National Security, Religious Anarchism and the Politics of Amnesty in Nigeria

14 Pages·2006·0.33 MB·English

by  Dr. Agaptus Nwozor

Covenant Journal of Politics and International Affairs (CUJPIA) Vol. 1, No. 1 (Maiden Edition), September, 2013

Covenant University Journals
National Security, Religious Anarchism and the Politics of
Amnesty in Nigeria
Agaptus Nwozor, PhD
Landmark University Omu Aran Kwara State, Nigeria.

Abstract:
The Nigerian state is caught in the crossfire of national insecurity arising from the insurgency of various rogue
groups. The most prominent of these groups, and one whose activities have had far-reaching destabilising effect
on the polity, is the Boko Haram sect. The Boko Haram sect, which uses the Taliban- and al-Qaeda-style
terrorist tactics of suicide bombing and targeted assassination, is responsible for between 3000 and 4000 deaths
since it declared war and engaged in armed insurgency in 2009. The sect has targeted and bombed state
institutions, the United Nations building as well as many Christian worship centres in furtherance of its avowed
objective of deploying terror to achieve the islamisation of the Nigerian state. Relying on secondary sources of
data, the paper interrogates the force theory that underpins Nigeria’s security engineering and contends that the
continued insecurity in the polity is a demonstration of its ineffectiveness. The paper also contends that the
proposition by the Federal Government to grant amnesty to the Boko Haram sect is not as simplistic as it
appears as it transcends the narrow definitional criteria of bartering forgiveness for peace. While the paper is
critical of the proposed amnesty programme, it advocates a holistic approach that incorporates other issues that
are promotive of justice, morality and ethicalness in the polity.

strategy of choice among national security
Introduction
managers is the use of force in various
The major challenge of Nigeria’s national
guises to subdue those identified as
security is the containment of diverse
threatening national security. But the
manifestations of violence spearheaded by
government’s supposed superior force has
various rogue groups. The major group in
not rolled back the menace of insecurity
contemporary Nigeria that has stretched the
which creates the impression that the
resources, expertise, patience and even the
government is not doing enough to secure
competence of Nigeria’s security
the people. This mindset led Bankong-Obi
apparatuses to the limit, both individually
(2012) to attribute Nigeria’s intractable
and collectively, is the Boko Haram sect.
security challenges to government’s apathy
The sheer number of deaths arising from
towards exterminating the terror group and
bomb attacks orchestrated by the Boko
inefficiency on the part of the security
Haram far outstrips any other cause of death
agencies. The Boko Haram sect poses a
in Nigeria, including epidemics (Bankong-
security challenge that is alien to Nigeria’s
Obi 2012).
regular security problems. While the use of

One of the shortcomings of Nigeria’s force might have worked in the past, it has
security management is its pro-realist proved inefficient in the case of Boko
orientation that accords the deployment of Haram. This is so for four major reasons:
force preeminent position. Thus, the one, the Boko Haram uses al-Qaeda-style
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terror strategies, which combine suicide Irrespective of the regime type that is in
bombing, targeted assassination and control of governmental powers within
guerrilla strategies to unleash violence on states or the configuration of powers in the
the polity; two, the sect has diffuse global arena, the preoccupation with
leadership system, making it impossible to national security has not diminished in
initiate dialogue; three, its ideology is importance since the emergence of state
anchored on irrationality driven by utopian system. Within nation-states, whether it is
anarchism; and lastly, it has shifting military authoritarian regimes or civil
membership that is patently faceless. The democratic governments, considerations
anarchist bent of the Boko Haram surrounding national security sit at the apex
worldview is validated by its bomb attacks of the hierarchy of states’ national interest.
on Christian worship centres as well At the core of these considerations are the
Muslims considered as not practising twin issues of regime survival and the
orthodox Islam (Onuoha 2012:2). preservation of the territorial integrity of the
state system.
The persistence of bomb attacks by the
Overtime, especially in the cold war era,
Boko Haram sect despite an all-out
the preoccupation of states with national
deployment of force by the state and the
security defined within the parametric
clamour by Nigerians for the government to
confines of regime and state survival made
find a lasting solution to the problem of
its pursuit an end by itself rather than a
insecurity appeared to have swayed
means to an end. The effect was that states
government towards the adoption of non-
became fixated with developing the
military option of amnesty. The present
necessary capacity to ensure the survival of
amnesty being proposed by the Jonathan
the government in power as well as preserve
administration seems to be driven by narrow
the state system from collapse arising from
political considerations. Amnesty is not
both internal and external threats and
imposed by fiat but emerges through
sabotage.
negotiated arrangement based on certain

