Nigeria - Ex Niger Delta Militants Oppose Plan To Grant Boko Haram Amnesty

Former President of the Ijaw Youth Council, Chris Ekiyo has opposed the calls for amnesty for members of the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram.

The Niger Delta leader insists that if pardon was the requirement to end criminality then it should be extended to armed robbers and hoodlums too.

Speaking as a guest on a local Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, Mr Ekiyo said it was wrong to compare the amnesty granted the former Niger Delta militants and that sought for members of the Boko Haram sect because unlike the former, the demands of the latter are unreasonable and ambiguous.

He said, “Everybody who wants this amnesty thing are saying that because the people of the Niger Delta enjoy this amnesty, it should be given to Boko Haram. But I am saying if you do that, you have sent the wrong signal out.”

Mr Ekiyo said unlike the Boko Haram members who have demonstrated traits of terrorism, the former Niger Delta militants were mere rebels and not terrorists. He insisted that ‘people have the right to rebel’ against perceived injustice but not to fight and kill innocent people.

According to the Ijaw leader, there are three basic conditions that must be considered before amnesty is discussed with leaders of the Boko Haram sect.