HURIWA tasks Religious leaders, FGN on National Policy on Violent Kidnappings: *Presents petitions to Pope Francis; UK parliament;

A leading non-governmental and pro-democracy organization – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has called for a concerted effort and synergy between religious and political leaders of Nigeria to adopt a holistic national policy on violent kidnappings and how to check the astronomic rise in the violent crime.

HURIWA also challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to table the matter of violent kidnappings in the sub-region before a high level consultative parley of the Economic community of West African States (ECOWAS) because the menace is harming industrialization in West Africa and discouraging direct foreign investors from bringing their businesses to the kidnappings prone region.

HURIWA said it has noted with regret that over the past decade the crime of violent criminal abductions/kidnappings of Nigerians for ransom payments have only received lips service and piecemeal cosmetic approach without any major national momentum to criminalize these vicious acts of depravity and enforce capital punishment as the legal sanctions. HURIWA accused the police and other security agencies of colluding to perpetuate the crimes of armed kidnappings going by the likelihood that they may be receiving pay offs from the bandits who have become increasingly daring and sophisticated. HURIWA wondered why the nation has failed to invest substantially in technology as a viable means of waging science based fight against violent kidnappers.

In a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA disclosed that by next week it will present letters demanding global actions to the global office of Amnesty International in London and the British parliament in Westminster.

Besides, HURIWA has resolved to present a petition to the primate of Anglican Church worldwide in the United Kingdom next week and to dispatch a written presentation to the Holy Father Pope Francis in Rome to demand global leaders’ intervention because the crimes of kidnappings have become of the greatest cause of death of religious leaders in Nigeria and the sub-region.

“We call on the leadership of the Catholic Bishops conference of Nigeria (CBCN), the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Nigerian Council for Islamic Affairs, to meet President Muhammadu Buhari, the council of states and the National Assembly to confront the national security emergency created by the unprecedented rates of armed violent kidnappings in Nigeria.”

HURIWA believes that kidnappers both from within and without have discovered that the Nigerian government tolerates impunity of widespread mass killings by all kinds of freelance armed hoodlums so they have evolved a thriving industry of armed kidnappings for payments aided by some rogue elements in the police and security forces.” It therefore tasked the Federal government to also inaugurate a probe panel made up of internationally acclaimed forensic investors drawn from across the globe to fish out operatives and officers of the police and other security forces who are actively participating in the thriving criminal enterprise of armed kidnappings for monetary settlements.

HURIWA recalled that Killings and kidnapping of priests, the religious and other pastoral workers especially in West Africa, seem to be on the increase just as it noted that the English Africa Service, Vatican News from the Vatican City has now beamed its searchlight on this emerging but sinister criminal gagsterism of armed kidnappings.

HURIWA recalled that the Vatican news channel stated that although it is worth bearing in mind that by far the majority of victims in killings and kidnappings are ordinary innocent persons, crimes targeting religious pastoral workers seem to be on the rise, in Africa.

HURIWA recalled that six days after being kidnapped by unknown gunmen from his parish house, the body of Fr. Clement Rapuluchukwu Ugwu was found Wednesday, this week. He was buried Thursday after Mass at the Holy Ghost Cathedral Church, Ogui Enugu. The Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Callistus Onaga, celebrated the Mass.

Fr. Ugwu was abducted on the night of 13 March from the parish house of St. Mark’s Catholic Church, Obinofia, Ndiuno in Ezeagu LGA of Enugu State. The kidnappers shot him before taking him away with them.

The Guardian - Nigeria quoted Bishop Onaga saying the increasing spate of violent killings in the country was worrying. Both the Bishop and the Diocesan Director of Communications, Fr. Benjamin Achi, called on the state government to live up to its responsibility of protecting lives and property.

Besides, HURIWA recalled that Agenzia Fides reports that Capuchin priest, Fr. Toussaint Zoumaldé, a native of the Central African Republic was killed in Ngaoundéré, Cameroon on his way to Baibokoum in Chad.

According to a statement released by the General Custody of the Capuchins for Chad and the Central African Republic, Fr. Toussaint Zoumaldé had gone to the Diocese of Bouar, in the western part of Central African Republic to conduct some training. In the night between 19 and 20 March, unknown people attacked and killed him in Ngaoundéré (Cameroon) where he had made an overnight stop.

Fr. Toussaint (born in 1971) had worked as the Director of Radio Siriri, in the Diocese of Bouar.

Similarly, HURIWA recalled that In the meantime, the Bishop of Dori, Laurent Dabiré, in the northern part of Burkina Faso had through the media expressed sadness that there is no news concerning the disappearance of Fr. Joël Yougbaré, the parish priest of Djibo.

Recall that last Sunday after celebrating Sunday Mass in Bottogui, Fr. Joël Yougbaré was returning to his parish house along the Djibo-Tongomayel-Nianguel-Sergoussouma-Bottogui road and since then had not been seen. No one knows what became of him. However, the Bishop told Agenzia Fides that the area where the priest disappeared is unsafe due to the presence of jihadist groups.