defined conditions. The government had This traditional realist mindset underpinned
unequivocally set those conditions earlier the equation of national security with the
namely, that it would not negotiate with absence of threats to governmental authority
ghosts, due to the sect’s faceless leadership or the presence of domestic capacity to
and membership; and that the sect must contain centrifugal forces within the polity
present its basis of grievances as a platform (Omeje 2006). Thus, under this paradigm,
for dialogue (BBC 2012; Guardian 2013a). national security was conceptualised within
the parametric context of innate and
The paper acknowledges that amnesty is a
acquired capacity of governments to ensure
political tool designed to stop violence and
the protection of their countries from
restore peace but argues that it must be
external attacks or internal subversion, as
driven by the tenets of justice. The paper
well as the preparedness of the military to
further contends that the unilateralism of the
protect state territories. It also was
proposed amnesty represents a policy
interpreted as diligence in matters of
summersault which might deepen insecurity
intelligence gathering and secrecy, and the
rather than resolve it. It holds that the
protection of resources and rights
sustainability of any form of amnesty
considered critical to the functioning of
programme for the Boko Haram sect must
states (UNDP 1994; Encarta 2008; Nnoli
factor in the victims of their terrorist attacks.
2006).

Contending Issues in Nigeria’s National
The core essence of this conceptualisation is
Security Architecture
that national security is motorised by the
Internationally and domestically, the issue
possession of the ensembles of warfare as
of national security is constantly on the
well as the existence of military formations
front burner (Obi 1997; Tyoden 2005).
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to deploy them. The implication, therefore, from the context of economic security or
is that threats to national security are mainly security of the economy, which is achieved
external rather than internal. Thus, the through the free interplay of market forces
whole essence of the apparatuses of force is in the resource allocation processes within
to rebuff and defeat any form of threat to the and between societies; the structural
state. As such, the achievement of national ecologists focus on the linkages and
security falls under the exclusive domain of interactions of ecology and politics
the military and paramilitary formations especially in terms of the sustainability of
across the state. The shortcoming associated the planetary ecosystem and the balancing
with this conceptualisation is its seeming of the negative impacts of economic
restrictive boundaries and analytical activities on natural resource exploitation
inadequacy (UNDP 1994; Onuoha and the unhindered opportunity to non-
2008:101; Adelugba 2008:20; Nwolise human lives to thrive; and Marxist political
2008:348). economy focuses on the reconciliation of
the competing interests of the various
The concept of national security has
classes in the state. To them, therefore, the
mutated from its static preoccupation
national security cannot be understood apart
characterised by narrow, restrictive,
from the interests of the social forces as they
militaristic and strategic perspective to
struggle with one another (Obi 1997; Omeje
dynamic, broad-based incorporation of
2006; Nnoli 2006).
ensembles of various factors. The shift and

