A bill sponsored by the immediate past Governor of Yobe state and now Senator representing Yobe East District 1, Ibrahim Gaidam, is presently before the Senate for the establishment of an agency for the education, rehabilitation and reintegration of repentant Boko Haram insurgents. This has attracted divergent views from a cross section of Nigerians.
Surprisingly, the Nigerian Army has brought back 25 Boko Haram members and their families from Niger Republic after they had reportedly turned a new leaf. The Nigerian Army presented them to the Borno state Government for rehabilitation. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head ands Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that those sponsoring the bill must first of all provide the bio-data of the Boko-Haram members dead or alive and their sponsors. Excerpts :
What is your reaction to the bill presently before the Senate seeking to establish an agency for the education, rehabilitation and reintegration of repentant Boko Haram insurgents ?
Firstly there is a need to ask fundamental questions. Is the Boko Haram issue the same as the Niger Deltas militants issue ?
Boko Haram insurgents have been labelled terrorists and we have been made to believe that most of them are like ghosts that could not be traced while again most of them happen to be from other nations.
The Niger Delta militants were fighting on the resource control cause which led to the death of Ken Saro Wiwa. Wiwa died by hanging on November 10, 1995 during the reign of the late despot, Gen. Sani Abacha.
Saro Wiwa was a graduate of the University of Ibadan and an environmentalist, whose concern for the Niger Delta situation revolved on the very high level of land devastation by oil spillages, water pollution killing aquatic life, while the general environmental effects resulted in making the whole land barren, thereby making farming to be very difficult.
Generally, the lives of the people were affected negatively
Challenging the government to as a matter of urgency develop the region, led to a tactical warfare, to compel government to do the needful. This brought about the idea of vocational training and rehabilitation for some of the restive youths. The Boko Haram insurgents on the other hand were even condemned by the Muslims who they claimed to represent. Initially, they were fighting for the establishment of a functional Sharia System in some of the Northern states, unfortunately for them, they were played down by the politicians who have been using them as marabouts, this led to the death of their founder, Mohammed Yusuf.
Yusuf’s death infuriated the group, which was later hijacked by some other groups, who traditionally were always employed to cause unrest in other nations, such as Mali. After the exercise they were paid off without disarming them. Hence the Boko Haram issue became complex and controversial.
Former President, Goodluck Jonathan cried out helplessly that there were Boko Haram insurgents in his government, which might mean influential people who sponsor such dastardly acts.
Characteristically, we have it on record that in any government there is always the fifth columnists , imaginary as they may be, they collaborate with the opposition to make the environment ungovernable for government.
This is the situation in Nigeria under the attacks of Boko Haram insurgents, comprising mostly impoverished youths who have been neglected over the years to live by the Almajiri system
In the first instance, they were only against the Christians to cause religious confusion and testimonies revealed that each of these poverty stricken boys and girls were only been used for suicide bomb attacks by giving them paltry sums to bomb churches and kill adherents on a massive scale.
As a result of the low impact of this method on the state, coupled with the religious understanding between Christians and Muslims, the terrorists changed their strategy into killing Muslims en mass, most especially during congregational prayers in the morning or during Jumat service.
The chains of reports which indicated that the military were not doing well in the war against the terrorists raised suspicion among Nigerians, they now began to doubt the sincerity of government and the Service Chiefs.
The issue of the $1 Billion loan taken by the present government and the purchase of arms is still fresh in the memory of Nigerians. This and several other issues continue to occur in the face of the rising unemployment among the youth, who happen to be the engine room of the nation.
All indicators of development are at the lowest presently, thereby making Nigerians to suffer under the two extreme regimes of kleptocracy and poverty.
The level of devastation of the nation under Boko Haram on what should have been left to the generality of the religious people to deliberate on and proffer solutions are in the public domain.
Before the establishment of an agency to cater for the repentant insurgents, let those sponsoring the bill first of all provide the bio-data of the Boko-Haram members dead or alive to ensure that they are Nigerians, while they are on this, let us know their sponsors, so that in the nearest future, they shall not strike again. Let us equally publish the level of damages, casualties and most importantly the bio-data of victims for government to realize what it takes to give amnesty, reform and rehabilitate the so called repentant insurgents.
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