Also, HURIWA recalled that in mid-February, a Spanish priest and four customs officers were killed in a jihadist attack in eastern Burkina Faso. Similarly, an Italian missionary, Fr. Pierluigi Maccalli, a priest of the Society for African Missions was kidnapped on 17 September 2018 in Tillaberi.

HURIWA recalled that the Islamic advisor to President Muhammadu Buhari Sheikh Ahmad Sulaiman was kidnapped last week in Katsina and a N300 million ransom demands made by the kidnappers to his family made through a call just as the mother in law of the Katsina state governor was kidnapped for two and later released. A reporter with Channels to was kidnapped at the weekend in Abuja and a N50 million ransom demand was slammed on his family.

KANO RERUN WAS A SPECTACLE OF FRAUD; VIOLENCE- SAYS HURIWA

The prominent Non-Governmental organisation- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has upbraided the acting Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu for dereliction of duty tantamount to criminal negligence which must not go unpunished for permitting armed thugs of political parties to unleash violence during Saturday's March 23rd 2019 governorship re-run poll in parts of Kano state.

HURIWA specifically condemned the fraudulent claims of a peaceful re-run election made to the media disgracefully by the Deputy inspector General of Police Mr. Michael Anthony Ogbizi that contrary to widespread and extensively reported evidential proofs showing widespread reign of bloody violence meted out to supporters of the opposition Peoples Democratic party (PDP) by armed thugs recruited by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in many parts of Kano state. "This deputy Inspector General of police represents every negative indices that the notoriously compromised policing institution is frequently rebuked from all across the civilised World for operating in a format that is antithetical to constitutional democracy and respect for the principle of rule of law. He should cover his face in shame if he has a conscience for denying the obvious". 

HURIWA stated that it has always known that there was no valid, cogent and verifiable reasons for the Independent National Electoral Commission to have selectively declared inconclusive, governoship polls that the opposition Peoples Democratic party were at the verge of emerging victorious even when the same electoral umpire was the first to have always declare the results of elections in places like Kwara and Ekiti states just to spite and intimidate the likes of Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki and erstwhile Ekiti state governor Ayodele Peter Fayose both of whom are some of the most trenchant critics of President Muhammadu Buhari's style of leadership. 

HURIWA wondered how the hierarchy of the Nigerian Police force deliberately allowed armed thugs of All Progressives Congress made up mostly of notorious drug addicts to wage internecine war against the members; officials and supporters of the opposition political party- Peoples Democratic party (PDP) to an extent that even journalists were not spared. "To now watch the DIG tell some wicked lies denying the correct reports of violence in Kano state during the re-run election is therefore very insulting and is nothing short of an unambiguous evidence that the police officials from the top are criminal collaborators with some criminal elements in Kano to undermine and thwart the democratic will of the good people of Kano state. Both INEC and the Police are hereby condemned for these atrocious criminal plots to destroy democracy in Kano and Nigeria through the cocktails of cooked up figures been bandied as outcomes of the badly managed polls". 

HURIWA recalled that the media reports that thousands of weapon carrying hoodlums, majority of whom were wearing the All Progressives Congress, APC, agent’s tag took over the show in Gama ward of Nasarawa Local Government area during the governorship election rerun in Kano.

HURIWA recalled that their members on ground claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s supporters were forced into hiding as APC took control of everything even as HURIWA learnt from media reporters that when the reporters visited the flashpoints in Kano  at around 3:30pm they observed massive exodus of those supporting PDP out of the area and a resident, Ya’u Alhaji, told reporters that the hoodlums that took over the streets were brought in to intimidate residents.

HURIWA stated thus: “Aside our members who were on ground who raised alarm, even the foreign amd local media reported some of those voters interviewed as stating that the armed political thugs are not from their area but that they were only here to cause mayhem."

"Residents of Gama disclosed that they have seen a lot of strange faces in the area right from the time of early morning prayer and those ‘strangers’ later took over the streets of Gama brandishing weapons and unleashing terror.It is not possible to identify yourself as PDP member here, not to talk of Agent. You can’t hang any PDP tag here,” a Gama resident stated.It was earlier reported that some journalists were harassed as some of them escaped lynching by the hooligans."

HURIWA has therefore asked INEC to annul the manipulated and violently obtained results of the Kano re-run election and to proceed to announce the already collated results prior to the so called re-run poll and declare a winner since the places for the re-run election do not constitute a good enough reason for voiding the previously collated and announced results. 

HURIWA PRAISES TRIBUNAL ON OSUN GUBER

A prominent Non-Governmental organization – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has applauded the Osun state governorship election petition Tribunal for restoring faith in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man by returning the candidate of the opposition political party- Peoples Democratic Party Senator Ademola Adeleke as winner of the September 27^th  poll.

HURIWA stated that the current administration has carried out systematic attacks against the judiciary using all sorts of backhand tactics and illegally deploying the Department of state services (DSS); and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and lately the Code of Conduct Tribunal presided over by the allegedly compromised Chairman who illegally granted an ex parte order that unconstitutionally unseated the Chief justice of Nigeria Justice Walter Onnoghen all in attempts to cow the judges and get them to always give choreographed verdicts in favour of the party in power at the center. The Rights group said the judgment by the Election Tribunal is reassuringly bold and is in compliance with rule of law.

