Northern leaders not supporting Boko Haram killings –ACF

Members of the boko haram sect
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Northern leaders on Thursday said they were not supporting the violence being perpetrated by Islamist sect, Boko Haram.

The leaders, who spoke under the auspices of pan northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, said their call for amnesty to and dialogue for the sect members did not mean that they were sympathetic to their actions.

ACF National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, stated this in Kaduna on Thursday while addressing a five-man delegation, led by the acting American Ambassador to Nigeria, Jeffery Hawkins.

Sani, who said violence had never solved terrorism problem across the globe, noted however that after applying force on members of the sect without success, it was imperative for the government to look for another way of bringing them under control.

The ACF stalwart said, “Northern leaders are not sympathetic to Boko Haram. Our call for dialogue with the group is because of our belief that the use of violence and force has never solved any problem. If you use force and it failed, why not try dialogue.

“But nobody is coming out because there is no motivation for them and that is why we believe that there should be a different mechanism of bringing them out for dialogue. We believe that the offer of amnesty will be a carrot that will bring them out for dialogue.”

According to him, the North wants the issue of off-shore/onshore dichotomy revisited because of its belief that oil wells found deep inside the sea should be used as a basis for derivation.

He said the current position had made some states in the oil producing region to collect from the federations account six times what some other states were getting.

Hawkins had said it was imperative for them to visit the ACF in order to have a first-hand information about the region.

The American envoy noted that there was so much misinformation about the region.

Fielding questions from reporters after the meeting, Hawkins said the North was important to the United States.

He said, “We are very interested in its success, it is very important to us as well and so we try to get here as often as possible.”