SEVERAL prominent leaders across northern Nigeria including the former chief justice of the federation and the secretary to the federal government have urged incoming president Muhammadu Buhari to grant an amnesty to Boko Haram insurgents.  

Elected on a promise to fight insecurity and end the ongoing insurgency across the northeast, General Buhari has promised to deal decisively with Boko Haram. With the president-elect yet to reveal how he intends to address the matter, the former chief justice Mohammed Uwais and ex-secretary to the federal government Ambassador Babagana Kingibe have urged him to pardon the insurgents. 

 Nigeria's former ambassador to the United Nations, Alhaji Ibrahim Gambari also joined the call, asking General Buhari to grant the Boko Haram fighters amnesty. They also asked General Buhari to give priority attention to the special economic programmes for the northeast, just as they warned against the scrapping of the on-going amnesty programme for ex-militants in the Niger Delta. 

Their views were contained in a communiqué issued after a two-day conference in Abuja with the theme Security and Governance Challenges in Africa’s largest Democracy. The communiqué was signed by Professor Gambari the founder of Savannah Centre, Major General Ishola Williams the executive secretary of the Pan-African Strategic and Peace Research Group, Justice Mohammed Uwais, who chaired the event and Ambassador Abdullahi Omaki, the executive director of the Savannah Centre. 

They also called on the federal government to expedite action on the compensation of victims of Boko Haram terrorism and insurgency through the Victims’ Support Fund. Furthermore, their communiqué called for the establishment of a special economic programme for the affected states of the northeast, focusing on rehabilitation, resettlement and reconstruction. 

In addition, they emphasises the need for the governors of the northeast states and indeed of the entire north to come up with a blueprint that addresses the issues of vocational and skills acquisition for the youths. Among those who participated in the conference were the national security adviser Col Sambo Dasuki, the secretary of the Borno State Elders’ Forum Dr Bulama Gubio, Dr Zakariya Ousmane Ramadene of Chad, Professor Abubakar Momoh of the Electoral Institute and Professor Habu Galadima, the director of research at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies. 

However, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Mohammed, dismissed the call saying it would amount to rewarding criminals instead of punishing them for crimes against humanity. General Buhari is yet to announce if he will accept a plea bargain from any insurgents prepared to lay down their arms.