HURIWA recalled that the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal had earlier declared Ademola Adeleke of the PDP as the winner of the controversial state election just as the tribunal also declared the September 27 rerun election in the state illegal.

HURIWA recalled that the three-man panel of the Tribunal gave the judgment on Friday following the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ademola Adeleka against the All Progressives Congress, APC and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola.

Besides, HURIWA recalled that the Tribunal also ruled that PDP and Adeleke proved that it was the state Returning Officer who cancelled the results in 7 Polling Units, adding that the petitioners also proved that the Returning Officer has no power to cancel election results of a polling unit.

The Tribunal also deducted 2,029 votes from APC scores and 1,246 votes from PDP votes in 17 polling units where there was noncompliance.

HURIWA recalled that delivering the judgment, the panel had a split decision. While two members (majority judgment) ruled in favour of PDP and Ademola; the chairman, Justice Ibrahim Sirajo (minority judgment), ruled in favour of APC and Oyetola.

HURIWA which reacted to the news of the development said the verdict was not just for the opposition political party but was a celebration of the virtues of transparency, accountability and courage just as the group expressed optimism that the judgment will in a very significant way redress the massive injustice meted out to the electorate in Osun state by the corrupt Independent National Electoral Commission  just as the Rights group demanded that the INEC collation officials who thwarted the will of the people be prosecuted for treason.

HURIWA recalled that section 285 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution stated thus: “There shall be established for the Federation one or more election tribunals to be known as the National Assembly Election Tribunals which shall, to the exclusion of any or tribunal, have original jurisdiction to hear and determine petitions as to whether –  (a) any person has been validly elected as a member of the National Assembly; (b) the term of office of any person under this Constitution has ceased; (c) the seat of a member of the Senate or a member of the House of Representatives has vacant; and (d) a question or petition brought before the election tribunal has been properly or improperly brought."

HURIWA has therefore asked that the rightful winner of the Osun state governorship poll as declared by the Tribunal be sworn in immediately and the impostor be dethroned to halt further perpetuation of illegality since he is occupying the office of governor of Osun state fraudulently.

NSCDC Officer’s death: HURIWA calls for total overhaul of policing

A call has gone to Federal Government; the National Assembly and Stakeholders in the organized civil society community to ensure that the groundswell of professional indiscipline in the police force is holistically addressed just as the Rights group has advocated prosecution for murder of all police operatives found to have committed extra-legal killings of Nigerians in conflict with the law.

Making the call is the prominent non-governmental and pro-democracy group – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) which specifically condemned the alleged killing by police operatives of a senior officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Mr. Ogah Jumbo during an altercation in Nyanya, near Abuja over alleged traffic offence by the late Mr. Jumbo.

The Rights group specifically affirmed that the police operatives who were responsible for this gruesome murder must be arrested and prosecuted for murder. Besides, HURIWA regretted that cases of professional indiscipline has become worrisome within the police force even as the practices of extralegal killings of suspects in Police custodies have become a menace threatening the corporate image of Nigeria which has attracted condemnation from world leaders including the United States of America. HURIWA stated that the poor human rights scorecard of Nigeria under the current dispensation as recorded by the United States of America goes to show that the state of professional indiscipline of the security forces and especially the operatives and officers of the Nigerian police force has reached an unprecedented global dimension requiring surgical overhaul of the modus operandi of the policing institution in the Country. HURIWA said the climate of impunity and lawlessness that pervade the nation's security forces and especially the police force are capable of destroying constitutional democracy and imperil the respect to the fundamental rights of Nigerians as provided for by the legal frameworks and the groundnorm.

In a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said the Nigeria police force has reached a stage whereby Nigerian state must reform and purge it of all traces and entrenched criminal tendencies of impunity or there would be widespread violence targeting operatives of the policing institution from Nigerians who have suffered cocktails of intimidations, harassments, killings and arbitrary arrests by the police. HURIWA asserted that the police has almost constituted itself into an institution whose leadership are above the law just as the Rights expressed regret that the Nigeria Police force as currently administered lacks transparency and accountability.

HURIWA stated thus: “Only few hours back, the United States Department of State released what it termed evidence of impunity in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Nigerian government. The State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018, said that Nigeria under Buhari, had made little progress in efforts to limit corruption in its public service.”

HURIWA recalled that: "The US Congress makes it mandatory for the executive to produce a report on the state of human rights worldwide every year. The report added that “Although the law provides criminal penalties for conviction of official corruption, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.

HURIWA backed the USA in unambiguously stating the verifiable allegations that “There were several reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary and unlawful killings. The national police, army, and other security services used lethal and excessive force to disperse protesters and apprehend criminals and suspects and committed other extrajudicial killings."

HURIWA Stated that it is factual that: “Authorities generally did not hold police, military, or other security force personnel accountable for the use of excessive or deadly force or for the deaths of persons in custody. State and federal panels of inquiry investigating suspicious deaths generally did not make their findings public."

