The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has lent its voice to the objection by Nigerian Military Widows Association (NMWA) against the decision of the Buhari government to offer amnesty to deadly Boko Haram members.
The forum had in a press statement released on Friday argued that the release of the terrorists is causing untold devastation in Nigeria and inflicting maximum harm on Armed Forces.
The statement jointly signed by Yinka Odumakin – South West; C.R.U Ihekire – South East; Senator Bassey Henshaw – South South and Dr Isuwa Dogo– Middle Belt; further opined that the government’s action could be interpreted as “complicity with terrorism and unwittingly promoting crime against humanity”.
“What is the basis of deciding that a Boko Haram member is repentant when the group is still spreading terror on daily basis? Is the government the one raising them to know the ones that are still active and the so – called repentant ones?”, SMBLF questioned.
“We see the whole idea as an ethnic agenda to replicate for terrorists the Amnesty programme for Niger Delta militants who were destroying pipelines during their uprising against the neglect of Niger Delta but not spreading terror among innocent civilians or beheading human beings like Boko Haram.
‘The 2000 members of the group reportedly released so far are more than enough to cause the surprise President Buhari expressed lately about the vibrancy of the terror group inspite of official lie that it had been degraded.
“Our hearts go to the large number of widows that we have harvested from insurgency and their children. In order to end this terror and stop turning more of our officers and men’s wives to widows, the government should stop forthwith the recycling of terrorists”, the group added.
Boko Haram and ISWAP have continued to wreak havoc across the Northeast.
The humanitarian crisis in Nigeria remains one of the largest crises across the globe.
UN and NGO partners, in collaboration with local and national authorities in Nigeria, have delivered urgent support and basic services to over 5.6 million people in the worst crisis-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
In 2020, the humanitarian community estimates that 7.7 million people will need emergency assistance.
Over 1.8 million people, across the three states, are still living in camps or are hosted in other communities, that are themselves becoming extremely vulnerable.
Also, 1.2 million people in need remain cut off from humanitarian aid in hard-to-reach areas.