National security implications of granting amnesty to Boko Haram insurgents in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

The activities of Boko Haram have caused so much fear and tension in the air, particularly among those residing in the Northern parts of the country. Worrisome is the Islamic sect spread of its tentacles to other states in the North-East, North-West and North-Centre. To contain the sect, the Federal Government deployed more troops, declared a state of emergency in the hotbed of Boko-Haram to check the spate of the menace, yet the sect is holding upper had in the war. A situation that has tempted the federal government to concede granting the sect Amnesty. This study examines the implications of granting Amnesty to Boko Haram Insurgents in Northern Nigeria, it traces the activities and operations which has led to the continued massive loss of human and material resources, despite the death of their founder and detention of their top hit men. Their dastard activities have dented the image of the country, impacted negatively on the overall economic development of the country. This paper’s position is that granting amnesty to Boko Haram will portray Nigeria as a weak state and more dangerously as an encouraging signal to other disgruntled elements in the society to take up arms against the state. The paper recommend that, there should be effective information and analysis about the sect members and their operations, updating of security personnel and equipment, strengthen the anti-terrorist laws, etc. these will guarantee peace in Nigeria and defeat the sect.