expansion in the paradigmatic The expansion in the constituent elements
preoccupation of national security from that shape national security has produced a
traditional realist orientation to multilayered paradigmatic shift in contemporary
and broad perspective draws from deeper definitional criteria of the concept. National
insights generated from other schools of security, thus, transcends the traditional
thoughts. The various inputs from diverse frontiers of state to incorporate man and his
intellectual traditions in the attempt to environment within the milieu of
elucidate and expand the traditional sustainability. Sustainability in national
frontiers of national security have imbued security means that actions taken by states
the concept with certain mystique (Nnoli in furtherance of the security concerns of
2006:1; Adelugba 2008). But attempts by the present generation must be such that
various scholars to add quality and cater for present needs of humans and non-
dynamism to the concept of national humans alike while making allowances for
security are principally concerned with the the unconditional meeting of the security
issues of whose security is paramount and needs by future generations (UNDP 1994;
how to provide it (Omeje 2006:14; Onuoha Dobson 2000).
2008:102).
National security in Nigeria is still
The intellectual and ideological ferment in
conceived from the prism of the realist
the expansion of the domain of national
paradigm. Thus, the strategy often adopted
security is exemplified by their emphases on
by the Nigerian state to tackle insecurity
a bouquet of factors as its constitutive
consists of, and is anchored on, the
parameters. Thus, the traditional realist
deployment of superior fire power to
approach and its contemporary variations
contain what the state has identified as
situate the core concerns of national security
threats to it, which often coincide with the
within the framework of the state and its
interest of the ruling elite. As a result of the
national interest anchored on its military
realist orientation and mindset of Nigerian
capability to protect both; the idealist
security thinking, the Nigerian government
school focuses attention on the
perennially earmarks larger and larger
emancipation of the individual rather than
portions of state funds for security. In the
the state; the neoclassical/liberal
2012 federal budget, the Nigerian
economistic theorists see national security
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government allotted 19.4 percent of the total foment violence and co-opt
budget to the security sector. Thus, in political opponents or has been
concrete terms, the security sector gulped lost to graft and patronage.
N921.91 billion of the N4.75 trillion
The militarisation of national security
budgeted for the year (Leadership 2012).
underpinned the setting up of coalition
The logic behind the huge budgetary
forces or joint task forces (JTF) to address
allocation to the security sector was to
sundry security threats. The Nigerian
tackle the “the threat of Boko Haram, Niger
security architecture has, as its building
Delta militants and increasing spate of
blocks, such organisations as the police, the
insecurity and wanton destruction of lives
armed forces, and the various state security
and property by criminals which are on the
apparatuses, which are concerned with
rise"(President Jonathan cited in Leadership
intelligence gathering. A consistent trait
2011).
across the various security formations is the

Horsfall (2013:71) observes that the security conscious efforts to militarise them. The
budget for 2012 was not only phenomenal Nigeria Police, whose primary
but was the largest allocation any responsibility is to maintain law and order,
government had budgeted in the history of breaks them by converting their position
Nigeria for the security sector. The into veritable instrument of oppression and
phenomenal increment in the security vote extortion (Carter and Marenin 1979; Walker
not only enlarged the resources available to 1999:56; Hills 2007:408; Alemika 2010).
national security managers but also
Another aspect of the militarisation of the
expanded the frontiers of the militarisation
police is the creation of the pseudo-military
of the polity. It equally acted as a necessary
formation known as the Mobile Police
fodder to the blossoming of corruption
(Mopol) with access to helicopter gunships
(Elombah 2010). In Nigeria’s government
and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) as
circles, the security vote is not subject to
well as other ad hoc units that regularly
audit verification. Once the security vote is
compete amongst themselves for unleashing
captured in the budget, its spending is
violence on the people. The JTFs are
within the competence of the government
conferred with wide-ranging repressive
officials authorised to spend it and the
powers. As oppression begets resistance, the
manner in which they deem its spending
deployment of force by the JTFs has neither
necessary is beyond audit query. The
diminished nor eliminated the incidence of
unaccountable nature of security vote led El
insecurity in Nigeria. It has fostered the
Rufai (2012) to call it “slush fund”. The
spirit of daring the state apparatuses of
Human Rights watch (2007:39) captures it
force, especially the JTFs. The creation of
more succinctly thus:
an alternative model of security framework
The security vote is a budget line
to maintain internal security by the Nigerian
that is meant to act as a source of
government is a tacit acknowledgement of
discretionary spending that the
the incapacity of the police and other
executive arms of government can
traditional institutions law enforcement to
use to respond quickly and
tackle crime.
effectively to threats to peace and

