It is no longer news that in the past one week the military in
Nigeria have moved in with great might into the south eastern part
of Nigeria. This is informed by the agitation of
predominantly the Igbo extraction of the country for the sovereign
state of Biafra.
This struggle is currently championed by the Indigenous People
Of Biafra (IPOB) led by Namadi Kanu. The said leader of the group
is standing trial for treason and had since been released on bail
by the federal government of Nigeria. It is alleged that Kanu had
repeatedly made unguarded statements to incite and inflame
possible violence which the federal government found intolerably
repulsive.
However, the government recently ordered the army on what
she tagged the operation Python Dance who invaded some of the
agitators and caused them to lay in the mud while forcing them to
drink conterminated water thereby subjecting them to inhuman and
degrading treatment in contravention to sections 34 (1) of the 1999
constitution as amended which states that:
” Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his
person, and accordingly –
(a) no person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or
degrading treatment”
In addition to this, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act
(ACJA) 2015, as a way of addressing the problem of torture,
provides in Section 8(1) that suspects must be accorded humane
treatment, having regard to the dignity of the person, and must not
be subjected to any torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
The soldiers jettisoned these provisions of the law, threw caution
to the wind and unleashed untold mayhem on armless Nigerians.
Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
states that “Every individual shall have the right to the respect
of dignity inherent in a human being that all forms of
exploitation and degradation of man particularly torture, cruel,
inhuman or degrading punishment and
treatment, shall be prohibited.” Despite this international
prohibition,Nigeria soldiers went ahead to brutalised her citizens
who are dissatisfied with the operations of government and
the directives of state policies.
Perhaps, it will also intrest you to note that the army usurped
the powers of the police force in this struggle. Internal crisis of
this kind solely falls within the confines of the
jurisdiction of the of the police service and not the army. The
actions of the army has led to the lost of many lives as they keep
toturing and shooting the agitators on sight. The apart that worsen
this whole theatre of illegality is the current proscription of
IPOB as a terrorist organisation. This also is premised
on illegality or perhaps a lack of understanding of the existing
laws on terrorism by the army. By the terrorism Act 2011 as amended
in 2013 the security agencies are given the wide powers to search
based on reasonable suspicion but they don’t have the powers to
proscribe any group as terrorist. The Act provides as follows:
(4) Further to subsection (3), the law enforcement agencies
shall have powers to-
(a) enforce all laws and regulations on counter – terrorism in
Nigeria;
(b) adopt measures to prevent and combat acts of terrorism in
Nigeria;
(c) facilitate the detection and investigation of acts of
terrorism in Nigeria;
(d) establish, maintain and secure communications, both domestic
and international, to facilitate the rapid exchange of information
concerning acts that constitute terrorism;
(e) conduct research with the aim of improving preventive
measures to efficiently and effectively combat terrorism in
Nigeria;
(f) partner with Civil Society Organizations and the Nigerian
public to provide necessary education,support, information,
awareness and sensitization towards the prevention and elimination
of acts of terrorism;
(5) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the law enforcement
agencies shall have powers to –
(a) investigate whether any person or entity has directly
orindirectly committed an act of terrorism, is about to commit an
act of terrorism or has been involved in an act of terrorism under
this Act or under any other law;
(b) execute search warrants as granted by the courts
authorizingits officers or any other law enforcement officer to
enter into any premises, property or conveyance for the purpose of
conducting searches in furtherance of its functions under this Act
or under any other law;
(c)investigate, arrest and provide evidence for the prosecution
of offenders under this Act or any other law on terrorism in
Nigeria;
(d) seize. freeze or maintain custody over terrorist property or
fund for the purpose of investigation, prosecution or recovery of
any property or fund which the law enforcement andsecurity agencies
reasonably believe to have been involved in or used in the
perpetration of terrorist activities in Nigeria or outside
Nigeria;
(e) seal up premises upon reasonable suspicion of such premises
being involved with or being used in connection with acts of
terrorism;
(f) adopt measures to identify, trace, freeze, seize terrorist
properties as required by the law and seek for the confiscation of
proceeds derived from terrorist activities whether situated within
or outside Nigeria;
(g) under the authority of the Attorney – General of the
Federation, enter into co-operation agreements or arrangements with
any national or international body, other intelligence, enforcement
or security agencies or organizations which, in its opinion, will
facilitate the discharge of its functions under this Act;
(h) request or demand for, and obtain from any person, agency or
organization, information, including any report or data that may be
relevant to its functions; and(i) appoint experts or professionals,
where necessary, to execute the powers required in furtherance of
its functions under this Act.
