Sen. Gyang opposes bill to rehabilitate, reintegrate B/ Haram terrorists

Senator Istifanus Gyang has urged his colleagues in the Senate to reject the bill seeking the establishment of an agency for the rehabilitation and reintegration of repentant Boko Haram terrorists and bandits.

Sen. Gyang, who represents Plateau North in the National Assembly, made the call in a statement released on Sunday in Jos by his Special Adviser on Media and Protocol, Musa Ashoms.

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He called on all senators to reject the bill given what he called the obvious negative implications of the proposed legislation for the security of the nation.

The senator warned that passing the bill is to incentivize terrorism and put the nation in perpetual harm’s way and disassociated himself from the bill that is slated for second reading in the.

“The bill is not only uncalled for, but assaults the sensibilities of Nigerians in view of the fact that most of the victims and communities affected by insurgency, banditry and violent attacks are still suffering from neglect and lack of the much needed government attention and intervention despite repeated calls.

“The victim communities displaced by insurgency and banditry from their ancestral homes are the ones to be rehabilitated and reintegrated as against terrorists and bandits that are responsible for their pains and plight,” he argued.

Sen. Gyang lamented the irony where care and attention for terrorist takes precedence over and above that of victims, asserting that it is inconceivable, incongruous and offensive to good conscience and equity.

He added that attempts in certain quarters to compare and equate Boko Haram terrorists with the Niger Delta agitators which attracted the presidential amnesty initiative and programme under the administration of President Yar’adua, is ludicrous.

The senator submitted that the presidential amnesty programme was not a product of legislation, but of government policy and has remained so.

“It was an intervention programme with a time line and terminal date unlike the pro-Boko Haram bill which intends to create an agency that will exist in perpetuity.

“By the proposed legislation, terrorism becomes a permanent feature to feed and sustain the activities of the agency which can best be described as Terrorist Breeding Agency.

“The bill is simply an attempt to use the National Assembly particularly the Senate, to acquiesce, placate and incentivize terrorism,” he added.