Sowore & Ors: State Terrorism & Repression Under Buhari & Osinbajo Must Be Fought To A Standstill

Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria, 22nd Nov 2019-By State or Political
Repression, it is the act of a state entity controlling the
citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the
purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take part in
the political life of a society thereby reducing their standing
among their fellow citizens. By State Terrorism, it refers to acts
of terrorism conducted by a state against its own citizens. State
terrorism comprehensively involves illegitimate policies and
conducts and other illegalities and atrocities perpetrated by a
sitting government against unarmed, defenseless and unprotected
citizens of particular social grouping(s), all done outside the
international norms friendly laws; perpetrated for hate,
repressive, racial or ethnic, political and religious purposes.
State terrorism and repression are the axiom of state
persecution.

It is therefore safe and correct to say that the Government of
Buhari and Osinbajo is speedily transforming, if not already
transformed Nigeria into a rogue state of international spitting.
Sadly and un-repentantly, it is the same State Security Service,
SSS, which is again leading Nigeria to infamous path of perdition.
In the dark days of the military, it was the same SSS then called
NSO that led the country into a disastrous path.

The heaps of dent that dotted the secret service in those years
forced its half-baked reforms and split into the now State Security
Service, the Directorate of Military Intelligence and the National
Intelligence Agency. That was in 1986 under the National Security
Agencies Degree (Act). But as ‘a cleaned pig’, it immediately
jumped back into its stagnant and dirty water under the Abacha’s
inglorious epoch and was used deviously and atrociously to cage,
molest, terrorize and ‘disappear’ countless of defenseless citizens
and blacken the country. Today, the Service is at it again with
utter and brazen ferocity!

While its international secret service colleagues such as
Israeli MOSAD, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, South Korean
National Intelligence Service, Japan’s Special Higher Police,
Russia’s KGB, American CIA, British M16, and even South African
Secret Service (SASS), etc have substantially made their countries
proud in matters of ‘man-mental-machine intelligence’ and
protection of their countries and nationals from internal man-made
disasters, threats and other unsafe conditions including unmasking
the unknown and recording great breakthroughs, the Nigerian SSS has
continued to rigmarole in absurdities and frivolities; reducing
itself to the status of ‘plain-clothed gendarme of a tyrannical
regime of a failed African State’.

We therefore, condemn strongly the continued detention beyond
the law of all defenseless citizens arbitrarily and repressively
arrested and held in perpetual captivity in Nigeria or any part
thereof. Readily in our mind are the trio of Omoyele Sowore, Agba
Jalingo and Olawale Bakare. The recent ordeal including arbitrary
arrest and long detention without trial of Citizens James Abiri and
Stephen Kefas, among others are also strongly and unreservedly
condemned. They have been in and out of police and prison custodies
for several months. They are also victims of state torture. The
risen and raging state terrorism and repression in Nigeria must
therefore be fought to a standstill by all and sundry.

In solidarity, we totally support and commend the designation on
20th Nov 2019 by Amnesty Int’l of the trio of Omoyele Sowore, Agba
Jalingo and Olaware Bakare as ‘the Int’l Prisoners of Conscience’.
Courtesy of Peter Benenson (31st July 1921-25th Feb 2005) on 28th
May 1961, ‘Prisoners of Conscience’ are arbitrarily arrested and
imprisoned nationals or citizens, arrested and imprisoned on the
grounds of their race or tribe, sex orientation, religion or
political views especially when they have never used or advocated
violence. We make bold to say that this is an international
recognition well deserved.

Similarly, the recent ‘arrange’ street and placard protests
against Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, are both condemnable and commendable.
The protests are strongly suspected to have been oiled by the
authorities of the country’s security forces. Condemnable because
it is a clear case of double standard and height of intolerance on
the part of the Federal Government; the same Government that
unleashes repressive and arbitrary measures to muzzle dissenting
voices and stifle civil space. It is commendable because it is an
indication of democratic free speech even though it is suspected to
be governmentally oiled.

The Buhari and Osinbajo Government has since August 2015
unleashed state terrorism and repression on innocent, unarmed and
defenseless citizens including bloggers, journalists, lawyers,
human rights, religious and ethnic activists. Thousands have been
killed and multiple thousands of others maimed with live bullets.
Hundreds have disappeared and remained unaccounted for till date.
The number of torture victims is also in multiple thousands.
Thousands have been arbitrarily arrested and detained without fair
trial and other custodial liberties.

While innocent, unarmed, defenseless and un-protected citizens
are violently tracked, molested, tortured, maimed, terrorized and
mowed down; thousands of terrorists who wrecked havoc and are still
wrecking including massacre of innocent Nigerians in their several
thousands are ‘pardoned’, ‘repented’ and conscripted into the
security forces, the terrorist Fulani Herdsmen are rewarded,
red-carpeted and presidentially dined with, a sort of reward for
massacring tens of thousands of defenseless Nigerians since mid
2015.

