No Compensation For Boko Haram Victims – Jonathan

No Compensation For Boko Haram Victims – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday ruled out payment of compensation to victims of terrorists attacks carried out by the Boko Haram sect and other groups in the country.

Receiving report from the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North at the Presidential Villa, the President said the government will only look at ways to help the victims get back to their businesses.

Despite the challenges faced by the committee at its inauguration, he said that it has laid the foundation for follow up action which would lead to the eventual control and end of the crisis.

Even with the progress made in the fight against terrorism in the north, he maintained that the war is not yet won.

He said: “We also noted the suggestion about the victims’ support because that is one of the terms of reference; how will government help to see that we can assist. Government is not going to compensate. It is not an issue of compensation but how do we assist people who have suffered to get back to business one way or the other.

“Government will look into this and other recommendations in your report and see that the right decisions are taken.

“Incidentally, we have security council meeting because this committee was an offshoot of the security council and we will review some aspects of this report and probably set up a team to look at it and work out a planned programme in terms of implementation of the recommendations.”

On the challenging assignment, he said: “First, let me on behalf of government welcome you to the State House and indeed, thank you for accepting to serve for the period you have served. Even the day we inaugurated you, we noted that it was quite a challenging job. It is not a ballroom dance because you were asked to meet the kind of characters you cannot even predict their behaviour.”