a mirage. The government has not been clearly sincere by way of dialogue and that is the reason this issue of ransom has come up.

Via Guardian
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