IN a stinging rebuke of a growing number of northern politicians and some of their southern sympathizers who are calling for amnesty for Boko Haram, the group’s leader has spurned the idea of any potential amnesty offered by the Jonathan Administration.
Speaking in an audio recording released to the media on Thursday, Abubakar Shekau, the purported head of the group, says the militants have not done anything wrong that requires amnesty. According to him, it is Boko Haram that should grant the Nigerian government a pardon.
He goes on to say his group’s aim is to avenge the killings of Muslims and what he calls “the destruction of their religion.”
In recent weeks, religious, political and traditional leaders in northern Nigeria, including no less a person than Sultan Abubakar Saad of Sokoto, have called for giving some kind of amnesty to Boko Haram, and President Goodluck Jonathan has formed a committee to discuss a possible deal.
Although he has recanted, saying he never meant amnesty should be given the criminals willy-nilly, Action Congress of Nigeria leader Bola Tinubu also was reported to have suggested that amnesty should be given the criminals.
Authorities blame Boko Haram for dozens of deadly bombings and shootings in northern Nigeria since 2009. Human Rights Watch says the Boko Haram-related violence has killed 3,000 people, a toll that includes killings by security forces.
Meanwhile Thursday, police say suspected Islamic extremists attacked a police station in the country’s northeast, killing four officers during a gunfight.
The overnight attack occurred in the village of Babban Gida in Yobe state. Police officials say five of the gunmen were also shot dead.