#SOE: Northern elders accuse Jonathan of declaring war on the region

by Rachel Ogbu

army1

Northern elders who rejected the federal government’s declaration of a state of emergency in three states have described President Goodluck Jonathan’s action as an indirect declaration of war on Northern Nigeria.

According to reports, spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Ango Abdullahi, said that they were disappointed by the sudden change of tactic by Jonathan on how to resolve the crisis in the north. Barely three weeks ago, President Jonathan reportedly agreed to begin peace talks and amnesty.

“It is very sad to see that the President has easily changed direction from dialogue and reconciliation to war in his bid to end the cycle of violence in the north,” he said.

“The volte-face by Jonathan amounts to undermining our agreement with him on peace and reconciliation and we are disturbed that he has opted for force rather than peace to end the violence.

“What the President has done has now justified the fear of those who rejected membership of the Boko Haram amnesty committee on the suspicion that he was not sincere in setting up the panel and that it was programmed to fail so as to justify military action against the north.

“We hereby call on the President to immediately disband the so-called Boko Haram amnesty committee, as there is no need to continue to waste public funds on a matter, whose purpose has been deliberately truncated by the very person who initiated it.

[READ: BREAKING: It has begun – Army offensive against Boko Haram now on, raids Sambisa camp ]

The Vanguard reports;

Jonathan, who met with the NEF leadership in Abuja in April, subsequently inaugurated the Turaki-led committee with a mandate to broker peace with the sect and compensate their victims within a two-month time frame.

However, after inaugurating the panel, the sect leadership rejected the amnesty offer, saying that it was the government that should seek amnesty for having killed its Muslim brothers.

But irked by continuous bloodletting in several parts of the north, President Jonathan on Tuesday called on the armed forces to move into the states of Borno, Yobo and Adamawa, arrest suspected terrorists and restore peace in those places.

The NEF has lately been mounting opposition against Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015, insisting that it is their turn to occupy the top post.

Vows to truncate Jonathan’s 2015 presidency

The group has vowed to wrestle power from Jonathan in 2015 by presenting a candidate that would defeat the President at the polls.

At a meeting with the Borno State Governor on Tuesday, the NEF stated that they had what it takes to produce the next President of Nigeria and they would seek to do just that.

 

Comments (2)

  1. you can neva satisfy the world. If u act na problem, if u didnt its a problem. All this nothern elder shoul take a seat joor

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