Jubilee Campaign offers stark report as Nigeria considers amnesty for Boko Haram.
Amid another surge of violence in Nigeria, the idea of an amnesty deal between the Nigerian government and militant Islamist group Boko Haram has the support of Christian president Goodluck Jonathan. But the proposal is firmly opposed by most Christian groups in the West African nation.
Following calls to offer amnesty to Boko Haram in exchange for the end of its terror campaign against Christians and other targeted groups (including the government, whose military has often been heavy-handed with militants), Jonathan has commissioned a 25-member presidential committee to examine how a pardon could be implemented.
The Vanguard newspaper reports that "some Nigerians believe amnesty would entice those among the terrorists who are tired to rejoin normal society as law abiding citizens. They buttress their argument by pointing to the calming effect the policy had in the Niger Delta." (Delta militants have threatened to target Boko Haram themselves.)
However, many church leaders and Christian groups oppose the amnesty deal, calling it "nothing but the legalisation of terrorism in the country." Others say such pardon would "send out a wrong signal of encouraging criminality." Read more
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