There’s no where in the above law that it is given that the
security agencies shall have the powers by law to declare any group
as terrorist.The said law on terrorism known as Terrorism
(Prevention) Act, 2011 (as amended in 2013) provides the procedures
for declaring an entity a terrorist and proscribed organization.
Section 2 of the Act, states as follows : “(1). Where
two or more persons associate for the purpose of or where an
organization engages in— (a) Participating or collaborating in an
act of terrorism;
(b) promoting, encouraging or exhorting others to commit an act
of terrorism; or
(c) setting up or pursuing acts of terrorism, the judge in
Chambers may on an application made by the Attorney General,
National Security Adviser or Inspector General of Police on the
approval of the President; declare any entity to be a proscribed
organization and the notice should be published in official
gazette.
(2) An order made under sub-section (1) of this section shall be
published in the official gazette, in two National newspapers and
at such other places as the judge in Chambers may determine”.
By way of contradistinction, a look at the international
implication of the act of the military in Nigera with respect to
their current operations is imperative at this juncture. The
Statute of Rome which was adopted at a Diplomatic Conference held
in Rome in July 1999 under the auspices of the United Nations which
Nigeria adopted and ratified on the 20th of April , 2002 has made
copious provisions on crimes against humanity.
Article 126 of the Statute of Rome establishes the International
Criminal Court which is binding on International law. Article 151
of the law provides that the doctrine of state or sovereign
immunity does not apply under the statute. It is no relevant
whether the accused committed the offence in his official capacity
as a head of state, he is personally responsible for the
crime. This is instructive and the military should equally
note that article 152 of the Status of Rome provides that ” a
military commander shall be criminally and personally liable for
crimes committed by force under his control or effective authority
provided:
(a) he knew or ought to have known that the forces were
committing or were about to commit such crimes;
(b) he failed to take all necessary measures to prevent the
commission of the crime.
Article 154 of the statute provide the offences prohibited
are the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and
the crimes of aggression. Genocide in the context of this law means
the killing of members of a group especially where it appears they
are unarmed and helpless.
We must draw from these laws and take caution. Our army must be
guided as it appears they are in breach of some of the provisions
of the Laws cited. We must stop the killings before our action
begin to draw international attention. Let us play by the rules of
engagement and create a better country for ourselves and our
children.
It is no longer news that in the past one week the military in
Nigeria have moved in with great might into the south eastern part
of Nigeria. This is informed by the agitation of
predominantly the Igbo extraction of the country for the sovereign
state of Biafra.
This struggle is currently championed by the Indigenous People
Of Biafra (IPOB) led by Namadi Kanu. The said leader of the group
is standing trial for treason and had since been released on bail
by the federal government of Nigeria. It is alleged that Kanu had
repeatedly made unguarded statements to incite and inflame
possible violence which the federal government found intolerably
repulsive.
However, the government recently ordered the army on what
she tagged the operation Python Dance who invaded some of the
agitators and caused them to lay in the mud while forcing them to
drink conterminated water thereby subjecting them to inhuman and
degrading treatment in contravention to sections 34 (1) of the 1999
constitution as amended which states that:
” Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his
person, and accordingly –
(a) no person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or
degrading treatment”
In addition to this, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act
(ACJA) 2015, as a way of addressing the problem of torture,
provides in Section 8(1) that suspects must be accorded humane
treatment, having regard to the dignity of the person, and must not
be subjected to any torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
The soldiers jettisoned these provisions of the law, threw caution
to the wind and unleashed untold mayhem on armless Nigerians.
Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
states that “Every individual shall have the right to the respect
of dignity inherent in a human being that all forms of
exploitation and degradation of man particularly torture, cruel,
inhuman or degrading punishment and
treatment, shall be prohibited.” Despite this international
prohibition,Nigeria soldiers went ahead to brutalised her citizens
who are dissatisfied with the operations of government and
the directives of state policies.
