A scrutiny of the failing of the legal instrument of a presidential amnesty in Nigeria

Description

The Niger Delta region became so prominent among Nigerians and across the globe not just because of the importance of oil in Nigerian’s daily lives but also because of the armed conflict in the region. All the previous efforts by the Nigerian government failed to find a solution to the problems of the region. As a country that depend on oil revenue, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua decided to have a change of strategy by means of granting a Presidential amnesty to militants in 2009. The amnesty package ignored and forgave all forms of crime committed by the militants be it against the state, oil companies, individual (s) or their communities. In turn, the militants or armed individual (s) were to commit to non-violence political means in the pursuit of their demands. With an uncompleted amnesty meant to address the problem, renewed sophisticated attacks on oil installations occurred from January to November 2016. The militants behind the renewed attacks appeared to be new militant groups whose names were never heard of before in Nigeria.