Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday received the final report of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North with a declaration that the federal government would not pay compensation to victims of Boko Haram insurgency. Instead of paying compensation to them, he added that government would fashion out ways of assisting victims of the dreaded Islamic terrorist group.
He said: “You have made recommendations, one of them is the setting up of an advisory committee on continuous dialogue. This, I also believe in. We always say that even in war situations, finally, people must discuss at the conference table to make sure that people live in peace.
“Force alone, no matter how, cannot bring peace. People must be willingly ready to leave in peace. “We agree with you that even though this committee is today winding down its activities, we need to set up a follow-up committee that will concentrate on dialogue so that some of these issues you raised, that committee will be able to anchor them properly working with other departments of government.
“We also noted the suggestion about the victims’ support fund because that is one of the terms of reference; how will government help to see that we can assist? Government is not going to compensate. It is not an issue of compensation but how do we assist people who have suffered to get back to business one way or the other.”
Jonathan assured the committee that government would examine the recommendations and ensure that the right decisions were taken.
“Though, we can’t say that we have won the war. But listening to the address by the chairman, we believe that the document you have submitted will help us with the follow up action. Finally, we will be able to bring the issue of the excesses of the Boko Haram to a close,” Jonathan said. The president also assured the citizenry that the challenges facing the country would soon be history.
“This is a country that never knew terror. Some countries have been passing through terror for years even before the Boko Haram came onboard. But within the short period Boko Haram is operating, globally, it is being classified as one of the most deadly terror groups. “It is quite unfortunate that the country will get to this level but with your report and the commitment of the security and Intelligence services, we believe that we will bring this situation under a reasonable control,” the president said.
The committee, chaired by the Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, in its report, had recommended the setting up of a Victims’ Support Fund for victims of insurgency to be administered by a new agency established specifically to assist the victims.
It equally recommended the setting up of an advisory committee on continuous dialogue that would advise the president on all matters related to dialogue and resolution of crisis. The president had in April this year set up the committee, which was given a three-month deadline to come up with resolutions and recommendations of how to end the insurgency in the North. The federal government in August extended the deadline by two months.
While submitting its report to the president, the committee admitted that the leadership of the outlawed Boko Haram group had refused to have any further dialogue with its members despite all their efforts.
“Some of our difficulties in having a productive dialogue include the refusal of their leaders to submit to dialogue. However many of the key members of the insurgents both in detention and at large have positively responded to contacts and have accepted the dialogue option as capable of full resolution of the conflict,” Turaki said.
He also said the committee recommended that the president should set up an advisory committee on continuous dialogue to continue from where they stopped. The committee noted that while carrying out its brief, it discovered that the absence of effective conflict early warning response mechanism and the palpable impunity in the commission of crimes and other acts of violence were due to absence of punitive measures. According to him, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country exacerbates conflicts and circle of violence.
Source:thisday
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