By Emmanuel Onwubiko
“The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern.” —Lord Acton
“The Spirit that prevails among Men of all degrees, all ages and sexes is the Spirit of Liberty.” —Abigail Adams, 1775
“A government of laws, and not of men.” —John Adams
Settling down to pen down my thoughts on the possibility of holding a free, fair, transparent and peaceful general elections around the earliest month of next year to herald the handing over of Presidential powers to the elected President by the incumbent Major General Muhammadu Buhari as he then was, was indeed teary and sobber going by the news that made the headlines in most national dailies about the Catholic Priest that was kidnapped and killed by terrorists suspected to be Fulani herdsmen in Kaduna.
It will be obviously acceptable to present a version of that sad story as written by Vanguard newspaper. The story depicts the classical case of a failed State.
Vanguard reported that Reverend Father Joseph Bako Aketeh who was kidnapped and later killed by bandits in Kaduna, was buried at the St John’s Catholic Church Kudenda , even without the corpse.
The Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, Most Rev Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso said during the funeral that they hope one day they would be able to see even if it is his bones.
The funeral took place amidst lamentations by family, friends and church members who wept profusely when the Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna performed the funeral rites without the corpse of slain Rev Fr Joseph Bako Aketeh.
Vanguard had earlier reported how Rev. Fr. Joseph was kidnapped on March 8th, 2022 and later killed by bandits in their captivity.
He was kidnapped at his residence at St John’s Catholic Church Kudenda where he served as a parish priest, together with his brother Sunday Bako who was also killed.
According to the Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, Most Rev Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso “ this is the first time I am presiding over a funeral mass without the corpse, we hope that one day we would be able to see even if it is his bones.”
“Nigerians are worn out due to weeping, our eyes could no longer produce tears. Bandits are terrorising with impunity. Does our government really care about our pains? Something is happening, they have failed us.”
“Nigeria is a country where citizens are treated unequally because of religion and ethnicity. Vices have become a value in our country. Government should use Nigeria’s resources to recruit young men who are willing to fight insecurity in order to defend the country,” he said.
This sad tales of the unfortunate deadly encounters of the Catholic Church in the North of Nigeria in the hands of terrorists are not isolated cases, except that Southern Kaduna being a Christian dominated region within Kaduna State has become a major flash point of terrorist attacks by Fulani terrorists who are responsible for some of the most atrocious crimes against humanity. The terrorists get support from some powerful persons embedded in the current administration who are Fulani.
I had stated that the issue of violence and terrorism is not limited to any particular place because first and foremost, the birthplace of modern day Islamic terrorism is in Maiduguri the Borno State capital where Boko Haram terrorists started off and then took their daredevil activities of killings, destruction and maiming of lives and property to all parts of Nigeria.
The other aspect of terrorism is that of armed Fulani terrorists that have unleashed devastating attacks all across Nigeria including the recent high profile kidnappings in Kaduna of Train passengers and the Methodist Prelate of Nigeria who was kidnapped in Lokpanta Abia State and released after the Methodist Church paid the ransom of #100 million generated from offertory all around Nigeria for the sole purpose of saving their Prelate from being killed hy the Fulani terrorists who have killed over 20,000 victims of kidnappings.
Few days ago, the Catholic Church in Owo Ondo State was bombed by armed Islamists killing over 40 worshippers and these killings attracted attention from the Pope, from the United Nations and from World leaders.
But the UN has particularly failed to take steps to speak out against Islamists killing Nigerians and even when the UN Secretary General Mr Antonio Gutterres visited Nigeria he failed to visit the victims of terrorist attacks but instead made a controversial endorsement of the illegal release of arrested and detained terrorists.
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA took the UN Secretary General on when he reacted to the terror attack at the Catholic Church in Owo Ondo State.
The leading Civil Rights Advocacy Group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) had carpeted the United Nations Secretary General Mr. Antonio Gutterres over his support for rehabilitation, reintegration and granting of pardon by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for detained Islamic terrorists.
HURIWA said the support given to this irregular and unconstitutional handling of terrorists by President Muhammadu Buhari as made known during the whistle stop visit to Nigeria by the UN Secretary General Mr. Antonio Gutterres provided more fire and motivation for boko haram and ISWAP terrorists to escalate their targeted attacks on Christians believing that if and whenever they are caught the Nigerian President will grant them pardon with the international support now provided by the UN system through the person of the Secretary General.
The Rights group said it was shocked that despite the red flag given by ECOWAS on Nigerian government’s unwillingness to stop terrorism financing through Nigerian Financial system as revealed by the Economic Community of West African States, the UN Secretary General Mr. Antonio Gutterres went ahead to applaud the unconstitutional decision by President Muhammadu Buhari to continuously grant pardon to detained Islamic terrorists under its faulty reintegration policy in the North East of Nigeria.