Perhaps, it will also intrest you to note that the army usurped
the powers of the police force in this struggle. Internal crisis of
this kind solely falls within the confines of the
jurisdiction of the of the police service and not the army. The
actions of the army has led to the lost of many lives as they keep
toturing and shooting the agitators on sight. The apart that worsen
this whole theatre of illegality is the current proscription of
IPOB as a terrorist organisation. This also is premised
on illegality or perhaps a lack of understanding of the existing
laws on terrorism by the army. By the terrorism Act 2011 as amended
in 2013 the security agencies are given the wide powers to search
based on reasonable suspicion but they don’t have the powers to
proscribe any group as terrorist. The Act provides as follows:
(4) Further to subsection (3), the law enforcement agencies
shall have powers to-
(a) enforce all laws and regulations on counter – terrorism in
Nigeria;
(b) adopt measures to prevent and combat acts of terrorism in
Nigeria;
(c) facilitate the detection and investigation of acts of
terrorism in Nigeria;
(d) establish, maintain and secure communications, both domestic
and international, to facilitate the rapid exchange of information
concerning acts that constitute terrorism;
(e) conduct research with the aim of improving preventive
measures to efficiently and effectively combat terrorism in
Nigeria;
(f) partner with Civil Society Organizations and the Nigerian
public to provide necessary education,support, information,
awareness and sensitization towards the prevention and elimination
of acts of terrorism;
(5) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the law enforcement
agencies shall have powers to –
(a) investigate whether any person or entity has directly
orindirectly committed an act of terrorism, is about to commit an
act of terrorism or has been involved in an act of terrorism under
this Act or under any other law;
(b) execute search warrants as granted by the courts
authorizingits officers or any other law enforcement officer to
enter into any premises, property or conveyance for the purpose of
conducting searches in furtherance of its functions under this Act
or under any other law;
(c)investigate, arrest and provide evidence for the prosecution
of offenders under this Act or any other law on terrorism in
Nigeria;
(d) seize. freeze or maintain custody over terrorist property or
fund for the purpose of investigation, prosecution or recovery of
any property or fund which the law enforcement andsecurity agencies
reasonably believe to have been involved in or used in the
perpetration of terrorist activities in Nigeria or outside
Nigeria;
(e) seal up premises upon reasonable suspicion of such premises
being involved with or being used in connection with acts of
terrorism;
(f) adopt measures to identify, trace, freeze, seize terrorist
properties as required by the law and seek for the confiscation of
proceeds derived from terrorist activities whether situated within
or outside Nigeria;
(g) under the authority of the Attorney – General of the
Federation, enter into co-operation agreements or arrangements with
any national or international body, other intelligence, enforcement
or security agencies or organizations which, in its opinion, will
facilitate the discharge of its functions under this Act;
(h) request or demand for, and obtain from any person, agency or
organization, information, including any report or data that may be
relevant to its functions; and(i) appoint experts or professionals,
where necessary, to execute the powers required in furtherance of
its functions under this Act.
There’s no where in the above law that it is given that the
security agencies shall have the powers by law to declare any group
as terrorist.The said law on terrorism known as Terrorism
(Prevention) Act, 2011 (as amended in 2013) provides the procedures
for declaring an entity a terrorist and proscribed organization.
Section 2 of the Act, states as follows : “(1). Where
two or more persons associate for the purpose of or where an
organization engages in— (a) Participating or collaborating in an
act of terrorism;
(b) promoting, encouraging or exhorting others to commit an act
of terrorism; or
(c) setting up or pursuing acts of terrorism, the judge in
Chambers may on an application made by the Attorney General,
National Security Adviser or Inspector General of Police on the
approval of the President; declare any entity to be a proscribed
organization and the notice should be published in official
gazette.
(2) An order made under sub-section (1) of this section shall be
published in the official gazette, in two National newspapers and
at such other places as the judge in Chambers may determine”.
By way of contradistinction, a look at the international
implication of the act of the military in Nigera with respect to
their current operations is imperative at this juncture. The
Statute of Rome which was adopted at a Diplomatic Conference held
in Rome in July 1999 under the auspices of the United Nations which
Nigeria adopted and ratified on the 20th of April , 2002 has made
copious provisions on crimes against humanity.
Article 126 of the Statute of Rome establishes the International
Criminal Court which is binding on International law. Article 151
of the law provides that the doctrine of state or sovereign
immunity does not apply under the statute. It is no relevant
whether the accused committed the offence in his official capacity
as a head of state, he is personally responsible for the
crime. This is instructive and the military should equally
note that article 152 of the Status of Rome provides that ” a
military commander shall be criminally and personally liable for
crimes committed by force under his control or effective authority
provided:
(a) he knew or ought to have known that the forces were
committing or were about to commit such crimes;
(b) he failed to take all necessary measures to prevent the
commission of the crime.
Article 154 of the statute provide the offences prohibited
are the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and
the crimes of aggression. Genocide in the context of this law means
the killing of members of a group especially where it appears they
are unarmed and helpless.
We must draw from these laws and take caution. Our army must be
guided as it appears they are in breach of some of the provisions
of the Laws cited. We must stop the killings before our action
begin to draw international attention. Let us play by the rules of
engagement and create a better country for ourselves and our
children.