North Kicks Against FG's approach to B’Haram, Ansaru

The North on Wednesday disagreed with
the National Assembly on the proscription
of two Islamic miltant groups - Boko
Haram and Ansaru - by President Goodluck
Jonathan.
While the North through its two
prominent groups, the Arewa
Consultative Forum and the Northern Elders
Forum, faulted the ban, the National
Assembly insisted that it was a welcome
development.
To the ACF and the NEF, the Jonathan
administration has through the ban thrown
a spanner in the works in its efforts to end
bloodletting in the North through amnesty
for Boko Haram and Ansaru members.
They said they were waiting to see how the
Federal Government would address the
crisis in the North.
In an interview with one of our
correspondents in Kaduna, the ACF's
National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony
Sani, argued that with the ban, negotiations
with Boko Haram would be difficult.
He asked, "Now that they (government)
have proscribed the sect, can they now
negotiate with a non-existing group?
"Before, the government told us that it was
using a stick and carrot approach; that is,
negotiation and state of emergency; now
that they have proscribed it (Boko Haram),
how will the negotiation work?
"It is the government that told us that a
stick and carrot approach will work
together. Now that they have gone to
proscribe Boko Haram, let us see how they
will apply the stick and carrot. We pray that
they succeed."
Sani wondered if the government would
negotiate with members of the sect
individually instead of meeting the group.
He added, "The government said they
needed the emergency in order to reclaim
the seized town taken over by Boko Haram.
This made Nigerians, including us (ACF) to
give them the go-ahead. We supported the
state of emergency to reclaim seized part of
the country.
"But now that they have proscribed the
sect, we don't know how they will apply the
carrot. Now, how can you negotiate with an
illegal entity? The group has just been
proscribed. They have announced it. They
are applying the stick now but we don't
know how they will apply the carrot."
His counterpart in the NEF, Prof. Ango
Abdullahi, said the proscription contradicted
government's efforts to negotiate with the
sect.
Abdullahi argued that the proscription of
anything should come after the legal
existence of such a thing.
He added, "As far as I can understand, if
there is an organisation registered with the
Corporate Affairs Commission and is
operating according to the law before it
was registered; and then along the line, the
organisation begins to infringe on the laws
that created it or even against its laws as
registered with the Corporate Affairs
Commission, you can then go ahead and
cancel its registration.
"If its activities are violating the law of the
country, then issues like banning and
proscription come into play.
"But in this case, people say they don't
know what this Boko Haram is, they don't
know the members and they are trying to
get the members to come out for dialogue .
"If you are looking for dialogue, you have
to expect that there will be people who will
come out under certain respectable
conditions.
"Two things have happened
simultaneously- the declaration of a state of
emergency which connotes the declaration
of martial law. You cannot expect
somebody to come and meet soldiers under
emergency conditions and now you have
the proscription."
Apart from the ACF and NEF, the Northern
Youth Consultative Forum, a former Lagos
State Police Commissioner, Abubakar Tsav,
and the Campaign for Democracy flayed the
ban.
The N Y C F National President, Alhaji Aminu
Mohammed, Tsav and CD President Dr. Joe
Okei-Odumakin, spoke separately with our
correspondents on Wednesday.
Mohammed, who expressed concern about
the planned amnesty for Boko Haram
members, said it was unfortunate that all
along, the Jonathan administration had
been playing politics with the sect.
He said, "We are all intelligent. You cannot
create many things at the same time: Boko
Haram, amnesty committee, fighting
insurgents and proscribing the group.
"How do we trust the government? Is it not
the government that is messing things up?
Let them tell us who Boko Haram is? Where
are they?"
On his part, Tsav asked, "Is this ban an Act
of National Assembly or a decree by the
President and Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan?
"Why did the President not include MEND
(Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta), NDVF (Niger Delta Volunteer
Force), OPC (Odua People's Congress),
Ombatse, etc in the ban since these
organisations also engage in acts of
terrorism?
"Was Boko Haram a legal organisation
before the ban? He(President) just sleeps,
dreams and acts on his dreams without
thinking. Laws are made for all but GEJ's law
is discriminatory and with ethnic bias.
"This is civilian dictatorship and not
democracy. What is sauce for the goose is
sauce for the gander."
Also, Okei-Odumakin said the ban was
meaningless.
She asked, "What is the use of government
outlawing a group that had already
declared that it was the Federal Government
that should beg it for amnesty?
"It is meaningless and preposterous. The
Boko Haram would laugh it off as a joke.
What the government needs to do is to
enforce law and order."
Is spite of the knocks from the ACF, NEF, N Y
C F, CD and Tsav, Jonathan got a strong
backing from the National Assembly which
said it would stand behind him in any
action that would end insurgency in the
country.
Senate Spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe,
while briefing journalists on Wednesday,
said, "The Senate welcomes the proscription
of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in
the country. Although it is coming late, it is
good and we will continue to support the
President's efforts to bring peace to the
country."
He clarified that the proclamation would not
affect the amnesty plans, arguing that
amnesty was for those who renounced
their participation in terrorist activities.
Abaribe said, "Those who are still continuing
with terrorism are not covered by the
amnesty."
Chairman, House Committee on Media and
Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said,
"The prescription order is a step in the right
direction. As a House, we will support every
proactive measure taken by the Federal
Government to stem the tide of insecurity in
the country.
"Whenever the government makes a
pronouncement that is good, we will
support it as a House."