HURIWA recalled that the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, established by the Economic Community of West African States, says Boko Haram splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province, moved about N18bn ($36m) generated from trading and taxing communities in the Lake Chad region through the Nigerian financial system annually.
The group, set up by ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in 2000, stated that both Boko Haram and ISWAP had continued to mobilise, move and utilise funds through the nation’s formal financial and commercial system.
HURIWA recalled that the aforementioned ECOWAS group noted that the government lacked adequate insight into Boko Haram and ISWAP international linkages and abuse of the formal financial and commercial sectors. It said even though the Department of State Services had significant ability to identify and investigate terrorist financing activity, and that it even conducts parallel financial and terrorism investigation, there was little evidence of the effectiveness of such efforts. The group, known as GIABA, stated these in its 2021 Mutual Evaluation Report, where it also noted that Nigeria lacked an explicit policy to confiscate proceeds of crime or property of equivalent value, including terrorism financing.
HURIWA said even with the aforementioned mentioned abundant evidence of the collusion of the Federal government with terrorists in Nigeria, the United Nations Secretary General backed the release without trials of terrorists by President Muhammadu Buhari.
HURWA said the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his recent visit to Nigeria lauded Nigerian authorities’ ongoing reintegration of defectors from the jihadi Boko Haram group, which has waged a decade-long insurgency, as “the best thing we can do for peace.” But Speaking to reporters in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state where the insurgency is centered, Guterres also called for more global funding to help rebuild lives in northeast Nigeria where the rebels are operating.
HURIWA has therefore asked both the UN Secretary General and President Muhammadu Buhari to shut up and stop the empty political rhetorics over the bloody attacks by Islamic terrorists few days ago of a packed Catholic Church in Owo Ondo State just as the Rights group criticised the UN Secretary General for failing to meet Christian leaders in Nigeria so he can directly visit some of the Churches destroyed by Islamists since the last 7 years but rather he applauded the government of President Muhammadu Buhari for treating Terrorists with kid’s gloves.
HURIWA recalled that the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres and the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) condemned the Sunday attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, by gunmen, which claimed scores of lives. He called on the authorities to spare no effort in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
According to a statement by the spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres emphasised that attacks on places of worship are abhorrent.
It read, “The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms the heinous attack on the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, on June 5 that resulted in the death and injuries to scores of civilians as people gathered for the Pentecost service.
“The Secretary-General emphasises that attacks on places of worship are abhorrent. He urges the Nigerian authorities to spare no effort in bringing the perpetrators to justice.”
The Secretary-General extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
He also expressed his sympathies and solidarity with the Government and people of Nigeria.
HURIWA however asked the UN SECRETARY GENERAL to shut the trap up because his latest statement is hypocritical and irresponsible because he had already backed the illegal release of arrested and detained terrorists as is being done by President Muhammadu Buhari just as HURIWA said that most of the released terrorists go back to bomb more soft targets everafter.
So the spate of violence and terrorism all over Nigeria have the potential of sparking off fears in the minds of Nigerians regarding how the coming election can happen amidst violent attacks.
The question to ask is why the Federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari has deliberately failed to check the widening spectres of terrorist attacks all over Nigeria. Why did President Muhammadu Buhari decide to have only Fulani Moslems as heads of security institutions since he came to office in 2015 even as this nepotism offends Section 14(3) of the Nigerian Constitution that requires compliance to Federal character Principles in appointments? Why are these sectional heads of security institutions looking another way whilst terrorists belonging to the Fulani ethnicity are wreaking havoc all across Nigeria killing farmers, citizens and bombing Churches? Are there subterranean plots to sabotage the 2023 election so Fulanis who are in power do not step away and let the South produce the next President in 2023?
As the founder of HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA and as a journalist for over two decades, I’m convinced that the security forces are complicit in the organised insecurity of these times but what is not clear is if these attacks are meant to derail the transition from President Muhammadu Buhari to the eventual winner of the coming 2023 election on May 29th 2023 when President Muhammadu Buhari’s two terms would elapsed with no right of renewal.
Recently, the Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), slammed the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, over moves to punish a Chief Superintendent of Police who accused the Nigerian Army of conniving with Fulani herders to kidnap residents of the Isuochi community in Abia State.
The Rights group has also called on the National Assembly and the Federal Government to set up independent commission of inquiry to investigate allegations that some civilians of Fulani ethnic stock were housed and issued resident permits by the Nigeria Army to reside inside military facilities especially in South East of Nigeria and South West. HURIWA accused the military hierarchy of maintaining undignified silence over the report that some persons were seen with identity cards issued to them as resident permits just as only persons of Fulani heritage are said to possess this identification.
HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, hailed the Police Senior officer for telling the whole world the truth about what is happening in the South-East and the connivance of security agents in the heinous crimes perpetrated by Fulani herders in the five South-East states.
The officer, who identified himself as CSP Johnbull, had stood before the people of the community and publicly accused soldiers of not assisting the community to arrest the kidnappers.
But Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, in a statement last Wednesday, said the utterances of the officer do not represent the principles and ideals of the Force and as such, “the erring officer will face the disciplinary procedures of the force for his unguarded indiscretions.”
Reacting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko rejected the planned sanction for the officer, saying it is unwarranted.
He said, “HURIWA condemns the attempt by the IGP to shut up the policeman for exposing those elements causing anarchy and terror in the South-East.
“Recall that the Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Samuel Kanu Uche, who paid N100 million ransom after being kidnapped last month in Abia, said upon his release that “the eight-man gang was made up of ‘Fulani boys’ who claimed to be against the government.”
“He revealed that only one of the hoodlums understood English, while others spoke Fulfulde. The cleric also said he observed that military men were around the place where the hoodlums operated, while their cows were also around the vicinity.
“This is a gross indictment on the Nigerian Army and this should be thoroughly investigated and not swept under the carpet.”
The group further called for the probe on the discovery of secret identification cards allegedly issued to civilians of Fulani ethnic stock by the Nigerian Army in the South-East tagged, ‘Fulani Residential Permit’.
HURIWA also called the attention of all Nigerians to the alert issued by the Indigenous People of Biafra that the Nigeria security agents, especially Nigeria Army, have allegedly changed tactics in the desperation to indict IPOB by resorting to plant bombs in Biafraland.
“IPOB has consistently denied planting IEDs in the South-East. With IPOB’s latest accusations, there is the need for thoroughness and for independent investigation because it is clear that security forces have abandoned their professional calling and have embraced conjectures, guess works, outright propaganda as a way of law enforcement whereas Fulani terrorists are wreaking havoc in the East.
“The Army must improve its poor state of forensic investigation and stop pointing accusing fingers at IPOB when there is no availability of any sort of investigation when crimes occur in the South East. Security agencies must stop concluding without any shreds of verifiable evidence on the group responsible. Security services must stop having their minds made up that it is IPOB.
“Truth of the matter is that: terrorists have surrounded us, from north to south; they have secured safe havens for themselves in our forests and launch attacks at will. The recent massacre in Owo suffice.
“Also, the government must wash itself of the allegation of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, established by the Economic Community of West African States, which said Boko Haram splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province, moved about N18bn ($36m) generated from trading and taxing communities in the Lake Chad region through the Nigerian financial system annually.
“The operations of insurgents and Fulani killer herders are clearly backed by folks in government, security agents and the financial sector. Nigerians are not fools.”
Interestingly, President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to ensure that the violence that is spreading do not compromise or sabotage the election and that he is ready to quit after his two terms expires early next year on May 29th.
Millions of Nigerians are indeed mystified that the President himself has failed spectacularly to stop terrorists from killing Nigerians and that the President failed in his primary duty to the citizens enshrined in Section 14(2) (B) of the Constitution which is to protect lives and property of Nigerians. This key provision of the Grund Norm states and I quote: “The Security and welfare of the citizens SHALL be the PRIMARY PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT”.
Obviously Nigerians are ready for a free, fair and peaceful 2023 elections and hope that Government is not stoking up violence to torpedo the aspirations of Millions of Nigerians to institutionalise a better and much more effective, efficient, result oriented and Law abiding President comes May 29th 2023.
It is instructive that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, says the nation’s political landscape is likely to get tenser across the six geo-political zones.
He spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt at a three-day second senior command and leadership seminar for commanders of various formations across the country.
The seminar had the theme ‘Building the Capacity of Nigerian Army to Meet Contemporary Security Challenges in a Joint Environment: The Role of Senior Leadership.’
The COAS warned troops to avoid politicking as the 2023 general elections approach.
He said no personnel would be allowed to participate in the elections or support any candidate as stipulated by the extant laws guarding the service.
“So, I want to remind all commanders that as the electioneering season approaches the political landscape is likely to become more tense across the geopolitical zones.
“Engagement of political thugs; use of hate speeches and other inimical activities by desperate politicians and their supporters will likely instigate a more fragile security situation in the coming days.
“I charge commanders at all levels to ensure that troops under command are adequately enlightened on the need to be apolitical and eschew all political vices.
“To this end, all army personnel must act within the ambit of the law; the provisions of the extant rule of engagement and code of conduct for the elections in 2023,” he warned.
Yahaya said the army would adopt a more superior system of operation to harness the collective potentials of all security stakeholders in the coming days and weeks.
He said the seminar was organised to brainstorm and proffer solutions to challenges confronting ongoing operations in the country.
“Our current operating environment is dynamic and has continued to expose new threats which require deeper insights to successfully overcome them.
“So, the forum offers senior commanders the opportunity to engage one another and introspect on our existing operational model so as to identify gaps.”
Nigerians expect the military to overwhelm and overpower all the centrifugal and centripetal forces of violence threatening to sabotage the 2023 poll.
We won’t accept half measures from the military. Period!