The Rights group further supported the United States of America for stating the obvious when the US state department in the current global human rights reports averred as followed on Nigeria: “In August 2017 the acting president convened a civilian-led presidential investigative panel to review compliance of the armed forces with human rights obligations and rules of engagement, and the panel submitted its findings in February. As of November, no portions of the report had been made public. As of September there were no reports of the federal government further investigating or holding individuals accountable for the 2015 killing and subsequent mass burial of members of the Shia group, Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), and other civilians by Nigerian Army (NA) forces in Zaria, Kaduna State.’"

HURIWA also recalled that the USA's report disclosed that the 2016 nonbinding report of the Kaduna State government’s judicial commission, which found that the Nigerian Army (NA) used “excessive and disproportionate” force during the 2015 altercations in which 348 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and one soldier died.

HURIWA has therefore asked the Federal government to immediately arrest and prosecute the police men who gruesomely murdered Mr. Ogah Jumbo of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps just as the Rights group calls for forensic audits of all detention facilities to identify security forces involved in extra judicial killings. HURIWA said that time is of the essence and that time is running out for Nigeria to embark on holistic reformation and overhaul of the Nigeria Police force which stinks of bribery; corruption and lawlessness.

Guber Supplementary: Don’t destroy democracy – HURIWA tells courts; INEC:

Worried about the incessant and sinister abuses of exparte injunctions by judges to undermine the decisions of the Independent National Electoral Commission to proceed with collation of governorship election results in Rivers, Adamawa and Bauchi, the judiciary has been cautioned to check these abuses.

Making the appeal is the leading pro-democracy and non-governmental organization – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) which also asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to scrutinize the financial transactions of the judges who recently gave exparte orders against INEC to see if they were financially induced.

HURIWA said under section 285 of the Nigerian Constitution, the regular courts lacks jurisdiction to entertain post-election litigation even as only the election Tribunal has the constitutional powers to determine any disputes arising from an election that has already been conducted.

Specifically section 285 (1) and (2) states thus: “There shall be established for the Federation one or more election tribunals to be known as the National Assembly Election Tribunals which shall, to the exclusion of any or tribunal, have original jurisdiction to hear and determine petitions as to whether – (a) any person has been validly elected as a member of the National Assembly; (b) the term of office of any person under this Constitution has ceased; (c) the seat of a member of the Senate or a member of the House of Representatives has vacant; and (d) a question or petition brought before the election tribunal has been properly or improperly brought.

(2) There shall be established in each State of the Federation one or more election tribunals to be known as the Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Tribunals which shall, to the exclusion of any court or tribunal, have original jurisdiction to hear and determine petitions as to whether any person has been validly elected to the office of Governor or Deputy Governor or as a member of any legislative house."

HURIWA referred the erring judges to the observations of Mahmud Mohammed, justice of the Supreme Court (as he then was) in the case of Ugwu versus Ararume (2007 12 NWLR (PT 1048) 367 at 511 where he stated thus: “The Electoral Act and Political Party Constitutions must be seen as complementing the Constitution in formulating broader rules, regulations and operation mechanisms for both INEC and the political parties for administrative convenience. Where any such enactment, rules or policies comes into conflict with any section of the Constitution... Politics is not anarchy; it is not disorderliness. It must be punctuated by justice, fairness and orderliness.”

HURIWA also condemned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Yakubu Mahmood for displaying crass partisanship in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  by illegally declaring elections in Kano, Sokoto, Bauchi, Adamawa and Rivers where People’s Democratic Party were at the verge of emerging victorious, as either suspended or inconclusive.

HURIWA calls the judges who slammed ex parte orders stopping INEC from concluding the polls in those states ENEMIES OF DEMOCRACY WHO ARE attempting to create spectacular constitutional crisis and to destroy democracy.

HURIWA recalled that a state High Court in Yola had ordered an injunction restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission from conducting a supplementary governorship election in Adamawa State on 23rd March.

Justice Abdulaziz Waziri of State High Court gave the order following a motion ex parte filed by Movement of Restoration for Defence of Democracy, MRPD.

“I hereby made the following orders: The defendant herein the Independent National Electoral Commission is restrained whether by themselves, their agents, servants, representatives, nominees or any other person from proceeding with the supplementary election with respect to Adamawa State Governorship pending the hearing and determination of Motion on notice,” the judge ordered.

INEC had ordered a rerun in six states, including Adamawa State.

In Adamawa State, electoral commission declared the poll inconclusive after collating results from all the 21 local government areas in the state.

The state returning officer, Andrew Haruna, said the margin of votes between the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Ahmadu Fintiri who score higher votes and his All Progressives Congress counterpart, Governor Muhammad Jibrilla, is lesser than total votes voided in about 40 polling units.

Haruna said there are 40,988 votes that were cancelled in 44 polling units across the state. The margin between the two parties was 32,476.

The case was adjourned to 21st of March for hearing of a motion for Interlocutory injunction.

US accuses Buhari govt, Army, Police, others of killing Nigerians

The United States has accused the Federal Government of Nigeria of murdering citizens.

