The governors of the 19 northern states on Friday in Kaduna inaugurated a committee to identify the sponsors of Boko Haram with a view of prosecuting them.
Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, inaugurated the committee at the late Gen. Hassan Katsina House, Kaduna.
Shettima said that the days of Boko Haram are over as the military is now bombarding them with superior firepower and dislodging them from their strongholds in the north eastern parts of the country.
He said the committee, which would be under the aegis of Committee of Attorneys-General and Commissioners of Justice of the 19 northern states, also had the mandate to review the criminal justice system in the North.
Apart from the insurgency, there are other security issues which the North is facing including cattle rustling, armed robbery, inciting preaching and kidnapping. The committee is also expected to look into those and see how they could be incorporated into the penal code with adequate administration of justice. The committee has two months to conclude its work.
“The Committee should also look at the condemnable activities of the so called sponsors of the insurgency and come up with legally pragmatic, appropriate and proportionate punishment. The committee
should also focus specifically on parents, who, because of some pittance, sacrifice their children as suicide bombers. Such parents must be made to face the full wrath of the law.
“The committee also has the mandate to carry out careful analysis of the various emergent security challenges confronting the northern states and determine how best to incorporate them into the Penal Code for proper and effective administration of justice.”
The governor, however, cautioned the committee against making recommendations that would conflict with the 1999 constitution, urging the members to use their expertise and professional wealth of experience to find lasting solutions to problems that had retarded the growth of the region over the years.
