An Open Letter To President Goodluck Jonathan Re: ‘Amnesty’ For Murder Suspects By Chuba Obi

Dear Mr. President,
We the masses of Nigeria, observe
with bewilderment the media
publication on 6 April 2013 by the
Federal Government of Nigeria
regarding the incidents of murder and
mass murder suspected to have been
carried out by the Islamist sect
known as Boko Haram in Nigeria, and
the matter of ‘amnesty’ discussions/
proposals understood to be under
consideration by the Federal
Government for the suspected
murderers.
Our position is that if your
Government, Mr. President, takes any
step towards this so called ‘amnesty’
matter before your Government has
achieved justice in accordance with
the laws and constitution of Nigeria
for the victims and their families, your
Government shall by so doing have
inadvertently entrenched the crime of
murder and mass murder as a non-
punishable act in Nigeria, and
inadvertently entrenched victims of
murder and grievous bodily harm, and
their families, as being of no interest
to your Government and of no value
in Nigeria. Such entrenchments would
be grossly contrary to the
Constitution and laws of Nigeria
which you swore to uphold, and
would set a precedence which would
lead Nigeria into a predictable abyss.
For, how can it be, Mr. President, in
keeping with the Constitution and
laws of Nigeria, that murder and mass
murder is committed; innocent
citizens die horrible deaths; many are
maimed, living without limbs, eyes,
and various bodily organs; many are
dispossessed, having lost their
means of livelihood and homes; many
are displaced; internal refugee
situation is the lot of hundreds of
thousands if not millions, and the
suspected perpetrators of these
heinous crimes are not to be brought
to justice in accordance with the laws
and constitution of the land, but
instead granted ‘amnesty’ for their
crimes.
To compound it all, whilst this very
bewildering talk of ‘amnesty’ is going
on, we the masses of Nigeria have
not heard any talk of efforts from your
Government, to rehabilitate the
victims of these crimes. The relatives
of the dead are left to cater for
themselves, including orphans who’s
parents and family bread winners
were victims; some of the murdered
were buried in mass graves without
being identified by their families.
Hence the families will never know
what happened to their loved ones.
The maimed, a lot of whom are
permanently physically handicapped
are without help or support from the
Government; families are left to suffer
extreme hardship for the rest of their
lives without any help from the
Government you lead; whilst your
Government pre-occupies itself with
talk of granting ‘amnesty’ to the
people who are suspected to have
committed those crimes.
What message does such an intention
by the Government send to Nigerians
and to the world at large? Is the
Nigerian government saying that
murder and mass murder is no longer
punishable in Nigeria so long as the
suspected murderers and all those
complicit in it either through
sponsorship or in other ways, request
‘amnesty’? So any group of people
who feel governance should be
carried out differently in Nigeria are
being told that the constitutional and
lawful path is unnecessary, and
instead the path of murder and mass
murder would be more effective given
that the law will not be applied to the
suspected murderers so long as they
request amnesty at some stage
during their murderous acts? Is that
the message intended for Nigerians
and the world from your Government
sir?
We demand, Mr. President that your
Government adhere firmly to the
constitution and laws of Nigeria at all
times and in all circumstances. We
demand therefore that the crimes of
murder and mass murder perpetrated
against Nigerians by who so ever, be
lawfully tirelessly investigated and
justice made to prevail in full in
accordance with the constitution and
laws of Nigeria, and without fear or
favour. We demand also that justice
be done to the victims of the murders
and mass murders and their families
by a deliberate Federal Government
programme of compensation and
rehabilitation, including help with
relocation and resettlement for those
who are no longer able to reside in
those regions of the Country were
these murders have occurred. We
state that the precedence otherwise
set by the talk of ‘amnesty’ at this
stage without first establishing
justice in accordance with the
constitution and laws of our land, is a
definite road down the lane of
absolute lawlessness in Nigeria, a
situation that we know, you Mr.
President, and all good Nigerians
agree with us is not the right path for
our beloved Country, Nigeria.
We look forward to your urgent
attention to this matter Sir.
Thank you
Club Nigeria

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