• 'Amnesty must not be on Boko Haram's terms'
• Coomassie decries insecurity
PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, as part of the search for an end to the current insecurity in the country, met again Monday with top brass of security agencies in the country.
Meanwhile, the Primate, Church of Nigeria, (Anglican Communion), Most Rev Nicholas Okoh, has said as desirable as it is for us to have peace in the country, it must not be negotiated according to terms prescribed by members of the Boko Haram sect.
According to him, church would prefer a situation whereby amnesty should be the climax of an open discussion with the sect, instead of secret dialogue.
The Anglican leader spoke as former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, said the current security challenges facing Nigeria could threaten the corporate existence of the country.
President Jonathan, the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and the security chiefs Monday morning met for about an hour at the State House, Abuja. The Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Mr. Ita Ekpeyong and the Inspector General of Police, Muhammad Abuabakar were also at the meeting.
The meeting, it was learnt, may not be unconnected with the security situation in the country, particularly the slaying of numerous policemen by Ombatse cultists in Alakio town of Nassarawa State last Monday and Tuesday. Also yesterday, the National Human Rights Commission commenced investigation into the killing of police officers.
A statement by the Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Muhammad Ladan, noted that "reports from various sources have indicated that scores of security personnel were allegedly murdered by members of the Ombatse militia group."
The statement said while receiving a preliminary investigation report on the incident in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prof. Bem Angwe said, "the gruesome murder of security personnel who were carrying out their lawful duties is a violation of their right to life, an affront on the rule of law and a drawback to the efforts being made to contain the cycle of violence in the various parts of the country."
Okoh who gave his advice yesterday in Abuja while briefing journalists on the 3rd Session of the 8th Synod of the Diocese of Abuja billed for May 16-19, 2013, noted that granting amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect based on their own terms would amount to saving 10 people and destroying the rest of 160 million Nigerians.
"We need to know where they get the arms, who are the people providing the money, why is the Church the major target? We need a peace process like the one done in South Africa so that if the Nigerian state has offended the group, the Nigeria government would apologise and if the group has offended Nigerians, the group will apologise," Okoh said.
The cleric, who faulted the composition of the amnesty committee, observed that Boko Haram is not an Islamic or northern affair but an issue that bothers on national security. He questioned why the committee's membership is not widespread.
"If Boko Haram is about national security issue, the committee should be widespread, every section of the country that has been affected by the activities of the sect needs to make an input," the cleric insisted.
He urged the Federal Government to look at the possibility of Nigerians coming together to talk and agree on the terms of their living together, especially as the country prepares for the 100 years of amalgamation of northern and southern Nigeria. He warned that the threats from different groups in the country constitute a threat to national security, imploring Nigerians to stop playing politics with national security. "If there is no Nigeria, there will be no political party.'
Coomassie spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital at the opening session of the College of Humanities Conference, at Al-Hikmah University. The conference was entitled "National Security and Development in contemporary Nigeria."
The ex-police boss said, "this nexus between security and development has made the goal of entrenching and maintaining law and order a major challenge of most governments across the globe.
"Today, bomb explosion and sporadic gunshots have continued to endanger the polity and threaten the corporate existence of Nigeria; communal clashes, tribal hostilities, kidnapping, religious bigotry and post-election violence stagnate and retard socio-economic activities and developmental processes."
The Guardian