Worried by the growing insecurity in the North-east geo-political zone of the country as a result of the activities of members of the Islamic fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, the Federal Government Thursday perfected a two-prong approach to restore peace in the area.
The government’s template for peace contains what it calls “stick and carrot” approach as enunciated by President Goodluck Jonathan in New York on Wednesday. This involves an amnesty package for the group as well as strengthening security in the area to end the on-going blood-letting in the zone.
As a first step towards that, a security meeting, presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo to perfect the template for the amnesty was held Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar; and Borno State Commissioner of Police, M. D Abubakar; while the Chief of Naval Staff and Inspector General of Police were represented.
Although details of the package are still subject to review, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, who was at Thursday’s meeting, said: "For those that are ready to lay down their arms, the president was very emphatic yesterday (Wednesday) in New York when he said we were going to apply the carrot and stick approach. For those that are willing to lay down their arms, I believe the Federal Government and the state government will be very magnanimous. This is an agenda the state government has been championing since we came to power."
To set the ball rolling, THISDAY gathered that the government will reinvigorate its intelligence gathering method to be able to nip in the bud further incidence of bombings in the area.
“This is in tandem of the commitment of Jonathan on the matter to the international community in New York. He had promised to check the activities of the group, so the security chiefs had to work ahead of time so that they would have a template on how to address the matter before the return of the president to the country,” a source told THISDAY.
The service chiefs, it was also gathered, decided to concentrate more on intelligence gathering before offering a chance to the group to surrender their arms and have pardon in the mode of the amnesty programme declared in the Niger Delta.
Shettima further confirmed that the parley centred on the Boko Haram threats and attacks and stated the readiness of the Federal Government to contain the group.
"Actually, we came to have discussions with the vice-president and other security chiefs on security challenges we are facing in Borno State. We had fruitful discussions and we cross-coordinated our ideas on how to address those pending issues and the vice-president has pledged full Federal Government support towards nipping in the bud, once and for all, the Boko Haram insurrection in the North-east," he said.
He could however not say if more troops would be deployed but added that Boko Haram would soon be a thing of the past.
The governor insisted that the Boko Haram issue was a political problem but pointed out that it was still premature to be definite on certain decisions about the menace though he expects to open a line of dialogue with the group to enable them to establish their grievances before the government will know how to approach it.
"Let’s open the line of dialogue, know their grievances and see how we can address them but the line of dialogue is very much open. Boko Haram, I wish to reiterate, is a political problem and a political problem always needs a political solution.
“Meanwhile, we cannot talk to them from a position of weakness, we have to talk to them from a position of strength and the Federal Government has pledged all the support needed for us to restore peace and tranquillity to Borno State and for the state to restore its lost glory as the home of peace," he explained.
Shettima however did not respond to the allegation that he was politicising the Boko Haram issue as he would not want to legitimise the contemptuous position of his opponents, who he alleged easily launch into diatribe against him.
In a related development, abductors of the five corps members in Ikwerre Local Government area of Rivers State have demanded a ransom of N100 million.
It was learnt Thursday that the corps members, four females and one male, were kidnapped during their mandatory Community Development Services (CDS) in Omademe on Tuesday afternoon.
An official of NYSC in the council, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that the kidnappers had contacted the families of their victims and made the outrageous demand. The official also said
the abductors contacted the inspector of the NYSC in the area, making similar demands as a condition for the release of the corps members.
“The kidnappers have called and they are asking for N100 million as ransom. They are saying that N20 million must be paid for each of the corps members.
“They were even telling us to pay the money without delay, that delay is dangerous. I do not understand the meaning of that language, but I pray that nothing should happen to the ‘corpers’,” the sourced said.
The state NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Esther Chimele-Wogbo, however, denied any knowledge of such demand, saying she was yet to receive such information from any of her member of staff.
“I cannot confirm if they are asking for ransom because we are yet to establish contact with them,” the director explained.
She did not rule out the possibility that the kidnappers had contacted the families of their victims.
Spokesman of the state Police Command, Ben Ugwuegbulam, did not pick calls repeatedly put across to his telephone by THISDAY.
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