Repentant Boko Haram Members Should Be Prosecuted – Audu Ogbeh

The National Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Audu Ogbeh, has condemned the plan to reintegrate repentant Boko Haram terrorists into society.

Ogbeh in his statement said the repentant terrorists are no different from Igbohos or ESN members, hence the need to prosecute them for their crimes.

The former Minister of Agriculture made this claim in a statement released through the National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Emmanuel Yawe, in Kaduna on Tuesday.

The statement is entitled, ‘On repentant Boko Haram Terrorists and the Principle of Equity and Justice.’

It read, “We are currently witnessing the large-scale surrender of large numbers of Boko Haram insurgents, among whom are bomb makers, commanders, arsonists, rapists, and child snatchers.

“Do we have good reason to cheer and hope for an end to this decade-old insanity?

“Is ‘I am sorry enough to bring relief to Nigerians and the thousands of dead and maimed?

“What of those victims bombed in churches, mosques, schools, and markets? What of all the men and women in uniform murdered by them?

“Who can count the thousands of widows and orphans they have created?

“And what is the difference between them and the Igbohos or ESN of Nigeria? None.

“So what do we do with them? Should we just embrace them and trust them wholesale? Are their moves informed by altruistic repentance? We seriously doubt it.

“We join the Governor of Borno, the Shehu of Borno, Senator Ndume and millions of Nigerians in pondering over this development and our simple advice is: Bring them to trial, or free all others presently in custody anywhere, while we Nigerians plead guilty of naivety and gullibility in the extreme, punishable by more insurrection and anarchy.”