Group Warns Against Granting Amnesty to Boko Haram

The Salvation Army Church, Nigeria has warned the Federal Government not to yield to the pressure of granting amnesty to members of Boko Haram as this would amount to government cheapening itself to an organization that had refused to dialogue with,

The church posited that granting amnesty to the Boko Haram sect would not be in the interest of the country.

Nigerian Territorial Commander (General Overseer) of Salvation Army Church, Commissioner Mfon Akpan who made the call in Aba, Abia State while addressing journalists during the 10^th anniversary congress of the Abia District of the church said acceding to the request would tantamount to granting amnesty to ghosts.

“How can you grant amnesty to people who have refused to come out and dialogue with you and say they are abandoning the course for which the amnesty was being sought for?”Mfon queried.

He advised those canvassing for amnesty for members of the sect to rather channel their energy towards appealing to the leaders of the sect to lay down their arms and dialogue with the Federal Government from where the issue of amnesty could come in.

The Territorial Commander further condemned the killing of the Kwara State Commissioner of police, Mr. Chinwike Asadu in Enugu, saying his death was not only a loss to the immediate family, Enugu and Kwara States, but the entire nation.

Describing the doctrine of the Salvation Army which was founded in London in 1865 and came to Nigeria in 1920 as that tailored towards the mainstream

Christian belief, he disclosed that the church had its own distinctive government and practice which made it lean towards doing much of charity work.

“We’ve been in partnership with NEMA on disaster management in Nigeria. The last Dana plane crash was a recent example. We also partner with several other government agencies in the eradication of poverty, HIV and AIDS.”