Atiku Commends Borno Elders For Rejecting Release Of ‘Repentant’ Boko Haram Members
BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has commended what he described as the patriotic and commonsensical call by the Borno Elders Forum, on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the practice of releasing so called repentant Boko Haram members.
Atiku, in a statement on Saturday by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, said he fully aligns himself with the call and feels vindicated, saying that twice in 2018, he gave precisely the same counsel to President Buhari, which he did not heed.
The former vice president stressed that it makes no military or practical sense to release hardened terrorists, who have taken the very precious lives of members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, on the flimsy excuse that they have been deradicalised or repentant.
He further said that just as he said last year, and still says again, any right thinking person can see that the escalation of the war on Nigeria by Boko Haram/ISWAP, coincides with the introduction of the repugnant policy by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The PDP Presidential candidate appealed to President Buhari to cast his mind back to the testimony of Abba Umar, a Boko Haram commander who after his arrest, boasted that he would return to join the sect in Sambisa if he was ever released.
Atiku therefore advises President Buhari to show single minded resolve and commitment to defeating the common enemies of our nation and to do so without betraying any weakness, as this will only embolden the terrorists.
He commended the Borno Elders Forum and urged other bodies of elders to learn from their sagacious courage to speak the truth to power.
Atiku served notice to Boko Haram/ISWAP that if he is elected President of Nigeria, there will be no release of any captured terrorist, stressing that instead, they must expect the harshest punishment the law allows.
According to him; “Under Atiku Abubakar, criminals will not profit from their criminality.”
