It initially struck as one of those fake stories that inundate the social media space. Those conversant with proceedings in the Catholic Church would have found difficult to believe that one of its priests could ban songs in any language (foreign or local) during mass services. But that was the news that made the rounds penultimate Sunday.

In the social media platform I saw the initial story; commentators including a Catholic Priest Rev. Fr. Ben Amuchie had expressed doubt on the authenticity of the story when he wrote – “Is this really true? Please if that’s true, report him to his bishop. No bishop in Nigeria will tolerate such unclerical behaviour from any priest”.

This writer had also commented: “Even in my kindred Catholic Church, Hausa and Efik songs are freely sung and happily too. This sounds strange but not impossible”.

Our consternation could be imagined when the Archbishop of Lagos Archdiocese, Alfred Adewale Martins confirmed the story. In a prompt statement, the bishop suspended Rev, Fr. James Anelu of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church Ewu-owa Ikorodu for “unsavoury remarks that do not represent the Catholic Church’s position on common brotherhood of peoples of all tribes and religions”.

Timely intervention by the bishop cleared doubts that the priest had verily banned Igbo songs and choruses in the church he superintends. He was reported to have angrily stopped a soul-lifting chorus during the second collection with remarks that the Igbo cannot continue to dominate other people even in his ‘own’ church.

Citing his home diocese, Benin, which he claimed the Igbo dominate to the point of becoming the Bishop, Fr. Anelu claimed the spirit of God in any place recognizes only languages indigenous to that geographical location.

This drew the anger of worshippers who rose in uproar that brought the mass to an abrupt end. That was the incident at Holy Trinity Catholic Church Ewu-owa to which Archbishop Martins appropriately responded.

With the prompt action of the archbishop, there is the temptation to allow the matter rest. But that will be dangerous given the weight and sensitivity of the issues involved. A trending video captured by one of the worshippers obviously from afar, showed the embattled priest striving to defend his decision by citing instances that further exposed the irredeemable tribal bigot he is.

There are issues thrown up by the development that cannot possibly escape public interrogation. The priest; apart from claiming that the Igbo dominate other people in his ‘own’ church cited the case of Benin diocese where an Igbo bishop holds sway to buttress the danger of Igbo domination.

So he was not just reacting to the singing of Igbo song during the church service. An animosity nursed over time just found ventilation during the church service. Igbo domination! This is the first time I am hearing of Igbo domination in this country.  What I hear all the time is the marginalization and alienation of the Igbo. So there is a sphere of life in this country-the Catholic Church where the Igbo dominate others? That is pleasant to hear.

But what kind of domination is that when the Igbo are making individual sacrifice, deploying their resources to develop churches outside their ancestral homes? What do they stand to gain from such huge human capital and financial sacrifice except perhaps, reward from heaven?

The high number of Igbo found in churches, bears positive correlation with their material being. The lure to escape from scorching injustice, domination and alienation may have compelled them to seek divine supplication. Let nobody add to this frustration.

Even then, can the mere singing of Igbo songs in the church be construed as sufficient evidence of Igbo domination?  If the reference is to the predominance of Igbo population in Catholic churches, why is the priest also not worried by their huge financial contributions that sustain his work? Why receive their money with cheers only to scorn their songs during offerings?

If the truth must be told, most Catholic churches in the country are what they are today because of the huge population and huge financial contributions of the Igbo. As a predominantly Catholic population, most of the Catholic churches across the country will be ghost of themselves without Igbo support and patronage. This is just the truth and they owe nobody any apology.

The second plank of the priest’s decision is the curious that the spirit of God in any place only recognizes languages indigenous to that geographical location. That is totally false. Even as it is unclear the part of the scriptures he is referencing upon, the Catholic Church has over the years been very eclectic in the languages church services are conducted.

For a very long time in this country, Latin was the predominant language for church services followed by English. It was after local translations were made that our local dialects came into use. Even then, Latin, English and local dialects have continued to be used interchangeably during such services

It is even a policy of the Catholic Church to have songs and choruses rendered in a variety of languages and dialects to make for inclusiveness. In my kindred Catholic Church that is populated by three large families, songs are rendered by the choir in a variety of Nigerian languages even when you can hardly find a single person from other ethnic groups in attendance.