US said the current administration and its agents were committing arbitrary and unlawful killings.

This was contained in a recent report entitled, “2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” published on the Department of State website.

It said: “The national police, army, and other security services used lethal and excessive force to disperse protesters and apprehend criminals and suspects and committed other extrajudicial killings. Authorities generally did not hold police, military, or other security force personnel accountable for the use of excessive or deadly force or for the deaths of persons in custody. State and federal panels of inquiry investigating suspicious deaths generally did not make their findings public.

“In August 2017 the acting president convened a civilian-led presidential investigative panel to review compliance of the armed forces with human rights obligations and rules of engagement, and the panel submitted its findings in February. As of November no portions of the report had been made public.

“As of September, there were no reports of the federal government further investigating or holding individuals accountable for the 2015 killing and subsequent mass burial of members of the Shia group Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and other civilians by Nigerian Army (NA) forces in Zaria, Kaduna State.

“In 2016 the government of Kaduna made public the Kaduna State judicial commission’s nonbinding report, which found the NA used “excessive and disproportionate” force during the 2015 altercations in which 348 IMN members and one soldier died. The commission recommended the federal government conduct an independent investigation and prosecute anyone found to have acted unlawfully.

“It also called for the proscription of the IMN and the monitoring of its members and their activities. In 2016 the government of Kaduna State published a white paper that included acceptance of the commission’s recommendation to investigate and prosecute allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force by the NA.

“As of September, however, there was no indication that authorities had held any members of the NA accountable for the events in Zaria. It also accepted the recommendation to hold IMN leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky responsible for all illegal acts committed by IMN members during the altercations and in the preceding 30 years.

“In 2016 a federal court declared the continued detention without charge of Zakzaky and his wife illegal and unconstitutional. The court ordered their release by January 2017. The federal government did not comply with this order, and Zakzaky, his spouse, and other IMN members remained in detention.

“In April the Kaduna State government charged Zakzaky in state court with multiple felonies stemming from the death of the soldier at Zaria. The charges include culpable homicide, which can carry the death penalty.

“As of December the case was pending. In July a Kaduna High Court dismissed charges of aiding and abetting culpable homicide against more than 80 IMN members. As of September the Kaduna State government had appealed the ruling. Approximately 100 additional IMN members remained in detention.

“In October security forces killed 45 IMN members that were participating in processions and protests, according to Amnesty International (AI).

“In January AI reported that the Nigerian Air Force used excessive force in responding to intercommunal violence in December 2017 in Numan local government area (LGA) in Adamawa State. According to the report, hundreds of herdsmen attacked eight villages in Adamawa in response to a massacre by farming communities of up to 51 herders, mostly children, in Kikan village the previous month.

“The Nigerian Air Force said it responded at the request of relevant security agencies for show of force flights to disperse the “hoodlums” engaged in ransacking and burning villages, and subsequently aimed to shoot in front of crowds to deter them from attacking Numan. AI reported that the Air Force response resulted in a fire and destruction in the town, and that Air Force rockets and bullets hit civilian buildings directly and resulted in multiple civilian deaths.

“The report also stated it was not possible to establish conclusively how much of the death and destruction was attributable to the Air Force’s actions and how much to the concurrent attack by herdsmen. The Air Force denied the claims in a statement but reportedly ordered an investigation. As of September it was unclear if the investigation had been concluded.

“In January 2017 the air force mistakenly bombed an informal internally displaced persons (IDP) settlement in Rann, Borno State, which resulted in the killing and injuring of more than 100 civilians and humanitarian workers. Army personnel also were injured. The government and military leaders publicly assumed responsibility for the strike and launched an investigation.

“The air force conducted its own internal investigation, but as of December the government had not made public its findings. No air force or army personnel were known to have been held accountable for their roles in the event. There were reports of arbitrary and unlawful killings related to internal conflicts in the Northeast and other areas.”

El’rufai; Armed Security chiefs in Kaduna are complicit to violence in Kajuru – Says HURIWA: *Seeks Europe wide travel ban on Elrufai and associates:

A leading Non-governmental organization in the country – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has alleged that the governor of Kaduna state; the Army Commander in Kaduna and the heads of other security agencies apart from the police commissioner should be held directly responsible for the renewed violence in Kajuru in Kaduna following their consistent spreading of fake news on the killings of Fulani by the Christian population which must have stoked the embers of revenge killings by armed Fulani herdsmen. HURIWA said it was heartrending that the Federal government watched as the Kaduna state governor through the media outlets in the Country continued to poison the minds of Fulani people by insisting that the indigenous people in Kajuru carried out mass killings of Fulani just as the military commander and others gave tacit support to the Kaduna state governor even whilst he stoked the embers of enmity and conflicts between Fulanis against the Christian neighbours. HURIWA has asked the European Union to impose a travel ban on Nasir Elrufai and all the heads of security forces in the state but the Rights group praised the Police commissioner for refuting the casualty figures that were bandied by Elrufai prior to the latest rounds of revenge killings by armed Fulani killer gangs targeting Christians.

