TRIAL OF FIVE JTF MEMBERS, PRESIDENT JONATHAN PANDERING TO BOKO HARAM?

Icheoku regrets the lack of a resounding resolve on the part of Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan in dealing with the Boko Haram menace. Instead of allowing security operatives to decisively do their job in tackling those hoodlums, the president is knee-jerking and rather busy prosecuting five Joint Task Force members for actions taken in the field of battle against those Islamic terrorists. Icheoku says this genuflecting by the president in the face of continuing grave danger posed by Boko Haram terrorism will only affirm the impression already created in the minds of millions of Nigerians that a weakling is Nigeria's president. The president's wish-washy action is a mark of a confused and groping man who has no agenda or road-map on how to fix the broken and so many things are broken in today's Nigeria.

Icheoku says it is not a clever idea to throw Nigeria's security operatives under the bus just in order to curry favor from Boko Haram and make them stop killing and maiming innocent Nigerians with their bombs. We condemn the trial of the five JTF members as well as that of those police men involved in quelling the first Boko Haram uprising - they simply were doing their jobs and following commands. The president's position becomes more pathetic since the same President Jonathan who sanctioned this two ongoing trials of Nigeria security operatives as demanded by Boko Haram, also ordered that arrested Boko Haram members should not be tried for their crimes against Nigeria and her citizens but should instead be released in order to seek a political solution to the crisis? 

The mind gets even more queasy over President Jonathan's position because Boko Haram's stated objective and declared intention has nothing to do with political exclusivity or control or territorial integrity of any part of the country but that Islamism become the religion of general application throughout Nigeria. It is also instructive that so many Niger Delta brave youths gave their lives to secure President Jonathan his presidency, yet no one is trying those murderous Northerners who wasted so many lives quelling the militancy in Niger Delta; but Boko Haram's, in order to buy peace? Icheoku says peace of the grave yard is no peace at all and President Jonathan ought to understand this clearly. So Mr President, Icheoku asks you, what is really going on; are you still in charge of Nigeria and if so, which side are you on - terrorists or patriots?