security in their jurisdictions. Part of the underlying causes of insecurity
However the use of those funds is in Nigeria is the appropriation,
notoriously opaque; there is personalisation and privatisation of state
generally no requirement that power by the elite and the exclusion of the
governors or local government masses from access to secure material base
chairpersons account for their use (Ake 1981:125-8; Nnoli 2006:70). The
of those funds. In many cases emergent ruling elite at the period of
security vote money has been used independence did not dismantle the
by state and local governments to apparatuses of oppression used by the
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retreating British colonialists but government chairmen allocate and
consolidated on them. Thus, it was merely, a appropriate enormous resources as security
handover from one oppressor to another. As vote under the guise of being the chief
Onyeozili 2005: ) observes, “the nationalists security officers of their respective domains,
against who (sic) police terror and violence a situation that has the trappings of sleaze
were used by the colonialists, and to whom around it (Human Rights Watch 2007b).
power was subsequently transferred at
The security theorisation and preoccupation
independence, cushioned themselves into
of the Nigerian state does not factor the
employing police brutality and terror against
human misery as a major constituent of the
their opponents in post-independence
centrifugal pressures on national security.
political power struggles”.
Human misery is seen as a manifestation of

Another cause is the tendency of the the consequential effects rather than a
Nigerian security apparatuses to reify force driving force of insecurity. This mindset
as the whole essence of security. For could be responsible for the reactive rather
instance, the Boko Haram was in existence than proactive orientation of the security
before it embraced violence as its primary strategies of the Nigerian state (Obi 1997).
tool of operation. Its origin is traced to 2002 What this implies is that not only is there an
, with some scholars dating it as far back as absence of strategic security plan but also a
1995, which suggests that prior to 2009, it lack of linkages between national security
operated as a non-violent organisation and provision of conditions for the material
(Connell 2012:88; The Nation 2012; BBC wellbeing of a significant percentage of the
2012a; Onuoha 2012:2). It was when the population. But the pursuit of security ought
Nigeria Police applied extreme force which to start and end with the elimination of the
led to the death of its leader, Mohammed factors that create, intensify and sustain
Yusuf and over 1,000 members of the sect human misery in the polity. As UNDP
that violence became its weapon of (1994:22) observes, “human security is not
martyrdom (Onuoha 2012:3). a concern with weapons-it is a concern with
human life and dignity”. The dignity is
The de-federalisation of security through the
conferred on the people by the
takeover of every aspect of security by the
responsiveness of the government to their
federal government created certain rigidity
social, economic, political and ethical needs.
in the security system. The erosion of the

federalist principles that ought to undergird The Terrain of Amnesty in Nigeria
the Nigerian state and all the apparatuses of Amnesty is a concept whose relevance is
governance, including its national security brought to the fore in conflict situations. It
system originated from two interrelated is associated with the preparedness of the
factors, namely, military adventure into the state to suspend its powers to prosecute and
political arena and the unfortunate Nigerian punish individuals and groups who have
civil war and its after-effects (Babawale contravened fundamental provisions of the
2007: 65). Although the earliest effort to laws. It involves the invocation of the
centralise the police system was in 1958 powers of the state to cleanse from the
through the Police Act, Cap.154, Laws of official records of those under the purview
the Federation (Onyeozili 2005:40), its of the amnesty arrangement, their
consolidation was during the successive culpability against it. Thus, amnesty does
military regimes. One of the fallouts of not operate in a vacuum but within the
Nigeria’s skewed federal structure is the context of certain conditions. These
removal of real constitutional responsibility conditions include:
from the state governors and local - It applies to rebellious acts against
government chairmen and the transference the state;
of same to the federal government. - It is offered to a group or a class
Contradictorily, the governors and local of criminals who may have
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committed a crime against the pardon is given after a conviction and
state; exempts the criminal from further
- They need not be convicted by a punishment, amnesty is usually granted to
court of law. It is enough that persons who may have committed a crime
there is a constitutional basis upon but not convicted.
which they can be ordinarily
Amnesty as a state strategy is deployed to
prosecuted;
contain centrifugal forces and maintain the
- It is extended by the state in order
corporate unity of the state in the face of
to restore tranquillity within its
seemingly intractable threats. The
territory;
effectiveness of amnesty as a state strategy
- The felonies are expunged from
lies is given impetus by two factors: one, an
the records of those concerned;
unimpeachable demonstration of the
- It is anchored on the fulfilment of
superiority of the fire power of the state; and
certain conditions by the intended
two, the willingness of the intended
beneficiaries of the amnesty
beneficiaries to discontinue the criminal
programme. It could be in form of
activities for which amnesty is
signing pledges of good
contemplated. The objective of amnesty is
behaviour, community service and
not to punish but to choose a path that will
surrendering of firearms (Encarta
yield the best possible scenario for the
2008; Akinwale 2010:204;
triumph of peace. Thus, amnesty
Olatoke & Olokooba 2012:27).
emphasizes the supremacy and expediency