The Rights group also blamed Malam Nasir El’rufai for promoting politics of islamisation of the state machinery by sticking to his despicable choice of a running mate who is also a Moslem in a state that is evenly divided amongst the two dominant religious groups of Christians and Moslems even as the Rights group condemned the electoral heist which occasioned the declaration of El’rufai as winner of the disputed just conducted governorship poll.

HURIWA has therefore encouraged the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party to challenge his alleged manipulated defeat in the election tribunal.

HURIWA recalled that the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, had on February 15th 2019 claimed without any shreds of empirical evidence that there was the death of 66 people in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state who are mostly Fulani and allegedly murdered by the Christians neighbouring the Fulani settlements in Kajuru.

HURIWA accused the Kaduna governor of using the media to foul the harmonious coexistence of Fulanis and their Christian neighbours when he kept hammering in the media of mass communication that amongst the victims were 22 children and 12 women, while four wounded persons were rescued alive, the government stated in a public statement.

HURIWA recalled that even the media that helped spread the falsehood peddled by the current Kafina state administration stated that at the time of the massacres and the incident leading to them were, however, not explained in the release.

HURIWA said thus: "The governor, in the statement, regretted the development and vowed that those responsible for the massacres will be brought to justice.  Then on February 19th 2019, Gov. Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state says the death toll as a result of the communal clash in the Kajuru Local Government Area of the state has risen to 130 as against the previous figure of 66.El-Rufai stated this when he spoke to State House correspondents after briefing a security meeting which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, recently".

HURIWA recalled that El-Rufai, who alongside the governors of Borno and Adamawa briefed members of the security committee on security situations in their respective states, frowned at those who questioned the initial casualties’ figures of 66 and kept up the tempo of false propaganda about the massacre of Fulanis by their Christian neighbours which must have angered the armed Fulani killer gangs to stage a reprisal which has resulted in many fatalities.

HURIWA recalled that even the government funded News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that several individuals and organizations including the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) and Human Rights Lawyer, Chidi Odinkalu, had expressed doubt over the occurrence of the killings of the 66 persons.

The Rights group maintained that Elrufai and the mostly Moslem born heads of security forces in the state are guilty of instigating the ongoing massacre of the indigenous people by armed Fulani terrorists.

HURIWA said: "Complicity is the participation in a completed criminal act of an accomplice, a partner in the crime who aids or encourages (abets) other perpetrators of that crime, and who shared with them an intent to act to complete the crime. A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of a crime if they purpose the completion of a crime, and toward that end, if that person solicits or encourages the other person, or aids or attempts to aid in planning or committing the crime, or has legal duty to prevent that crime but fails to properly make an effort to prevent it."

"At Common Law, actors were classified as principals and/or accessories. Principals were persons who were present at the scene of the crime and participated in its commission. Accessories were persons who were not present during the commission of the crime but who aided, counseled, procured, commanded, encouraged or protected the principals before or after the crime was committed. Both categories of actors were further subdivided. Principals in the first degree were persons who with the requisite state of mind committed the criminal acts that constituted the criminal offense. Principals in the second degree, also referred to as aiders and abettors, were persons who were present at the scene of the crime and provided aid or encouragement to the principal in the first degree. Accessories were divided into accessories before the fact and accessories after the fact. An accessory before the fact was a person who aided, encouraged or assisted the principals in the planning and preparation of the crime but was absent when the crime was committed. An accessory after the fact was a person who knowingly provided assistance to the principals in avoiding arrest and prosecution."

HURIWA argued further thus: "Complicity in criminal law refers to when someone is legally accountable, or liable for a criminal offense, based upon the behavior of another. Criminal complicity may arise in the following situations; i. a person procures, induces or causes such other person to commit the offense; or ii.  a person aids or abets such other person in committing the offense; or iii.  having a legal duty to prevent the commission of the offense, a person fails to make an effort he is legally required to make."

Blame Lagos for Collapse of School Building – Says HURIWA *Demands Prosecution of Commissioners:

Calling it the height of criminal dereliction of duty which should attract immediate prosecution for murder of all the officials of the Lagos state Urban Planning Department, top civil Rights group – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) is of the position that Lagos state government has failed in its statutory and primary duty of care to the children of Nigeria.

HURIWA said those to be prosecuted must also include the commissioner for housing or urban planning who must be arrested with immediate effect even as a comprehensive audits of all public and private educational facilities in Lagos must be immediately conducted by independent panel of experts.

HURIWA called on the National Assembly to declare a state of Housing and school facilities' emergency in Lagos state so there could be a nationally funded audits of all public and private schools in Lagos and to commence the immediate upgrade of all public primary schools in Lagos state even as Private School owners should be given a matching order to carry out verifiable upgrade or forfeit their operational licenses within two weeks.

The Rights group also has called for the dismissal and prosecution of the education commissioner for failing to discharge the constitutional functions imposed on the office holder as the direct coordinating body that ought to provide oversight functions on all school facilities to ensure standards, safety and security of the pupils and students. HURIWA also called for the forensic audits of all public building assets including malls; stadia and places of worship to safeguard the lives of millions of Nigerians in Lagos. The audit of these houses should be carries out in all major cities across the Country.

