The Northern Elders' Forum has blamed the emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states for the impasse being faced by the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in Northern Nigeria, which is meant to implement amnesty for Boko Haram members.
The chairman of the committee and Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, had said on Thursday, in Kaduna, that the committee had no clues about how to meet with the leadership of the Boko Haram insurgents.
Turaki pleaded for help from members of the public or anyone with links to the sect to initiate the dialogue process.
In response, the spokesman for NEF, Dr. Paul Unongo, said the state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan had made it impossible for the amnesty to succeed.
He said, "The people who have been lobbying the President for a robust 'kill-and-go' approach to a very difficult situation, seem to have the President's ear and it's incredible that Jonathan agreed to negotiate with Boko Haram members and then abandoned it and escalated the situation by declaring state of emergency.
"By declaring state of emergency, he presented a difficult situation to Boko Haram members and even those of us who were willing to encourage the people (insurgents) to come out and talk. So, some of us have been disabled and compromised. But we support our President, since he thinks the solution is in the use of force and killing everybody. I don't think the Army and people, who are telling Mr. President to kill and keep on killing, will be able to resolve this crisis."
Unongo added that the northern elders felt sidelined and were hoping that the President would get advisers, who would advise him properly.
"He is applying a lot of force and there is a lot of bitterness rising among the people of those areas. He needs to get people that will sincerely advise him. For now, he has introduced a policy and we want to see how that policy can produce a satisfactory solution and produce peace in this part of Nigeria," he said.
Unongo noted that the declaration of emergency rule went against the procedure of establishing an amnesty programme, the way it was done during the Niger Delta militancy.
He said, "How can Boko Haram members come out now? Is that what was done in the case of the Niger Delta insurgents? Jonathan was involved in the process of negotiation with the Niger Delta insurgents at the risk of his life. I wish he hadn't declared the state of emergency. He is the President. If he feels Boko Haram have been too stubborn and he wants to kill them all. I wish him luck."
The Punch