Prisoners protest amnesty for Boko Haram

INMATES of Kuje medium security prison, Abuja, have protested against the move by the Federal Government to grant amnesty to members of the insurgent sect, Boko Haram. The Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North had visited the prison, on Thursday, to meet with some members of the sect who are being kept in the facility.

The prisoners expressed displeasure with the idea that the government was considering amnesty for the insurgents despite the gravity of their crime against state.

The prisoners cashed in on the presence of journalists who had accompanied the committee, led by Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, to the prison to express their disappointment at the ongoing efforts to encourage the insurgents to embrace peace in return for a possible amnesty.

The inmates, speaking loudly through the windows of their cells, wondered why amnesty should be considered for those who they claimed were responsible for the death of many people and causing the nation a lot of misery.

One of them, who claimed to be innocent of the crime he was being held for without trial since the past eight years, said rather than grant amnesty to “killers,” the government should consider releasing detainees, especially those who had stayed without trial for a long time or were convicted for minor offences.

Another one said he was imprisoned following a dispute he had with a policeman, who then branded him a member of Boko Haram so as to justify his arrest and detention.

Speaking in pidgin English, a prisoner, who appeared to be walking about freely inside the facility, cursed members of the presidential committee and wished them bad luck at the hands of Boko Haram on their way back to their bases.

“Na because of Boko Haram dem come all the way from town? Na because of people where dey bomb others dem dey do all this? Make God do am; as dem dey go back, Boko Haram go bomb dem,” he said.

Turaki, who was unaware of the protest because he was inside a secluded room conferring with detained Boko Haram members, expressed confidence that the committee would obtain information that would help the government make necessary decisions.



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