Oritsejafor to Jonathan: amnesty for Boko Haram won’t work

PRESIDENT of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor had a piece of advice for President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday.

He urged the President not to dissipate his energies on amnesty for Boko Haram. The efforts, he said, is an exercise in futility.

The cleric, who accused the President of pampering members of the Boko Haram sect by trying to grant them amnesty said: “the amnesty programme will not work.”

Oritsejafor spoke in Abuja after receiving an award – “A True Servant of God” from the Christian Elders’ Forum of Northern States (NOSCEF).

He also pushed for the establishment of cattle ranches for itinerant Fulani helmsmen.

Oritsejafor, who wept for victims of Boko Haram insurgency, said the “arrogant and deriding manner with which Boko Haram members dismissed the amnesty deal coupled with the earlier quoted statement by Abu Qaqa have both reinforced our stance that the sect’s only interest is to eliminate Christians and enthrone and Islamic state in Nigeria.

“This is why we are again calling on President Goodluck Jonathan not to waste the tax payers’ money on a futile exercise.

“He should review the amnesty deal for Boko Haram in view of the bravado by the sect leader, Mallam Ibrahim Shekau. Boko Haram is not only a local terrorist organisation; it has a ring of international connection to it. Do not waste time pampering the sect members because amnesty deal will not work.

“Permit me to call on President Jonathan to beware of some Muslim leaders in the North and their very few Christian allies, who always go to him in droves to seek regional concessions with religious biases; people who do not see anything wrong in Boko Haram killing Christians but want amnesty for the murderous and bloodthirsty sect members.

“Amnesty plan is aimed to divert the attention of reasonable Nigerians and the world from the cruelty of Boko Haram to Christians.”

According to the CAN President, the President should beware of those who kept mute when Odi and Odioma in Bayelsa State and Zaki Biam in Benue State were destroyed by soldiers but now want Heavens to fall when Baga. Village came under military attack.

“He should beware of those who kept mute when Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and other Muslim leaders in the North said the country will be made ungovernable if President Jonathan becomes the president in 2011, but wants him to arrest Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo for repeating what they said earlier. Such hypocrisy should never be tolerated in a secular country like Nigeria.”

He disagreed that poverty was responsible for the Boko Haram insurgency, saying; “if we agree that poverty, injustice and inequality are the causes of the insurgency, a largely Islamic group, the question would be: are Muslims the poorest people, the most deprived? What about Christians? Can the claim of poverty be justified if the weapons and arms being used by the Boko Haram sect are calculated in terms of naira and kobo?

He however reiterated that CAN believe in peace and would continue to work for peace because without peace there can be no good governance that would yield the dividends of democracy.

Oritsejafor dedicated the award to “the memory of victims of Boko Haram, those injured and are living, their widows, widowers, orphans and those whose businesses have been terminated because of the activities of the sect and indeed, to all persecuted Christians in Nigeria.”