The group demands capital punishment for corrupt
public officials in the defence and policing sectors.
Following allegations of widespread
corruption in the procurement system of the nation’s defence and policing
institutions, The Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has
asked the Presidency and the National Assembly to invite internationally
reputable auditing firm to undertake comprehensive forensic audit of Defence
and police budgets from 1982 to date.
The group also canvassed the speedy
amendments of Acts establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences
Commission, ICPC, to specifically make it a capital offence punishable by the
death penalty for any proven case of corruption and economic crime established
against any public official in the Defence and policing sectors.
In a joint statement by its National
Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, and National media Affairs Director, Zainab
Yusuf, the group said that corruption in these two key national sectors have
not only undermined national security, but also constitute grave threat to the
sovereignty of Nigeria.
It stated that the recent allegation by the
Borno State Governor, Kashim Shetima, that the outlawed armed insurgency group
is better armed than the Nigerian military made it imperative that the huge
defence and police budgets over the years be audited to ascertain why these
critical sectors are still grossly ill-equipped and ill-motivated.
The group said, “As a pragmatic way out of
this quagmire in which we have found ourselves, we urge the presidency and the
National Assembly to Commission Independent reputable firms of forensic
auditors from across the developed world to undertake comprehensive audits of
the defence and police budgets from 1982 to date to determine the veracity or
otherwise of the allegation that it was since 1982 that the last major
procurement of modern combat weapons for Nigerian armed forces officially took
place.”
HURIWA also said the forensic investigation
of the activities of the officers of the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, should
be undertaken to determine how divergent freelance armed hoodlums obtain small
arms and assorted weapons which they deploy to systematically destabilize
Nigeria through calculated terrorism and other criminal acts of brigandage and
large scale killings of villagers in different parts of Northern Nigeria.
The group stated that it was inconceivable
that the border communities would be heavily flooded by assorted weapons
currently in use by armed insurgents without the collaboration of officers of
the NCS and illegal arms importers and smugglers.
“We are disturbed by the ongoing campaign of
terrorism and brigandage going on at different parts of North East Nigeria
which have unfortunately resulted in the killings of over 5000 innocent
Nigerians, including the forced abduction of teenage school girls in Chibok
Local Council Area of Borno State,” It said.
The group lamented the spectacular failure of
intelligence and the apparent inability of the Nigerian security agencies to
sufficiently defeat these divergent armed freelance fighters who have gravely
undermined Nigeria’s national security and threatened in a very serious way,
Nigeria’s territorial integrity.
HURIWA demanded the introduction of the death
penalty for criminal act of corruption in the defence and police sectors.
“From abundance of evidence, it has been
scientifically proven that a nation that cannot defeat armed hoodlums is on the
verge of surrendering her sovereignty.
“Our current crises of widespread insecurity
came about because of a groundswell of corruption in the opaque procurement
mechanisms in practice in Nigeria’s defence and police sectors.”
www.premiumtimesng.com
No comments:
Post a Comment