Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno, Sunday restated his early commitment to call that the deadly Boko Haram sect should be granted amnesty.
Shettima said recent attempt by 16 members of the terror group to renounce ”the murderous ideology is one key proof that an amnesty programme targeted at creating an exit window for forcefully conscripted members is capable of reducing the number of Boko Haram fighters.”
In an interactive session with selected journalists in Abuja, Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy, Isa Gusau, said Shettima’s call was scientific and has been vindicated by a very desperate effort of Boko Haram leaders to stop their fighters from leaving their fold when a group of 16 members renounced the sect’s ideology in Borno State following which they were slaughtered by the sect’s leaders.
According to him, ”Governor Shettima was misunderstood by many Nigerians when in his May 29 inaugural remarks, revisited his stance on the need to apply a political solution to fighting the Boko Haram by way of granting a window to admit those willing to surrender their arms and renounce the Boko Haram ideology.
”Shettima has held this position from his campaign days ahead of the 2011 elections for his first term. He had always advocated a combination of three approaches: military, which is what we have in place; an economic approach to provide jobs for people and discourage citizens that Boko Haram terrorists are recruiting.”
Gusau said numerous arrests that were made by the military have shown that the economy plays a vital role in breeding insurgency.
According to him, the third Shettima’s approach to resolving the Boko Haram insurgency and perhaps the most contentious was the political approach, which in simple terms, means pardon for terrorists who are willing to drop their arms and embrace peace.
He said that: ”It is important to note that the governor has always advocated that the three approaches should be applied together, not exclusively. However, the amnesty issue has been the controversial one. The governor is not really talking about dialogue as a start, what he is advocating is to create an opening for those ready to abandon the sect, to be able to do so freely, so that the sect can be broken.
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