The Nigerian Army yesterday said it had begun direct disarmament talks with militant groups in the Niger Delta, in what is seen as the first public acknowledgement of military-militants talks since President Umar Musa Yar’Adua made an amnesty offer to the militants on April 2.
Army officials and militants had previously denied such contact despite pledges on both sides to end the conflict in the region after the Federal Government combined a military offensive with amnesty offer to tackle growing violence.
The talks could be a first step toward ending the unrest that has shut down between 500,000 and 1 million barrels a day of crude production in the country.
In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Colonel Usman Yusuf, an area commander for the JTF, said: “We are in contact with three groups.” The JTF spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment.
Yusuf said his area of responsibility covered Kalabari Kingdom, in Rivers State – the state with the largest oil production in the Niger Delta. He said the groups he is talking to are located in Elem Minama and Kula. Both communities are close to pipelines operated by a Royal Dutch Shell Plc unit that were attacked last year.
The colonel said he was discussing the “conditions to drop their weapons and how to collect” them. For now, he said he has an understanding with the militants he is talking with that “we won’t shoot at them, and they won’t shoot at us.”
Yar’Adua is due to release a report detailing the conditions for the amnesty this week.
But Yusuf said the “release of the final report is not a condition to accept the amnesty. They can accept the amnesty now and come back to live freely as citizens.”
Yar’Adua moved in April to modify Federal Government’s approach to armed struggle in the Niger Delta, by proposing amnesty for militants who turn their backs on militancy.
The President’s proposal will be discussed at the National Council of State (NCS) and other relevant levels of political authority.
But lawyers have differed on the president’s power to grant the official pardon. While some agree that the president has the power to grant the pardon he has proposed, others say Yar’Adua’s suggestion is misplaced.
The divergent views came amid the first admission by the Army of direct disarmament talks with militants in the Niger Delta. Colonel Usman Yusuf, told Dow Jones Newswires that they were “in contact with three groups.” This raises the hope of a comprehensive move towards peace in the region as Yar’Adua releases details of his amnesty this week, like he had promised.
But human rights lawyer, Dr. Tunji Abayomi said the question of amnesty as pronounced by the president in the case of Niger Delta militants is a mere “political decision” because pardon must be preceded by conviction, which does not exist in the Niger Delta situation currently.
“Amnesty usually comes after conviction. But I think the president is making a political decision and I think it is in the larger interest of peaceful coexistence. That is the way we can see his decision. If we are to look at the amnesty from the standpoint of law, it is an unusual decision,” Abayomi said.
Asked if anything concrete could emerge from the president’s amnesty, Abayomi said, “I don’t think so because, to be honest with you, the issue of Niger Delta is a complex issue. I think it has gone beyond that position. The issue would have to be resolved by some kind of agreement.
“The way I see it is that we would reach a point where the two sides will be exhausted and they would return to commonsense. It is true that no nation can watch the level of brigandage and recklessness that is going on in the Niger Delta and fold its arms. On the other hand, I think the demands that caused the problem remain legitimate.”
However, President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said while the president’s power under the Prerogative of Mercy Act covers pardon to convicted persons, release of prisoners, commutation of sentences, or wiping off of sentences, Yar’Adua has the power to grant amnesty to militants in the Niger Delta, even when there is no conviction, because the situation in the area is already akin to war. “The Federal Government and the militants are already in a state of war and the proposed amnesty by the president involves dropping something – their weapons – for something – pardon and reintegration into society. This is in order. But the Federal Government must eschew cheating in the current situation. The terms of the amnesty must be followed to the letter, for this is the only way we can have lasting peace in that part of the country,” Akeredolu said.
A Lagos lawyer, Mr. Fred Agbaje agreed on the power of the president to grant amnesty but doubted his sincerity. “He can pardon or grant amnesty to anybody after consulting with the National Council of State. This falls under his prerogative of mercy,” Agbaje said.
“On the Niger Delta question, where everybody wants peace, we know how much Nigeria is losing as a result of the armed agitation in the Niger Delta. The president is quite correct and is in a position to grant amnesty to the militants. But the question is, how genuine, how serious, how forthright is the president? Can you be talking of amnesty on one hand and on the other hand you are still launching military attack on innocent villages in the Niger Delta? How can you reconcile that? That is why people, especially those affected, are sceptical about the president’s claim to amnesty.”
Mr. Femi Falana said amnesty does not feature under the president’s prerogative of mercy, adding that the president, in the case of the Niger Delta, might be delving into an area that is the exclusive discretion of state governors.
“There’s no provision for amnesty under our law. But by virtue of section of 175 of the constitution, the President can grant conditional or absolute pardon to anybody who is convicted on account of a federal offence. But his powers cannot be extended to cover offences like murder because it is a state offence in which only a governor can grant a pardon,” he said.
Falana called for the toning down of arrogant rhetoric that could aggravate the situation in the Niger Delta. According to him, “The Federal Government is waging a full scale war against the people of the Niger Delta. Indeed, a member of the House of Representatives, reading the mood of the federal government, has even called for the extermination of 20 million people so that the rest can live in peace. Even the speaker has said what is going on in the area is a peacekeeping operation.
“The truth is neither of both combatants can extend amnesty, whether morally or politically. What is required in the present circumstance is a neutral body; a high-powered team like the ECOWAS, AU, and UN that are respected by both sides and can genuinely take both sides to the negotiating table, influence an agreement, and set the perimeter for the enforcement of the agreement.
“Such agreement should however include provision for disarmament and demobilisation on both sides. In other words, while asking the militants to lay down their arms, the JTF would have to be disbanded. And most importantly, there must a comprehensive marshal plan for the development of the Niger Delta and the Federal Government would have to apologise publicly to the people of Niger Delta for the 50 years criminal neglect since oil was discovered at Oloibiri, in Bayelsa State.”
Another prominent lawyer, Festus Okoye, said “Under section 175 of the 1999 Constitution, the president has the powers to exercise prerogative of mercy. The power of the president to exercise prerogative of mercy can be exercised by the president when somebody has committed an offence and has been convicted and or not convicted. The possession of arms and firearms or pipeline vandalisation is a federal offence on which the president can exercise amnesty. However, this can only be done when the president has consulted with the Council of State.”
Rickky Tarfa, SAN, would not comment on the President’s power to grant amnesty but believes peace in the Niger Delta serves the collective interest of all stakeholders in the region. “I don’t have background fact to make a meaningful contribution. I have not also studied the constitution on the matter. But we all know that it is in the interest of all of us and the international community that a solution is sought for the Niger Delta crisis,” he said.
Yar’Adua had on April 2 announced his intention to grant amnesty to militants who are willing to lay down their arms and promote peace in the Niger Delta. The president, who made the disclosure in Abuja while reporting progress on his seven-point agenda to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said: “We are working on the terms of amnesty for those (Niger Delta) militants who will lay down their arms.”
He said the amnesty would consolidate peace in the Deep South, with the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta and the rolling out of new rules of engagement for JTF.
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