Boko Haram Amnesty: Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmed latest to reject Presidential Committee appointment

President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN), Dr Ibrahim Datti Ahmed, has said he rejected his membership of the Federal Government’s committee on amnesty because of the bitter experience he had with the government, when he voluntarily tried to mediate between the authorities and members of the Boko Haram sect.

The renowned medical doctor will be the second person to pull out of the committee in the last 24 hours. Yesterday, civil rights activist Shehu Sanni and President of Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress (CRC) pulled out of the committee (read HERE)

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service, monitored in Kaduna, on Thursday, he alleged that it was insincerity on the part of the government that led to the breakdown of peace talks with the insurgents about a year and a half ago, when he initiated dialogue with the aggrieved sect members.

Datti, who faulted the composition of the amnesty committee, alleged that the chairman, who is a minister and the secretary, also a government’s official, would not feed the government with the correct information but would always tell the government what it wanted to hear.

According to him, “previously, I made such moves twice and it wasn’t the government that asked me to do that and we had reached a stage where, had the government agreed with what we got, we would have resolved with the sect members called Boko Haram, by now, we would have forgotten everything, Nigeria would have witnessed peace by now.”

Datti said “when we told the government everything we discussed with them, and the agreement we had, which were not difficult to do, that first of all if the dialogue was truly genuine, their wives and children that were unjustly detained should be released, because they’ve not committed any crime. We advised the government on that, we said even if you continue to detain them, there was no gain in doing so. The government said they will release them, but did not.

“That act showed there was deceit on the part of government. We also said if these people were released, a place should be arranged where we would sit and discuss matters. 

Secondly, this committee, the chairman is a government’s minister and the secretary too works for the government.

So whatever we discuss, they are the ones who will write and take them to the government. So I believe if this meeting is done, what they will write will be full of lies.”

Datti lamented that previous attempt to broker peace with the members of the sect was successful but accused tthe government for causing everything to crumble like a pack of cards.

“It was just like we were going to have a peaceful resolution the next day and what the government should have done was not something difficult, just to release their wives and reduce the tension in Yobe and Borno and stop persecuting the people there.

“The government said it was going to do that but it did not. It is the same government, it was the same Jonathan and his representative and we are the same people, nothing has changed,” he said.