Does Terrorism Pay Off in Nigeria?

ICC Note:
After a month of debate, Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan has decided to consider granting Boko Haram total amnesty. Christians in Nigeria are shocked by this development because the Islamic extremist group is thought to have murdered over 3,000 people. Many of whom were targeted because of their Christian identity. Does this mean terrorism pays in Nigeria?       
4/7/2013 Nigeria (Nigerian Tribune) – Although the Federal Government is said to be considering granting amnesty to Boko Haram members, OLAYINKA OLUKOYA, SAM NWAOKO, YINKA OLADOYINBO, OLUWOLE IGE, MOSES ALAO, ROTIMI IGE and KAYODE MAKINDE, in this report, examine the alleged recent infiltration of Lagos by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect, the implication for the South-West and preparedness of the region to confront the onslaught of the sect.
NOT in a long time since the marauding members of the Jama’atu Ahlisunnah Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, have been carrying out their death and destruction   campaigns, has the South-West region felt threatened like two weeks ago when people suspected to be members of the sect were arrested in Lagos. When the news of the infiltration of Lagos State by the members of the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram broke, many were jolted out of the belief that the Boko Haram debacle was a Northern problem. People thought the insurgents might have made good their threat to extend their terror campaigns to the Southwestern part of the country.
The shocking news came amid debates on whether or not the sect members should be granted amnesty, as it is being clamoured by a section of the country which believes that the Boko Haram insurgents deserved amnesty like the Niger Delta militants. Though the Federal Government initially maintained that amnesty could not be given to a faceless group, with President Goodluck Jonathan calling on Northern leaders to serve as guarantors to the insurgents, the government, however, on Thursday, set up a committee to consider the option of amnesty for the Boko Haram sect members, a decision that will no doubt contribute to the unfolding developments in the debacle.
Probably encouraged by the public show of solidarity for them by the proponents of amnesty, the sect decided to make in-road into the South from where the dissident voices against amnesty were coming from.
Long before now, the terrorists, who have turned the North to a slaughter’s slab of a sort, had their activities limited to the North-West, North-East and North-Central geopolitical zones, with their latest terrorism attack being the bombing of three luxurious buses in Kano. But they have threatened at various times to spread the terrorism tentacles to other regions of the country. It was, therefore, a rude shock to many when news did the rounds that the sect members were arrested in Lagos.
Following a recent raid on a building suspected to be housing Boko Haram members at the Ijora-Badia area of Lagos, by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) and Operation Mesa (OP Mesa), questions are being asked as to the preparedness of governments and security agencies in the South-West, to curb the infiltration of the sect members.
Though the force authorities claimed that investigations are ongoing, security operatives have been placed on high alert in the affected areas.
Sunday Tribune investigations indicated that some of the states are re-appraising their security networks, with a view to avoiding being caught napping or allowing any security breach to alter the subsisting peace in their domains.
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