Boko Haram Amnesty: FG Is Legalising Terrorism-Christian Youth

The Youth Wing, Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWI-CAN), and Anglican Youth Fellowship, Nigeria have warned that the proposed amnesty to the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram by the Federal Government is nothing but the legalisation of terrorism in the country.
President of YOWIC-AN, Dr. Simon Dolly and the president of AYF, Wuse Archdeaconry Council, Barrister Isaac Harrison, speaking at different fora in Abuja, explained that granting amnesty to Boko Haram “would have been given more muscles to deal with Christian youths”, who in the North had all along been marginalized by the same advocates of the pardon.
Dolly therefore appeal-ed to President Goodluck Jonathan “not to be cowed by politicians and few misfits and naturally rebellious persons in the North, who are attempting to use the Boko haram insurgency as a bait to correct what they have failed to do, while they were in power”.
He noted that those citing injustice, poverty and unemployment to justify the violence by the sect were not sincere, wondering if the poverty and unemployment were peculiar to Muslims in the North alone.
According to him, “are Christian youths in the North and indeed all over Nigeria not affected by growing unemployment, injustice and poverty? Would President Jona-than accede to requests for amnesty from MASSOB, OPC, Middle Belt and other groups with legitimate complaints against the Federal Government, if tomorrow they pick up arms to advance their causes?”
The cleric added that “the Federal Government should be prepared to face perhaps more dead-ly and sophisticated res-ponse, if amnesty is granted “to willful murderers masquerading as political and religious insurgents, who do not respect the basic tenets of humanity and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
YOWICAN was of the view that the govern-
ment should consolidate on the progress made so far by security operatives by arresting political leaders whose utterances and actions have implicated them. He maintained that “it is injustice if Almajari schools are built for the Muslim youths alone and funded by tax payers’ money.”