Boko Haram Demands Presidential Pardon

Members of the Boko Haram sect have asked the Federal Government to grant them presidential pardon under the ceasefire deal which the two parties reached last Friday.

They also sought the immediate release of all their detained and convicted leaders so that they can lay down arms.

Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, chief of Defence Staff, had disclosed last Friday that part of the Federal Government’s arrangement with the insurgents was to have the over 200 abducted schoolgirls of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State released. He was however silent on the conditions given by the terrorists.

The Boko Haram leaders were demanding immunity from prosecution after they have surrendered their arms, as well as unconditional release of their members in detention facilities across the country before they release the Chibok girls, according to the Nigerian Pilot.

The demand came as the Borno Elders’ Forum alleged that the Federal Government was negotiating with impostors and appealed to the authorities to tread softly.

Government sources said that the sect was demanding among others the granting of presidential amnesty to its detained commanders, who are believed to be held in the cells of the Department of State Service.

It was learnt that since the government was eager to secure the release of the Chibok girls, the militants’ negotiators were exploiting it to secure freedom for their top leaders.

“This kind of negotiations doesn’t end in a day. There is a raft of issues, like modalities for demobilisation, a list of demands by the terrorists, amnesty for the fighters etc. But the release of the girls is on top of the agenda”. The source said.

An online news medium, TheCable, quoted a government official as confirming that during negotiations with the sect in Chad and Saudi Arabia, the terrorists’ sought assurances from the Federal Government that their leaders would not face prosecution if they embraced peace.

Military sources confirmed to Nigerian Pilot that the insurgents had demanded unconditional release of their members in detention before they release the Chibok girls.

A senior military officer, who sought anonymity, said the Boko Haram demands were difficult pills to swallow.

He recalled that it was not be the first time that the federal government would be giving unconditional pardon to insurgents or militants.

He said: “Pardon will not be unprecedented. The country has fought a civil war which led to the deaths of over a million Nigerians and nobody was prosecuted. Leaders of the militant groups in the Niger Delta as well as leaders of ethnic militias in the South-West and South-East did not face any prosecution after turning a new leaf.”

The official did not however disclose if the government had agreed to a blanket immunity before announcing that a ceasefire had been reached.

“From what we were told, it was one of the most difficult moments of the discussions, and because of that, we cannot say the deal is signed, sealed and delivered yet, but any progress at all is progress.”

Nigerian Pilot further gathered that discussions with the insurgents resumed yesterday in N’Djamena, Chad and that there was optimism that the Chibok girls would be handed over to President Idriss Derby by the terrorists before the weekends.