Clark Reacts To Calls For Amnesty For Bandits, Terrorists, Sends Message To Tinubu

Clark Reacts To Calls For Amnesty For Bandits, Terrorists

Edwin Clark, an elder statesman and Ijaw leader, has advised President Bola Tinubu to ignore comments from uninformed individuals suggesting that the amnesty program in the Niger Delta has not contributed to peace in the region.

Clark gave this advice during a press briefing in Abuja in response to calls for amnesty for bandits and terrorists by some northern leaders. These leaders equated it with the amnesty granted by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua to Niger Delta militants.

He criticized the calls for amnesty for bandits as obnoxious and criminal. Clark pointed out that the situations in the Niger Delta and the activities of bandits in the North are fundamentally different.

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The Niger Delta militants had legitimate demands based on economic and federalist principles of resource control, with their people alienated from the oil wealth extracted from their land.

On the other hand, the bandits in the North have no legitimate claims and are driven by mindless criminality.

Clark highlighted the grave impact of terrorist groups like Boko Haram, Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP), killer Fulani herdsmen, and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Nigeria, leading to the country being ranked as the eighth most terrorized country in the world by the 2023 Global Terrorism Index.

He cautioned against negotiating with amorphous groups of bandits without central command or leadership, as such negotiations would likely yield no positive outcome.

He praised the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) for condemning Ahmad Yerima’s advice to the President, showing forthrightness in the matter.