There is fundamental misconception among of a conducive atmosphere promotive of
scholars and analysts about the meaning and public welfare than prosecution (Olatoke &
purpose of amnesty. This misconception is a Olokooba 2012:26).
product of conceptual confusion arising
In the course of Nigeria’s post-colonial
from the extrapolation of the meaning of
experience, it has deployed the tool of
amnesty from pardon (Ukaogo 2010;
amnesty on two occasions. The first was in
Akinwale 2010:202; Olatoke & Olokooba
connection with the Nigerian civil war. At
2012:27). Sections 175 and 212 of the
the end of the war in 1970, the federal
Nigerian Constitution, 1999, confer on the
government declared the outcome of the war
president and the governor of a state the
as “no victor, no vanquished”. This was a
power to exercise the prerogative of mercy
general amnesty that served the purpose of
after consultation with the Council of State
closing the unfortunate chapter which the
or relevant advisory council respectively.
war opened (Ukaogo 2010). The

Embedded in Section 175(1a) are the introduction of what came to be known as
concepts of amnesty and pardon. The 3Rs (reconciliation, reconstruction and
subsection provides that the president may rehabilitation) was a state policy designed to
“grant any person concerned with or open a new chapter of reintegration of the
convicted of any offence created by an Act secessionist Biafra into Nigeria.
of the National Assembly a pardon, either
Although, the amnesty policy of 3Rs has
free or subject to lawful conditions”. An
been criticised as an empty rhetoric peddled
analysis of the provision brings to the fore
to contain the security threat that open
its contemplation of the two concepts in one
marginalisation of the Igbos would have
fell swoop. While the first part of that
spawned (Ukaogo 2010), it achieved the
provision, that is, “any person concerned
purpose of procuring a peaceful polity. The
with” contemplates amnesty; the second
amnesty of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war
part which refers to any person “convicted
appeared to be one-sided: rather than
of any offence” falls under the purview of
facilitate the integration of the Igbos, it
the concept of pardon. Thus, the distinction
fostered their alienation and relegation from
between the two concepts is that while
the mainstream of Nigerian governance and
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economic structures (Ojukwu 2002; Ukaogo components. Indeed, the Nigerian
2010). What the Nigerian state granted government projected then that the amnesty
Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu programme would cost the state some
under the presidency of Shehu Shagari was N10.14 billion (Nwozor 2010:29).
state pardon, an action that actually closed
Undoubtedly, the Niger Delta amnesty
the chapter of the process that started in
programme was a policy attempt to seek an
1970.
alternative route to peace within the triad

The next instance of amnesty was on 25 framework of anti-violence, pro-dialogue
June 2009 when Nigeria’s former President, and welfarism (Nwozor 2010:33). But the
the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua granted pursuit of this peace was not without
amnesty to the Niger Delta militants. For conditions. As Nwozor (2010:33-34) avers,
years, the Niger Delta was transformed into “the president hinged the amnesty on
a cauldron of anti-state activities, which not several conditions: the willingness of the
only embarrassed the Nigerian state and militants to give up all illegal arms in their
undermined its economy but also spawned possession, a complete renunciation of
ripple effects in the international oil market. militancy in all its ramifications, and
As the CBN (2009:130) corroborates, deposition to an undertaking to this effect”.
“declining production had characterized oil The embracement of the programme by the
output over the previous five years due militants enthroned peace in the region,
largely to militant activities and the which had multiplier effect on the Nigerian
attendant destruction of oil-production economy. As CBN (2009:130)
facilities”. The amnesty was the third in the acknowledges, “the federal Government’s
line of strategies evolved by the Nigerian amnesty programme brought relative peace
state to contain the destructive to the Niger-Delta area in the second half of
consequences of armed onslaught of the 2009. Consequently, production level rose
Niger Delta militants on the state. The two from 1.75mbd [million barrels per day] in
previous strategies were the January [2009] to 1.94mbd in September
bureaucratisation of the Niger Delta region [2009] and closed at the end of the year at
through the creation of the Ministry of 2.02mbd.”
Niger Delta and the Niger Delta
Boko Haram and the Spectre of Religious
Development Commission (NDDC), under
Anarchism
whose auspices the Niger Delta Master plan
The Boko Haram insurgency has been at the
to anchor the sustained development of the
epicentre of Nigeria’s security crisis since it
region was evolved (Egwemi 2010:136).
upped its terrorist activities in 2009. While

