I have been informed that looking hungry and unkempt, the Boko Haram militants have been coming out from the desert of the Sahara, from basin of the lake Chad, from the mountains of Gwoza and from inside the forest of Sambisa, surrendering their weapons.
Now there is an argument in the public space in which some are asking us to forgive them while others are putting forward an opposing view. This is normal.
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Deep down inside of me, it is quite bitter to think of forgiving such animals. They have set us against each other; the Christians against Muslims, with their false claim that they were fighting “in the name of Allah” and their false claim that Islam has sanctioned the killing of a non Muslim and the murder of Muslims who refuse to accept the group’s stupid interpretation of the Qur’an, that they will go to heaven for the killing, etc.
Partly because of their actions, today we are far more divided in the North than we have ever been and in the country in general, we are far more divided than we were during the civil war. We need to heal the divide.
I believe what is happening to them right now is that they are surrendering because they have run out of ammunitions and food, they are hungry; and because surrender offers them a chance to leave combat so as not to die in the hands of the Nigerian military. A friend also told me that with the closure of Bureau d’ Change, monies are blocked from their sponsors.
Whichever way it is, it is difficult to forgive them. But if we may, we must not forget.
For me therefore, in order not to forget, I suggest that no matter how long it takes after their surrender, any victim or their families that can positively identify a murderer, kidnapper, a rapist, a torturer, or an abductor of the Chibok girls or of the Dabchi school girls for which Lear Sharibu is still unseen, the person should be made to file an action against them in a special court or Tribunal the government should establish for that purpose.
To forgive is divine, but we must not forget. In order not to forget therefore, setting up a special court or Tribunal will enable victims and their families to openly confront the repentant villains and their families too, even if to identify and shame them and their families after confessing their sins in public and personally asking the victims and their families for forgiveness.
We may forgive but we must not forget. If we don’t forget, the victims and the villains would make a point to the whole world by saying NEVER AGAIN.
Dasin, Abuja.