HURIWA wondered why Lagos has persistently become a hub for  substandard buildings going by the numerous cases of building collapse just as the Rights group condemned the snail speed dispensation of justice in Lagos with specific reference to cases of collapse buildings even as it blamed judicial corruption for this ugly trend.

In a media statement by the national coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA disclosed that it will dispatch a petition to the United Nations Education Commission (UNESCO) and the secretary General of the United Nations to call the attention of the world body to the dangers that millions of school children go through by being exposed to poor, substandard and comprehensively unsafe schooling environment by the Lagos administration.

“This particular case must never be swept under the carpets of impunity.

Action must be adopted to get to the root of this menace and fish out other culprits to face prosecution".

HURIWA recalled that many primary school pupils were feared dead on Wednesday after a three-storeyed building at Ita Faji, Lagos Island, collapsed around 10am.

The school was said to be on the last floor.

A resident of the area, Prince Adams, who alerted Punch correspondent to the incident on the telephone, said no fewer than 10 pupils had been removed from the rubble so far.

“It is terrible. Parents are crying. I can’t withstand the gorry sight,” he added.

The media reportedly heard cries on the background.

The spokesperson for the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Kehinde Adebayo, confirmed the collapse, adding that emergency officials were already on ground.

GUBER POLLS: LET’S NOT UNDERMINE THE MILITARY INSTITUTION:- says HURIWA: *SUPPORTS ARMY ON PROBE:

A leading pro-democracy and non-governmental organization – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has waded into the controversy trailing the activities of the Army during the Saturday governorship polls with a call on politicians and stakeholders not to rubbish the military institution by heaping unsubstantiated allegations.

However, HURIWA has on another breadth thrown her weight behind the decision of the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai to immediately activate effective mechanisms to forensically investigate the series of trending online videos which appears to indict some armed security forces on a number of serial electoral offences and for instigating violence in Rivers Bayelsa and some of flashpoints in the crude oil rich Niger Delta region. HURIWA told Nigerians that the leadership of the Army has already established a good and qualitative antecedent as a no nonsense hierarchy when in the not too distant time sanctioned about 38 senior military officers who underwent investigative and military prosecutorial trial over their alleged interferences in the year 2015 general polls. If this Army hierarchy had done this it can always do the needful now that it has become imperative for it to separate the few bad eggs from the professional institution of the military if they are found guilty by the internal investigative mechanisms. But we must be careful not to run down the military institution which we took over 60 years to build. It is usually more difficult to build but much easier to destroy.  

HURIWA said the claim by the military authority that there were incidents of fake soldiers that were deployed by politicians during the governorship polls should not be dismissed with a wave of hands since there are verifiable evidence that indeed hundreds of suspected fake armed men masquerading as soldiers were picked up in Imo, Rivers, Ondo and other areas and are currently being interrogated.

“We urge Nigerians to remember that the institution of the Nigerian military is created by law to serve public interest and so must be preserved and insulated from undue politically tainted allegations that may not stand the test of time. We are not unaware of some allegations by some governors in the Niger Delta accusing soldiers of collusion to undermine democracy, but we must give the Army the benefits of the doubts and assist the military institution to embark on holistic probe with the objective of preserving their political neutrality and to build an enviable professional institution that all of us and our children yet unborn would be proud of. We must not allow our temporary and unbridle quest for political power to lead us into the temptation of running down such a  formidable institution like the Nigerian Army because of the alleged malfeasance and misdemeanor of a few undesirable elements who may have derailed from the time honoured ethical and legal principles clearly listed out by the Chief of Army Staff on the need to abide by Rules of engagement in internal security operations.” We have a written proof that the Army has a mandatory manual on rules of engagements in internal military operations in line with best global practices.  

HURIWA reminded Nigerians that: “The Nigerian Army said it got credible intelligence that kitting of political thugs with military uniforms and arming them to impersonate soldiers. 

We have seen photographic evidence in HURIWA of these verifiable allegations by the Army

 The spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Colonel Sagir Musa in a statement said the thugs are sent to carry out crimes in furtherance of the activities of their political bosses.

He said, “Sadly, these thugs have been wrongly viewed and addressed as real military personnel on various social and mainstream media channels including blogs, chat rooms and messaging platforms.”

Sagir said, “The Army understands that most civilians caught in the callous onslaught of these murderous thugs might not be able to distinguish between genuine soldiers from an impersonator, especially when they are armed with military-type weapons.”

He said some arrested impostors have given useful information that led to unraveling the criminal involvement of some politicians in arming thugs for their selfish gains.

He said the Army would continue with investigations so as to prosecute the arrested impostors and their sponsors.”

HURIWA stated that the military’s version of the scenarios should be given a benefit of the doubts because for instance the Imo State Police Command on Sunday paraded 103 suspects who allegedly instigated violence and various electoral malpractices during the Governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections held in the state on Saturday.

The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 9, Umuahia, Wilson Inalegwu, who is on election duty in the state,  said the suspects were arrested at various parts of the state.