The Niger Delta amnesty programme both the origin and leadership composition
represented a milestone in several respects. of the Boko Haram sect are subject of
Firstly, it showed that a government was speculation, their ideology and terrorist
listening and willing to engage in peaceful activities are not. Bagaji et al (2012:33) find
resolution of the people’s grievances. semblance between Boko Haram and
Secondly, it marked a shift in the security Maitatsine sects in terms of shared anarchic
and strategic orientation of the government: philosophy and objectives. The Boko Haram
the government stood down its reliance on sect is professedly anti-west and considers
its seeming superior fire power to cow the terrorist strategy as a veritable jihadist tool
people and embraced dialogue anchored on to conquer the “infidels” (Onuoha 2012:2).
voluntary renunciation of violence by the Here, infidels are defined as those who are
militants. And lastly, the government was outside the template of orthodox Islam or
willing to make investments outside its those who condone or are sympathetic to
traditional security window as it western education and civilisation (Connell
conceptualised the amnesty programme to 2012:90). Thus, the literal meaning of Boko
have rehabilitation and reintegration Haram is “western education is sin”.

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The arbitrary targets of Boko Haram’s corruption and moral
sustained terrorist attacks appear to create deprivation’.

analytical problems with regard to who it
The philosophy of religious bigotry which
categorises as an infidel. There has not been
motorises the Boko Haram insurgency is
any boundary in the targets of its attacks: it
undoubtedly at variance with the notion of
appears to attack everybody but with
peaceful coexistence, especially in a multi-
preponderance on Christian institutions.
ethnic, multi-religious state like Nigeria.
Essentially, the targets of the attacks
The Nigerian security cart has not tipped
masterminded by the Boko Haram have not
over the precipice because of the sense of
followed any particular pattern to lead to a
restraint displayed by Christians in the face
plausible conclusion about their driving
of consistent bombing of churches during
motives and ultimate goals. The immediate
worship. The Boko Haram has unleashed
deducible interpretation of their motives is
unprecedented mayhem on the Nigerian
that it intends to undermine the sovereignty
people, creating insecurity in its wake and
of the Nigerian state through the creation of
calling to question the sovereignty of the
general insecurity by turning the country
Nigerian state. In 2012, it was estimated that
into a territory of anarchy. Their strategy
the Boko Haram attacks were responsible
could be likened to religious anarchism as it
for 750 deaths (The Nation 2012).
manifests the nature of, and also exemplifies

the mainstream, terrorist tradition of the al- Apart from the human casualties, the use of
Qaeda and Taliban-style organisational improvised explosive devices (IEDs),
planning and armed resistance (Bagaji et al targeted assassinations and suicide
2012:33). bombings have created pervading

atmosphere of uncertainty, psychological
The peculiarity and invincibility of the Boko
trauma and general insecurity in Nigeria.
Haram sect lie in its daredevil attacks, loose
According to Onuoha (2012:4), between
organisational structure, facelessness and
July 2009 when the Boko Haram ostensibly
surreptitious operational modalities. The
declared war on the Nigerian state and
Boko Haram does not seem to harbour any
January 2012, Boko Haram had carried out
genuine grievances against the Nigerian
over 160 separate attacks which accounted
state either for its actions or inactions. The
for over 1000 deaths. These attacks
sect is driven by objectives, which are
involved high-alert security targets like the
anchored on primitive utopianism. It is
Police Headquarters in Abuja, Police and
fixated with the irredentist quest to
Military Barracks, the United Nations
reconfigure and readapt the Nigerian state to
Building in Abuja, and the Eagle Square
an Islamic world created by them. As
situated at the centre of the seat of power in
Onuoha (2012:2) puts it,
Abuja.
Its ideological mission is quite

