SULTAN UNDER FIRE!!

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, may have made the call in good faith. But he is literally under attack for making it.

Some Christian leaders rose up in arms against the leader of the Muslim community in Nigeria, at the weekend, for his call for amnesty for members of the Islamist group, Boko Haram, terrorising some northern states.

Catholic Church said it was amazing that a man in an exalted office as the Sultan’s could make such a call.

Niger Delta Christian Leaders Forum (NDCLF) said it was improper to call for amnesty for “terrorists”.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states took sides with President Goodluck Jonathan who rejected Abubakar’s call.

The Sultan made the call for amnesty for the Boko Haram members  at a meeting of Ja’amatu Nasril Islam (JNI) in Kaduna on Thursday.

It was his solution to the insurgency in the North. But President Goodluck Jonathan, in a riposte, said the proposal was impossible as there were no clear leaders of the group to discuss amnesty with.

Spokesman for CAN in the 19 northern states, Elder Sunday Oibe, told Sunday Vanguard, yesterday, that the position of Christians on the Sultan’s  call for amnesty was clear, adding that the body would rather address the call for the removal of JTF from the North East.


Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III
According to him, the Borno elders are failed politicians “seeking relevance through an amnesty agenda which is why they are clamouring for funds to rehabilitate themselves”.

Oibe continued: “They are not realistic. We know that the Shehu of Borno is not associated with such calls. He is a gentlemen who will do anything to ensure peace in his domain, but those politicians who have been parading themselves as elders of Borno will stop at nothing to make themselves relevant”.

PFN Chairman for Borno State, Pastor Haruna Maidoki, who also spoke to Sunday Vanguard, yesterday,  lamented that because of the security situation in the North East, most residents were denied the opportunity of welcoming Jonathan when he visited the region last week.

He backed the president on his opposition to the call by the Sultan for amnesty for Boko Haram insurgents.

”We are very happy that the president demonstrated the needed political will and spoke to them the way he did,” Maidoki said, adding that the Christian community in that axis was now reassured that it is part of the nation called Nigeria.

He said the people calling for amnesty for Boko Haram members or the removal of JTF could not be said to be realistic because none of them made mention of the plight of the Christians who had been the victims of  the violent clashes in the region.

”They have not spoken one word about the plight of the Christians killed and their churches that were burnt or vandalised”, he stated, adding that they were not realistic and should ignored totally.

NDCLF listed several points why Jonathan must ignore the Boko Haram amnesty call. 
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