“In the name of God” tell Jonathan to reconsider amnesty for Boko Haram – Lawmakers Plead with Tukur

Some members of the National Assembly, especially the Senate, have advised the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Bamanga Tukur, to impress it on President Goodluck Jonathan to reconsider his decision not to grant amnesty to members of the Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram.

The Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, speaking on behalf of members of the National Assembly from his zone, said the North-East geopolitical zone had been so marginalised in the scheme of things in the country to the extent that the economy of the zone had been grounded by the insurgence in the zone.

Ningi made this known on Monday in Bauchi, during the official visit of Dr Tukur to the North-East, as part of reconciliation efforts of the national executive of the party. While saying that the primary responsibility of any government is to provide adequate security for the people, Ningi, who is representing Bauchi Central in the Senate, noted that many people were being killed on daily basis, declaring that force was never the solution to the insurgence: “I have the mandate of the members of the National Assembly and the Senate to call on you as the Chairman of the ruling party in Nigeria to also call on the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigeria Armed Forces to in the name of God to reconsider the announcement made in Yobe and Borno as regard the issue of amnesty to the insurgents,” Senator Ningi stated.

“Many people are being killed day-in-day out. Our economies have been grounded but they have been unable over the last two years come to term with this basic reality. Force is not the solution to this insurgency and, therefore, for us to continue to live as people within the greater part of Nigeria, we need our lives and property to be protected and to be secured.” He said that if President Jonathan could not grant amnesty to the insurgents, he should instead protect the lives and property of the people of the zone.