clear, namely to overthrow the One of the major attributes of Boko Haram,
Nigerian state and impose strict the one that has made its defeat problematic
Islamic Sharia law in the is its facelessness. There is no reliable
country. Members of the sect intelligence to mount surveillance of its
are motivated by the conviction leadership or predict, with assurance, its
that the Nigerian state is filled next move to enable intelligence agencies to
with social vices and corruption, checkmate them. The call by certain
thus ’the best thing for a devout analysts and statesmen for government to
Muslim to do was to “migrate” initiate negotiation with the group led
from the morally bankrupt Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan to
society to a secluded place and challenge the sect’s leadership to identify
establish an ideal Islamic themselves and state their demands as a
society devoid of political basis for dialogue (BBC 2012b).

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Added to this is the air of suspicion in the change your staff and personnel to beat their
security agencies and the presidency about styles.” (Vanguard 2012).
the existence of fifth columnists that are Perhaps the success of amnesty in the Niger
sympathetic to the Boko Haram. No less a Delta must have underpinned the favourable
personality than President Jonathan disposition of the Nigerian government to
acknowledged this (BBC 2012a). The extending same to the Boko Haram sect.
implication is mutual suspicion and The logic seems to be that since it worked
structural difficulty in honestly dealing with for Niger Delta militants, it must also work
the menace engendered by Boko Haram. for Boko Haram insurgents. The amnesty
The situation is made even more complex programme in the Niger Delta appeared to
by lack of objective modalities to assess the have worked like magic. With the
level of loyalty of government officials and announcement of the programme and
security operatives to the government or the positive response from the militants, there
level of their sympathy to the sect. were perceptible results. Oil and gas
production which had suffered acute
Certain interpretations designate the Boko
reduction as a result of security threats in
Haram violence as religious war which also
the region recovered dramatically, rising
has the potentiality of leading to ethnic
from 1.75mbd to 2.02mbd by the end of
cleansing. The linkage between religion and
2009 (CBN 2009:130).
ethnicity in Nigerian polity is because of the

domiciliation of the major religions The logic surrounding the replication of the
(Christianity and Islam) along discernible Niger Delta amnesty “miracle” in the case
geographical lines. The targeting of of the Boko Haram is non sequitur. The
Christian worship centres by Boko Haram conditions undergirding both scenarios are
bombers led the president of Christian not the same to warrant the optimism that
Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ayo amnesty would become the magic wand to
Oritsejafor, to describe the attacks on rein-in the Boko Haram menace. While the
Christians as a "systematic ethnic and Niger Delta militants had grievances and
religious cleansing" and threatened that “we demands, which were variously articulated,
have the legitimate right to defend especially those encapsulated in the “Ogoni
ourselves. We're also saying today that we Bill of Rights” and “the Kaiama Declaration
will do whatever it takes" (BBC 2012a). (Obi 1997; Sampson 2008; Omotola 2009),
the Boko Haram does not have any
Rolling Back the Boko Haram Umbrage?
document that consistently projects its
State Security and the Politics of Amnesty
demands.
In the face of the apparent failure of the

various joint military task forces to bring the The Niger Delta agitation was a specific
menace of Boko Haram under control, it reaction to three scenarios: one, Nigeria’s
was not surprising that the federal skewed federal system which eroded their
government decided to extend the olive access to resources produced in their region;
branch to the sect as part of its non-military two, the impunity of the multinational oil
strategies to bring the human carnage and companies (MNOCs) that destroyed their
psychological trauma, which the sect has environment and rendered their lands
engendered, to an end. In June 2012, infertile and incapable of sustaining
Jonathan sacked his Minister of Defence, livelihood dependent on them; and lastly,
Haliru Bello and National Security Adviser, the strong-arm tactics of the Nigerian state
Andrew Aziza as a demonstration of their that tended to intimidate them (Ofuebe &
ineffectiveness in tackling the country’s Anierobi 2006; Nwozor 2010). The Boko
security crisis. In an interview, Jonathan Haram insurgency, on the other hand, is
was quoted to have said, “if you study the anchored on the pursuit of an agenda of
evolution of Boko Haram, they are changing atavistic islamization of the Nigerian state
their tactics every day, so you also have to (Onuoha 2012).

