Christian Leaders Cautions Against Granting Boko Haram Amnesty

ICC Note:
After President Goodluck Jonathan announced his intention to set up a committee to consider granting Boko Haram amnesty, many Christian leaders and organizations called upon the president to reconsider his decision. Many Christians organizations are attempting to highlight the suffering of Boko Haram’s Christian victims who have yet to receive any form of aid from Nigeria’s government. Many victims are left confused and frustrated as the government ignores their plight and begins to draft an offer of amnesty to their attackers.                    
4/25/2013 Nigeria (AllAfrica) – The Nigerian cleric urged the government to compensate victims of insurgents’ attacks.
The National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Felix Omobude, has advised President Goodluck Jonathan to apply caution in granting amnesty to the Boko Haram sect.
Mr. Omobude’s advice is contained in a press statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Benin.
He said “in as much as the PFN recognises Federal Government’s right in granting amnesty to any group or individuals, it should not send out a wrong signal of encouraging criminality.”
He, however, cautioned against creating the impression in the international community that Nigeria is a lawless country.
Mr. Omobude said that rather than emphasise on granting amnesty to the Boko Haram members’ ” government should be more concerned with ways of compensating victims of the Boko Haram insurgency.”
He said that while no amount of money could bring back the dead, all victims of Boko Haram should be adequately compensated and comforted in every way possible.
“The victims and their families deserve adequate compensation to mitigate their grief and to demonstrate that government also cares about them,” he said.
Mr. Omobude also appealed to members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to stop further hostilities in the Niger Delta and give peace a chance.
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