If we pacify those with the guns today, the same seeds that brought them to fruition will come to roost again. Whatever we do, time is not on our side. These deaths must stop! RIP to the innocent souls lost at Baga.
The Nigerian government was the last institution to take a position on the Baga massacre. Baga was a debacle and a disgrace to any society worthy of its essence and should never have happened. What happened at Baga is a crime against humanity. Some citizens have justified the Baga killings saying the people were hoarding terrorists so should go down with them. These are of course folks who have no idea what it is to live in these terrorized towns. For the residents of these towns, they are more or less between the devil and the red sea. If you are smart enough to go to the police to report terror suspects, you are likely to have your family wiped off the very next day.
The intelligence set up of the Nigerian security forces is at best dumb. Why do you think jail breaks even at the most seemingly impregnable prisons happen at regular intervals? The answer is simple enough; the security system has been infested with the insurgents. Chances are that when making a report about terror suspects in your town, you are likely to be making same to one of their informants. Another factor that’d make intelligence gathering extremely difficult is that the people now find it difficult to know who their own terrorists are; they are terrorized by the Joint Task Force (JTF) as much as they are by Boko Haram. This leaves them with a limited option; leave or die? But leave to where? So they mostly get killed by terrorists from different divides or await death. This is not enough to depict the fear and terror in Borno and other states in the northeast under the shackles of terrorism but it offers a perspective.
It hurts one deeply to blame the innocent residents of these towns for the evil that has befallen them. I have met and had discussions with young people who witnessed the terror in the north first hand. We have no idea what it is to be troubled by JTF by day and Boko Haram by night. This is not to knock JTF, this is just to say that whatever the good intentions about their presence out there, they have gone about their job in a way that has created a chasm between them and the very people that should trust them. You can’t kill me to save me. The collateral damage in the fight against terrorism has become the primary damage. The JTF strategy has since failed and the Nigerian government has to accept that. The President was advised by the elders of Borno about other options to deal with the terrorism question but the president in all his wisdom turned a deaf ear.
Most northern leaders believe amnesty is the last resort but this is a measure that is most likely to continue our national domino of violence. It is understandable to want any solution that’d put an end to these killings – Thisday newspaper puts Baga’s deaths at 191 – but we must be careful to find solutions that last. The Niger Delta amnesty programme looked like an ingenious solution but we now know better. That should never have been. We granted amnesty to terrorists and still left the majority of the people wallowing in poverty. The faces of criminals did change but the crimes remain the same. Any amnesty programme that does not include bettering the lives of people in the northeast will not just fail but will come to haunt us all. Poverty and unemployment in the northeast remain the highest in the land. We must be thinking about the whole society not just those who have the guns. If we pacify those with the guns today, the same seeds that brought them to fruition will come to roost again. Whatever we do, time is not on our side. These deaths must stop! RIP to the innocent souls lost at Baga.
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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
What I always have with articles as this one that suggest that the FGN is clueless in dealing with this issue is that they never end up suggesting better alternative solutions to the issue; how would Japhet deal with this matter if he was the President?
Excerpt from my blog; Does Boko Haram Deserve Amnesty?
The Boko Haram war might be ideological on the face of it but a little scratch beneath the surface will reveal a far bigger picture of poverty and purposelessness. These are the people that serve as ready foot soldiers for the sect. They are the canon fodder recruited on promises of pecuniary benefits and indoctrinated with a sense of deadly purpose. An offer of amnesty might be able to reach out and sever the supply line of would-be suicide bombers and lieutenants.
As for rewarding crime, no price is too great to pay for peace. As such, all options whether good or bad must be fully considered in the interest of bringing lasting peace to the North, restoring its damaged economy, eliminating the fear of bombs, carnage and ending the brutal occupation by soldiers. It is also heartwarming to see that part of the Terms of Reference for the Amnesty committee is the ‘development of a comprehensive victims’ support programme.’ This should allay the fears of those who claim that the victims have been neglected while the terrorists are being rewarded. Granting amnesty will also ensure there are no more victims.
The notion that amnesty for Boko Haram could encourage the springing up of other terror groups is very genuine. But should the fear of an eventuality hinder the taking of steps to stop an eminent danger? The problem of Boko Haram is one that does not threaten the North alone but the entire country. Nigeria is more interconnected than most regionalists think and a problem in one part affects every other part. Simply look at the manufacturing conglomerates in Lagos whose truck drivers are afraid to take goods to the north and all the tomatos that are now being imported from Ghana because it is not safe to go to the North. The economic effect on the nation cannot be easily quantified. Besides, the recent discovery of a terror cell in Ijora should be enough reason to convince skeptics that once Boko Haram enters Lagos, the whole Country is doomed! So the point is, let the immediate problem be tackled and then ways of preventing a copy cat can be put in place. Again, it is good to see that the Committee was also saddled with the responsibility of developing ‘mechanisms to address the underlying causes of insurgencies that would help to prevent future occurrences.’
http://www.angaichronos.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/does-boko-haram-deserve-amnesty.html?m=1
What an intersting piece. It is hard to say where the truth actually lies. But one thing is for sure, a lot of innocent people were killed probably in error or in conviction that they were actually aiding and abetting the terrorists. I think you goofed when you talked about the amnesty granted to the Niger Delta Militants and reffering to them as terrorists. This to me is a very wicked or calculated attempt to give support to the proposed amnesty to boko haram and their cohorts. The boko haram is a terrorist group whose activies can never be compared to that of the militants in the Niger Delta. The facts are obvious for us to see. I hope you will kindly retract your statement and setting the record straight.
I think Nigeria is in pieces because of people like Henry Okpafi who see national issues from a shallow biased point of view. Killing is killing wether the killer calls himself boko haram or militant or even jtf so long as it is unlawful. It doesnt make any difference to the victim. Do you foolishly think that people in the north brought this calamity to themselves? or that they have an option, when they are the primary victims themself? If you are not well informed about your country, why dont you shut up………..sir.