The attention of Biafra Liberation Council(BLC), have been drawn to moves by the
federal government of Nigeria
headed by Goodluck Jonathan to perfect plans to grant general amnesty to the
terror group known as Boko Haram, thereby shielding its members from being
prosecuted in spite of the numerous crimes they have committed against humanity.
We are not surprised that the Nigerian state is considering
the amnesty package, which may include handsome rewards for the terror group
rather than checkmating their nefarious activities given the fact that the
primary target of the terrorists in their jihad operations are the Igbos, the
people of Biafra.
We wish to remind the federal government of Nigeria
that it is its duty to protect law abiding people within its territory, whether
they are foreigners or citizens. It is also the duty of the state to bring
those involved in criminal acts,
including terrorism to book rather than protecting and rewarding them.
It is therefore unimaginable that a group which has killed
hundreds of Ndigbo in the north simply because they failed to embrace Islam is
being considered for amnesty. Interestingly, it is on records that Nigeria’s immigration and other security
authorities have said that Boko Haram is peopled by foreigners or foreign
mercenaries from Cameroon, Niger, Chad,
Mali,
etc. . Is Nigeria
granting amnesty to foreign terrorists? Is Nigeria
paying compensation to these foreign merchants of violence for attacking the
people within the territory
of Nigeria?
By trying to consciously shield them from facing prosecution
through the so-called amnesty, it has become convincingly clear that it is the
Nigerian state, in conjunction with the northern political and Islamic leaders
that unleashed the Boko Haram terrorists on innocent Igbo people in the
northern part of Nigeria.
We recall that the governments of the northern states and the federal
government had accused each other of creating Boko Haram. Perhaps, they want to
confirm this by paying compensation to their boys;
We urge the government of Nigeria to drop any plan aimed at
granting any form of amnesty to the terrorists as such plan amounts to treating
certified criminals like sacred cows and rewarding them positively for
terrorism. This is absurd. Any amnesty to the terror group will be counter
productive as it will encourage other groups to carry their own arms and begin
to unleash mayhem on innocent people. Above all, it only shows that the lives
of Ndigbo as well as the Nigerian security operatives wasted by these
terrorists mean nothing to Goodluck and the ruling clique.
May we warn that if the government goes
ahead and grants
amnesty to these killers, we will no longer continue to restrain
militant Igbo
groups from embarking on reprisal attacks against northern elements
within the territory of Biafra or anywhere else for that matter.
Most importantly, we will hold Goodluck Jonathan and his cohorts
accountable
for the genocide being committed against Ndigbo in the name of Islamic jihad in
the north at the right time.
Rather than the so called amnesty, If Nigeria truly want
peace, they should form a committee that will handle the peaceful dissolution
of Nigeria to enable Boko Haram as well as other sections like Biafran groups
to have the country of their dreams.
They have made it abundantly clear that their demand has
been that they should be allowed to have a sharia country, without which there
will never be peace. Rather than amnesty, a country should be carved out for
them where anybody who finds himself or herself there will know that they are
under the rules of sharia;
There are Islamic countries such as Sudan,
Palestine; Libya, etc. And there are provisions for self-determination in human
rights instruments.
There is no doubt that no amount of amnesty will stop the
jihadists from going on rampage and from killing Ndigbo with security
operatives as collateral damage in the name of sharia.
The only thing the so-called amnesty may achieve is to
create wealth for the sponsors, the politicians and of course, enable them to get
more arms;
May we seize this opportunity to call on all remaining Igbos
in the northern Nigeria
to leave the north as it is very obvious that the Nigerian state is not
interested in protecting them against the killers. A word is enough for the
wise.
Long live Biafra
Signed:
Amaechi Nwaofia
Spokesperson,
Biafra Liberation Struggle.