Religiously speaking, the Shiite Muslims have lost over 1300
members and have thousands of others tortured or maimed or
incarcerated without trial or disappeared without traces.
Ethnically, over 480 members of Igbo Ethnic Nationality and others
from their neighboring nationalities have been killed with over 500
others maimed or crippled for life. Scores have disappeared without
traces till date and between 800 and 1000 others were arbitrarily
arrested, detained and slammed with trumped up charges, marred by
withdrawals, discontinuations, dismissals, etc, all for want of
evidence.

In 2019 alone, according to Amnesty Int’l, at least eleven
defenseless citizens including bloggers, journalists, lawyers and
human rights activists have been arbitrarily arrested and
repressively detained without trial. Not less than 50 bloggers,
journalists, lawyers and activists were also arrested and detained
between mid 2015 and August 2019. The list included Tony Abulu,
Richard Hasley, Oputa Uche, Handy Romeo Eze, Kevin Toryila, Lanre
Ogunleye, Balogun Ehigie, Keneth Danpome, Mathew John, Joe Epi,
Emmanuel Elebeke, Musa Babale Azare, Emenike Iroegbu, Dapo
Ololunyomi, Evelyn Okakwu, Dr. John Danfulani, Barr Emeka Ugwuonye,
Barr Friday Odok, Friday Olokor, Samuel Ogundipe, James Abiri, Tim
Elombah, Stephen Kefas, Chido Onumah, Omoyele Sowore, Agba Jalingo
and Olaware Bakare, to mention but a few.

The arbitrarily arrested and repressively held and accused
citizens were further made to face false and spurious accusations
ranging from ‘cyber stalking’, ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorism
financing’ to ‘treason’. The central Government and some States
have since mid 2015 targeted human rights defenders, journalists,
bloggers and other dissenting voices. The named laws created to
tackle violent entities and armed opposition groups have been
turned upside down and used or targeted at defenseless critics and
other law abiding citizens.

Court orders are disobeyed with reckless abandon particularly by
the SSS, Police and Military. Constitutional provisions are lowered
below obnoxious legislations that are grossly inconsistent with the
Constitution. By Sections 1 (3) and 315 of the 1999 Constitution,
for instance, all other laws or Acts or deemed Acts of the National
Assembly and Laws passed by States Houses of Assembly are subject
to the provisions of the Constitution, but in practice and under
the present Government, such constitutionally inferior laws are
made supreme above the Constitution.

Despite the clear inconsistencies of Sections 27 and 28 (4) of
the Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011 (amended in 2013) with Section
35 (4) of the 1999 Constitution, the Attorney Gen of the Federation
and Federal Government of Nigeria have refused to have the
inconsistent and obnoxious provisions repealed or brought in
conformity with the Constitution. Section 27 of the Terrorism
Prevention Act unconstitutionally empowers police and other
security officers to arrest and detain citizens on grounds of
‘terrorism’ for 90 days, renewable permanently until ‘investigation
or prosecution is concluded’.

Section 28 (4) also unconstitutionally empowers them to place
citizens suspected of ‘terror’ under house arrest and be monitored
and have their phones seized; if granted bail within the 90 days of
solitary captivity until investigation is concluded. These are
contrary to Section 35 (4) of the 1999 Constitution which clearly
states that ‘if a citizen is arrested on suspicion of any offense
carrying capital punishment including terrorism, he or she may be
detained without bail and for purpose of investigation for not more
than 60 days; or 90 days if already released bail; and that if he
or she is continued to be suspected or investigated without trial,
he or she shall be released unconditionally or be put in reasonable
and humane condition that will ensure that he or she is available
for trial when needed, but certainly not under custody anymore.

We hereby join Amnesty International in calling for the release
of the trio Prisoners of Conscience. Democratic speeches or
opinions expressed on the basis of political, religious, ethnic and
societal decency and uprightness have never and can never
constitute acts of ‘treason’/’treasonable felony’, or ‘terrorism’,
or hate speech’ or ‘cyberstalking’. Perpetrators of State terrorism
and repression in Nigeria must not be allowed to assume the role of
a wicked mother or father that beats a child or minor and forces
him or her not to cry.

Signed:

Chinwe Umeche, Esq., Head of Democracy & Good Governance,
Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq., Head of Civil Liberties & Rule of
Law and Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chair of the Board of Intersociety.

Contacts:

Mobile/WhatsApp Line: +2348174090052, Email: [email protected]^[1], URL:
www.intersociety-ng.org