Still on the
Still on the Presidency, Shi’ites and the
Police
By Yushau A. Shuaib
“Please, in the name of God don’t fight or fire…” – DCP Usman
Umar
The above were the last words of Deputy Commissioner of Police
(DCP) Usman Umar, who was shot while attempting to rescue one of
his officers, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sani Shehu,
during a violent protest by members of the Islamic Movement In
Nigeria (IMN), a Shi’ite group, in Abuja. Umar was later certified
dead at the hospital.
As a Muslim and a Northerner, I am deeply concerned and worried
about the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East,
armed banditry in the North-West and the seeming uncontained
Shi’ite protest in Abuja, North-Central Nigeria. The root causes of
most crises in Nigeria are the disappearance of means of
livelihoods, the lack of jobs and human insecurity, alongside the
deepening incidence of poverty and immiseration. Also, ignorance,
impunity, acts of lawlessness, the expressions of fanatical
ideologies and sectional sentiments that are being exploited and
manipulated by political elites.
On Wednesday, July 17, 2019, the Nigerian Police announced
restriction on all forms of protests in Abuja to the Unity Fountain
area, to contain what had become the daily processions and protests
of Shi’ite members. The Force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba said that by
that directive, intending protesters were expected to steer clear
of all critical national infrastructure, especially in the “Three
Arms Zone.”
A few days later, precisely on July 19, the Presidency issued a
statement seemingly indicating the likelihood that the Buhari
administration would obey a decision of the courts to release the
leader of the Shi’ites in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim Elzakzaky.
A presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, in the
statement, said: “Rallies and street dances (by Shi’ites)
ostensibly to openly insult the president and other leaders,
threatening bloodshed, will lead nowhere… The Buhari administration
has absolutely no hand in the on-going court case and the courts
are free to determine the bail request and the outcome.”
In its reaction, the Shi’ites wondered how the Presidency would
make such a claim when the government has contemptuously refused to
obey court orders in this regard. In its statement dated July 21,
the Shiite spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa, wrote that: “In December
2016, Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court freed
Sheikh Zakzaky from the illegal detention ordered that he, along
with his wife, be compensated to the tune of N50m, a house be
provided for him in any part of the country he desires and security
be provided for his protection. The Buhari government deliberately
acted in contempt of court and refused to respect the judiciary. So
which court is the presidency talking about that will decide the
fate of our leader?”
The following day, July 22, Shi’ite members stormed Abuja with a
procession that commenced from Wuse and moved towards the Three
Arms Zone, which accommodates the Presidential Villa, National
Assembly, and the Supreme Court.
When the procession was becoming rowdy and confrontational, DCP
Umar, who had peacefully contained more than two-dozen Shi’ite
protests in the last few months, thought he could re-enact his
magic wand in pacifying and engaging the protesters to be
peaceful.
As the Officer in Charge of Operations at the Abuja Police
Command, Umar had saved many lives by defusing highly violent
protests in the Federal Capital Territory in the past. A very
religious, detribalised and patriotic Nigerian, DCP Umar had a
golden rule, which he proudly announced to his team whenever they
were on sensitive assignments. He often told members of his squad
that: “Policing is not kill-and-go but a humane profession of
saving humanity.”
In several instances whenever his team was provoked, he would
always insist that live ammunition should not be fired. That was
the same directive he had earlier issued on the day he was killed
while on duty.
A few days after the death of the police officer, precisely on
July 26, the judiciary designated the Shi’ite movement in Nigeria a
terrorist group, after the Federal Government sought a court order
to proscribe the group. Justice Nkeonye Maha who issued the order
also restrained “any person or group of persons” from participating
in any form of activity involving or concerning the IMN “under any
name or platform” in Nigeria.
With this development, the Presidency should work with credible
intelligence to ensure that the Shi’ite issue does not snowball
into a major crisis that could worsen the current insecurity in the
country, because radical ideologies are usually – rather,
unfortunately – given further life through the use of coercive
force on its subscribers or membership.
It is necessary to point out that Shi’ite members seem to be
more sophisticated in their ideologies than similar groups, as they
are scattered across diverse fields such as the academia, business,
media, judiciary, military, security, civil service, and politics.
Members of the movement don’t necessarily proclaim their
affiliation but generally identify with the broader category of
being Muslims and perform pilgrimage in Mecca without being stopped
by their regional arch-rival, the Saudi-Arabia. Their foreign
supporters, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran, have, to some
extent, exercised restraint in the last four years of the Shi’ite
issue in Nigeria, which simply indicates behind-the-scene workings
of intelligence services and diplomatic efforts in keeping the
matter from frothing to the surface.
Even the powerful Trump administration is struggling to counter
Iran’s network of proxies across the globe, notably in Iraq,
Lebanon, Syria, Yemen. During the American war in Iraq,
Iranian-linked Shi’ite militia hit foreign forces with lethal
roadside bombs that penetrated even armoured vehicles. The Pentagon
has officially disclosed that: “those attacks killed hundreds of
U.S. troops between 2003-2010.” Several years after, the militia
groups still wield significant influence in the country and
elsewhere. Iran certainly knows how to exploit the chaos in some
countries to promote its ideologies and interests in keeping its
rivals off-balance.
In its efforts to address the challenges confronting our nation,
the Presidency needs to deploy more sophisticated responses by
thoughtfully engaging in diplomacy and negotiations for amicable
solutions, rather than the utilisation of military or police force.
When some Shi’ite members were killed in a similar altercation with
the military in Zaria in 2014, not only did the Defence
Headquarters tender an apology and set up a panel to look into the
incident, President Goodluck Jonathan also personally reached out
to and empathized with Sheikh El-Zakzaky for peace to reign. This
is one approach that could be extended or built on.
Yushau A. Shuaib
Author “An Encounter with the Spymaster”
www.YAShuaib.com