We’ve Committed No Wrong To Deserve Amnesty – Boko Haram

The leader of extremist group, Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau has claimed in a statement that his group had “not committed any wrong to deserve amnesty.”



“Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you pardon,” he said, listing what he described as the state’s “atrocities” against Muslims.

The Hausa language audio recording was distributed by email in a manner consistent with previous Boko Haram messages, and the voice was similar to that of previous Shekau statements.

President Goodluck Jonathan last week formed a panel to look at the possibility of offering an amnesty deal to the Islamists, whose insurgency has left more than 3 000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the military Joint Task Force (JTF).

Some northern religious and political leaders have been urging President Jonathan to grant an amnesty to members of Boko Haram as they say the army’s response to the insurgency is not bringing peace.

In 2009, former President Umar Musa Yar Adua granted an amnesty to thousands of militants wreaking havoc in the oil-rich Niger Delta in the south.
The violence fell dramatically but there are worrying warnings of further unrest in the Delta, analysts say.



-- Channels TV