…seeks judicial
inquisition
By Chioma Obinna
A civil society group, Human Rights
Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has condemned the killings in some
parts of Plateau State, weekend, by armed men in military fatigue.
To this end, HURIWA
had tasked the incoming administration of Major General Muhammadu Buhari to set
up judicial mechanisms through thoroughbred investigations at state levels to
unravel the causes and masterminds of this dastardly crime against humanity with
an objective to enforce necessary laws to penalise the killers.
The group also
canvassed bipartisan approach to firmly root out mass murderers and ensure that
those who commit atrocities are charged to court of competent jurisdiction and
prosecuted competently and professionally and punished for their crimes.
In a press statement
jointly signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National
Media Afairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA wants the President-elect to
use his richly endowed goodwill as a vastly reverred Nigerian statesman of
Northern origin to encourage state administrations in the front- line restive
states to initiate truth and reconciliation process.
The group stated that
only an effective implementation of a combination of the twin strategy of
constructive civil dialogues and enforcement of a range of anti- mass killing
laws by professionally disciplined police force and the offices of Attorneys
-General in the 36 states of the federation will minimize the spate of organized
crimes that had gone on uninterrupted in different parts of Northern Nigeria.
The statement states:
“We hereby in the strongest possible terms condemn the mass killings going on
in parts of Northern Nigeria. We note with sadness that hundreds of innocent
villagers have lost their precious lives through the genocidal attacks of a
range of armed mercenaries suspected of being Fulani herdsmen. Plateau,
Kaduna and Benue states have had a disproportionate share of these mass
killings and sadly the killers and their sponsors are walking the streets
freely.
“The weekend killings
of indigenous tribes people in Wase Area of Plateau State has added a more
sinister dimension to the entire deadly and vicious scenarios with the strong
suspicion that those who undertook the killings were ‘soldiers’ on revenge
killings over last week’s killing of seven soldiers near Taraba State. Nigeria
must break this vicious circle of impunity if we ever hope to enthrone vibrant
democracy that respects the Rule of Law.
“Federal and state
institutions must be used to effectively put an end to the regime of impunity
and senseless massacres of citizens. A nation that prides itself as a modern
day democracy but whose ruling political elite are content to live with
impunity and mindless killings of its citizenry must be a shame of itself and
take concrete measures to break the vicious circles of impunity.
Nigeria has become a
global byword for lawlessness and impunity and we must wipe out this notorious
emblem to regain our international respectability.”
www.vanguardngr.com
May 4, 2015
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