General Elections: Nigeria May Turn to Killing Field, Odinkalu Warns

* Politicians stock-piling arms, ex-militant leaders reveal

A former chairman of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission
(NHRC), Dr. Chidi Odinkalu, has raised the alarm that there were
enough arms in the hands of private citizens in the country to
create a killing field if next month’s elections are not free and
fair.

This is coming as ex-militant leaders in the Niger Delta region
have expressed worries that politicians are stockpiling large arms
and ammunition to unleash terror and mayhem against suspected
political opponents with sole aim of rigging next month’s
elections.

Speaking yesterday on the Morning Show of Arise News, a sister
broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspaper not,ThenigeriaLawyer, Odinkalu
said his greatest fear is violence, adding that this can only be
averted if the police, the biggest security outfit in the country,
is seen to be neutral in the activities leading to the
election.

“If the security services don’t behave responsibly and with
neutrality, there are enough arms in private hands in the country
to create a free-for-all killing field and I don’t think anybody
should pray for that,” he said.

On the issue of human rights abuses in the country, he said even
though he cannot really confirm if human rights abuses have
increased under President Muhammadu Buhari, he is however, sure
that disobedience to court orders have increased under the present
government.

He described it as ironic that people who disobey court orders
will one day run to the same courts to enforce their rights when
they are out of government.

Odinkalu said there is nothing like fake news, but false news
which he said that most government agencies like the military and
even the Minister of Information engage in.

He lamented that when these false news are challenged by
citizens, they are accused of not being patriotic enough.

He however insisted that if the government can stop these false
news, the people would be at a point where they can believe the
information the government or its agencies push out to them.

Commenting on the electoral guidelines of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), he said the guidelines was
not spectacularly different from that of 2015, except for some
minor modifications.

Meanwhile, ex-militants leaders in the Niger Delta region have
expressed worries that politicians are stockpiling large arms and
ammunition to unleash terror and mayhem against suspected political
opponents with sole aim of rigging the elections.

The ex-agitators under the aegis of Ex-agitators Leadership
Forum, disclosed that through their intelligence gathering, they
have identified some locations where these arms are kept and called
on all ex-militants not to allow themselves to be used by desperate
politicians as thugs to undermine the elections.

In a signed press statement read before journalists yesterday in
Benin City, Edo State, the forum’s National Adviser and
spokesperson, Walter Serete, and Comrade Godstime Ogidigba,
respectively, noted that what the region need right now is
sustainable peace and development.

According to them, “Most politicians had used the Christmas
festive period as an avenue to smuggle illegal firearms and
ammunition into the region as part of preparations for the general
polls.”

“We have resolved to carefully trace the locations, where they
are kept and the politicians behind this criminal act after
thorough information gathering. We will expose them to the whole
world,” the statement said.

Culled from Thisday