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Covenant Journal of Politics and International Affairs (CUJPIA) Vol. 1, No. 1 (Maiden Edition), September, 2013

The leaders of the various Niger Delta rather than normalise the security situation
militant groups were known to the must be properly addressed. Such issues as
intelligence agencies which facilitated the level of injury suffered by the people,
discussions between them and government the percentage of atrocities that was
agents. In other words, at every point, the deliberately targeted at civilian population;
identity of the militants was neither in doubt effect of the injury on life chances and
nor a subject of conjecture. Since the death livelihood of the people and the level of
of Mohammed Yusuf, the Boko Haram sect psychological trauma must be satisfactorily
adopted diffuse leadership model which settled. For instance, it is estimated that
eliminated the identification of the sect with between 3,000 and 4,000 people have
a single individual as its leader. The sect is brutally lost their lives in the various attacks
believed to include various factions in orchestrated by the Boko Haram between
addition to impostors and imitators. This 2009 and 2012 ((Omo 2013; Guardian
poses a serious problem of legitimacy. 2013b), prompting Rupert Colville,
spokesman for the United Nations Office of
The Niger Delta amnesty was facilitated by
the High Commissioner for Human Rights
unfolding events at the national level. For
(OHCHR), to aver that some of the attacks
the first time in democratic Nigeria, a Niger
carried out by Boko Haram could "amount
Deltan assumed the second highest position
to a crime against humanity."(UPI 2012).
as the Vice President. This effectively

shelved the allegation of marginalisation While amnesty is a political tool deployed
and paved the way for dialogue. This kind to address issues which military actions may
scenario is lacking in the case of the Boko not resolve satisfactorily, it has elements of
Haram. justice. The logic associated with the
Now, the question is: what has proposal to grant amnesty to the Boko
fundamentally changed to necessitate a Haram insurgents is patently deficient as it
volte-face by the government. Before now, does not appear to address the issues of
the Government position has always been, justice, morality and ethicalness contingent
and correctly too, that it could not dialogue upon the extension of amnesty to the sect.
with faceless individuals whose grievances The federal government set up a committee
were unknown (BBC 2012b). There are with its attention directed to working out
other questions whose answers are neither modalities for amnesty without a
here nor there: is it more fruitful to placate corresponding committee to evaluate the
“ghost terrorists” or to uncompromisingly effects of the Boko Haram violence on their
and aggressively run them aground? Does it victims (Channels Television 2013).
advance the cause of peace if amnesty is
Even though the Boko Haram claimed they
granted to a group that believes in its
have been waging war against the state
invincibility and unready to recognise the
(Onuoha 2012; Connell 2012:87), the
undisputed sovereignty of the state?
abstract nature of the state which places it
The granting of amnesty to any group must
above the status of a victim, coupled with
undergo “justice impact assessment” (JIC).
the targets of their attacks, renders its claim
JIC evaluates the general multiplier effects
a falsity. There is neither connection
of the amnesty against people’s perception
between the state and several Christian
of justice, that is, how the exercise of the
churches that the Boko Haram sect has
amnesty by the state will impact on their
bombed nor is there any connection between
fundamental rights and expectations. It also
the state and several private establishments
involves the appraisal of the amnesty within
that have suffered under the hands of Boko
the context of whether the interest of justice
Haram bombings. Recently, the Boko
has been served.
Haram detonated IEDs in a luxury bus

Certain pertinent issues whose garage in Kano destroying over five buses
unsatisfactory resolution could complicate and killing 60 persons (Punch 2013). Going
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