The Biafra Liberation Council (BLC) has told the Federal Government of Nigeria to reconsider its plans to give amnesty to members of the Islamic terrorists group, Boko haram, that has claimed responsibility to several bombings and killings in the northern part of the country.
BLC warned that any amnesty to the terror group will be counter productive as it will encourage other groups to carry their own arms and begin to unleash mayhem on innocent people. The group however suggested the government should give them a sharia country, not amnesty.
According to the spokesman of BLC, Amaechi Nwaofia in a statement: “We urge the government of Nigeria to drop any plan aimed at granting any form of amnesty to the terrorists as such plan amounts to treating certified criminals like sacred cows and rewarding them positively for terrorism.
“This is absurd. Any amnesty to the terror group will be counter productive as it will encourage other groups to carry their own arms and begin to unleash mayhem on innocent people.
“Above all, it only shows that the lives of ndigbo as well as the Nigerian security operatives wasted by these terrorists mean nothing to the ruling clique.
“May we warn that if the government goes ahead and grants amnesty to these killers, we will no longer continue to restrain militant Igbo groups from embarking on reprisal attacks against northern elements within the territory of Biafra or anywhere else for that matter.
“Most importantly, we will hold Goodluck Jonathan and his cohorts accountable for the genocide being committed against ndigbo in the name of Islamic jihad in the north at the right time.”
BLC added: “They have made it abundantly clear that their demand has been that they should be allowed to have a sharia country, without which there will never be peace. Rather than amnesty, a country should be carved out for them where anybody who finds himself or herself there will know that they are under the rules of sharia; There are Islamic countries such as sudan, Palestine; libya, etc. And there are provisions for self-determination in human rights instruments.
“There is no doubt that no amount of amnesty will stop the jihadists from going on rampage and from killing ndigbo with security operatives as collateral damage in the name of sharia.”
The group said it didn’t come to them as a surprised that the Nigerian state is considering the amnesty package, which may include handsome rewards for Boko haram rather than checkmating their nefarious activities which they alleged that the primary target of the terrorists in their jihad operations are the Igbos, the people of Biafra.
“It is therefore unimaginable that a group which has killed hundreds of people in the north simply because they failed to embrace islam is being considered for amnesty.” The group said.
