By Addis Getachew
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) – A prominent Nigerian religious figure on Monday criticized the government’s approach to tackling Boko Haram and called for defectors to be offered a way of leaving the group.
James Movel Wuye, the co-executive director of the Interfaith Mediation Center, said: “Boko Haram initially started as internal challenge and the Nigerian government initially did not handle it very well and for me that is why we have the problem that we are having now.”
Wuye, a Christian pastor who has worked extensively in conflict resolution, spoke to Anadolu Agency at a meeting of religious figures seeking to tackle discrimination and violence.
He said the current administration under President Muhammadu Bakari had adopted a carrot and stick strategy towards Boko Haram.
“We hope to see more of the carrot but we have seen a lot of the stick,” he said.
Wuye praised the military’s introduction of a “corridor” for fighters seeking to surrender. “If this continues, I see us solving the problem but if they use the gun alone… ideological issues are not settled by the barrel of the gun alone,” he said. “Ideological issues need superior ideological debates.”
Religious leaders from across Africa have gathered in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for a two-day meeting on developing strategies to prevent and counter discrimination, hostility and violence in the continent.