Inalegwu said the arrests of the suspects were carried out in conjunction with other security agencies.

The AIG said a team of crack police officers had been instructed to take over the investigation process.

He listed some of the suspects as Onyekachi Okeh, Success Ugochukwu, Ikenna Anochili, Uchenna Okwuoma, John Okechukwu and Collins Amadi.

The AIG said, “It is based on the hard work, commitment and determination as well as the robust partnership of all the security agencies that led to the peaceful conduct of the election.”

“With collaboration from all the security agencies, we ensured that serious chaos was averted on the Election Day.”

Finally, we appeal to Chief of Army staff to convoke a transparent investigative panel including broad range membership to include credible civil society leaders to investigate wide ranging allegations made against the military from such credible nations like the United Kingdom which on Sunday expressed concern over reports of military interference in the governorship and assembly elections in Rivers state held on Saturday.

The UK High Commission in a tweet on its verified twitter handle, @UKinNigeria, noted that reports by its independent observers collaborated media reports of military interference in the electoral exercise.

The High Commission while noting that it was monitoring the situation very closely, called on relevant stakeholders to allow staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, do their job without harassment.

“We are extremely concerned by reports, including from @UKinnigeria observers, of military interference in the election process in Rivers State. Monitoring the situation closely. @inecng staff must be allowed to do their job in safety, without intimidation,” the UK High Commission wrote.

Reports of result confiscation are rife with the ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, accusing military personnel of doing the bidding of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to subvert the will of the people.

HURIWA also suggested that the military should be restricted within military institutions and facilities during elections with a view to be rapidly deployed to flashpoints of electoral violence based on invitation from the police if the police is overwhelmed. This it said will completely insulate them from being misused. HURIWA also asked the Army Chief to sanction commanders on ground who cannot show cause why they allowed fake soldiers to undermine the image and credibility of the military institution.

Besides, HURIWA asked that some politicians accused of abusing their privileged positions by allegedly parading about during election with armed military/police should be arrested and prosecuted.

HURIWA pointed to media reported facts and allegations which emerged on Sunday on how uniformed and plain-clothes security operatives loyal to the former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, allegedly battered some ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

A senior lecturer in the University of Uyo (name withheld), who is one of the collation officers in Essien Udim LGA, said he narrowly escaped being lynched when the senator and his loyalists forcefully took over the activities at the collation centre at about 10pm on Saturday.

He said they were in the process of verification and collation when Akpabio stormed the venue with several uniformed and plain-clothes men.

He said the embattled senator had initially tried to plead with the ad-hoc staff to suspend the use of card reader and just accept the results when one of his loyalists identified as Nse Ntuen (a member of House of Assembly) emerged from nowhere and started molesting all the INEC officials over their uncooperative attitude.

The lecturer said, “Suddenly, Nse Ntuen emerged and picked up a plastic chair, murmuring that the electoral officers were not cooperating with them. I escaped by God’s grace because he was about smashing my head with that chair, when he suddenly saw another fat man with a Peoples Democratic Party tag and he unleashed the chair on him mercilessly.

“Ntuen also beat up the corps members as everyone tried scampering for safety. In that confusion, I dragged the returning officer who is also my colleague in the university, and is hypertensive, and we were able to escape. I got to Uyo at about 2am.”

At Polling Unit 9 in Ukana West, Ward 2 located in the premises of Independent High School, Ukana, Essien Udim LGA, where Senator Akpabio voted, journalists were refused access to the school.

Reacting to the allegations, the Media Aide to Senator Akpabio, Anietie Ekong, said all the accusations were false.

“At least 12 senior officers of the Nigerian Army, including Generals, have been sacked over alleged involvement in the Ekiti governorship election scandal and defence contract related offences, an official statement said Saturday. 

HURIWA asked Nigerians to recall that sometimes ago the Army disciplined 38 officers found wanting to have colluded with politicians. The Army then had stated thus:

“The Nigerian Army wishes to inform the general public that quite a number of senior officers of the Nigerian Army were retired from service yesterday,” said Army Director of Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman.

“Those retired were mainly some Major Generals, Brigadier Generals, Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels and a Major.

“Their retirement was based on Service exigencies. It should be recalled that not too long ago some officers were investigated for being partisan during the 2015 General Elections.

“Similarly, the investigation by the Presidential Committee investigating Defence Contracts revealed a lot.

“Some officers have already been arraigned in court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). People should therefore not read this out of context.

“The military must remain apolitical and professional at all times.

“We must applaud and support this laudable and bold initiative by the government”.

The Army had last year sent 12 Army officers to the EFCC for investigation.

General Usman had in a statement issued last year said the indicted officers comprised three serving Major-Generals, one retired Major-General, three Brigadier-Generals, four Colonels and a Lieutenant Colonel.”

HURIWA said these sanctions and clean up exercise was carried out by the current Army Chief of Staff even as it pleaded with Nigerians for patience and understanding with the Army as they carry out their findings which should be transparent, open and fair in line with the Constitution. 

Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko:

National Coordinator of Human rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA). 

Text of a media briefing of Monday March 11th 2019.