It remains to be imagined where the erring priest got the warped notion that God only hears the language of the local population? And the same God ‘receives’ offerings from people of other languages in the same church? That is heresy!

The catholic leadership must rise to the challenge of priests bent on politicizing its activities. That the faithful are cultured not to question whatever their priests say should not be exploited to assail their sensibilities. Things are changing. Stereotypes and bigoted indoctrination are giving way to new ideas, new practices.

Declaration by Senator Rochas Okorocha for the office of the president in 2023 could have passed quietly but for the court charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC hours after the outing. Though Okorocha had dramatized the event when he wrote the senate indicating his intention to vie for that position, the controversy that eventually ensued may not have arisen but for the court action by the EFCC. In his letter to the senate, Okorocha had said he was contesting for the position because Nigeria requires a detribalized leader who can unite the country; one with a compassionate heart for the poor and the downtrodden, a leader who can create wealth and address poverty, insecurity and youth restiveness.

Presumably, he sees himself as an embodiment of these qualities for which he now seeks to rule the country. He is entitled to his opinion.

Unlike some other aspirants who quietly made known their intention to run for that office, Okorocha opted for what he called a world press conference that drew considerable public attention to the event. He spoke with much eloquence and confidence as he made some other contentious statements to market himself as a detribalized Nigerian; one propelled by altruistic zeal. He also strove to impress sections of his audience on his religious ‘liberalism’ as he appropriately quoted copiously from the Quran to support his presentation.

He would have gone home beating his chest for a job well done but for the ‘poison’ injected into that ambition by EFCC’s court action. In the 17-count charge, the EFCC is pressing for the trial of Okorocha for allegedly stealing N2.9 billion from public coffers.

The timing of the court charges shortly after Okorocha declared his fitness for the presidency raised considerable curiosity and suspicion. It threw up speculations as to what the EFCC has up its sleeves.

Was it an attempt to de-market his claims of a detribalized leader with a compassionate heart for the poor and down trodden; one that can create wealth and address poverty, insecurity and youth restiveness? And can someone charged with stealing a humongous sum of N2.9 billion public funds be trusted to keep faith with the sterling qualities Okorocha ascribes to himself for which he seeks to rule the country? These were the searing posers thrown up by the turn of events.

As should be expected, Okorocha was quick to react to the fresh charges of fraud terming them politically-motivated and ‘false’. He claims he has court judgments barring the EFCC from harassing and intimidating him. And he has run to President Buhari to compel the EFCC to obey those court orders. It is unclear the quarters the political dimension of the EFCC court action is emanating from since Okorocha is a senator elected on the platform of the ruling party.

As a leading member of the ruling party, it is difficult to fathom where the political conspiracy is coming from unless he wants us to believe that he does not belong to the right tendency in his party. He could not have run to the president if he nursed suspicion that he was privy to his travails. So the source of his conspiracy theory remains curious.

What did he expect the president to do for him? He said it was to avail him of the existence of the court orders that barred the anti-graft agency from intimidating and harassing him. Could the filing of corruption charges against him be likened to an act of intimidation and harassment? It is difficult to fathom how such a meaning could be read into the EFCC action.

More fundamentally, could a court of competent jurisdiction permanently prevent the agency from investigating a former public office holder on suspicion of corrupt enrichment? That would indeed sound very absurd. It is therefore difficult to fathom what remedies to the case Okorocha seeks from the president.

Read Also: N2.9b fraud allegation: Okorocha seeks Buhari’s intervention with EFCC

If every accused person has to run to the president to call the EFCC to order, then the EFCC would have become a willing tool of the ruling party. Perhaps, Okorocha had easy access to the president because he is of the ruling party. That in itself speaks volumes on the impartiality and credibility of the anti-graft agency.

The impression the development miserably conveys is that the EFCC could be primed to erect obstacles to the political ambitions of aspirants not in the good books of the government. This fear has been there. That will re-enact a similitude of events during the Obasanjo regime when the EFCC was used to impeach some governors. The image and credibility of the agency in the fight against corruption would be worse for it.

Okorocha went off tangent when he said he was richer before he became governor and that being a governor made him poorer. Hear him “How much is Imo State government money? Imo State even owes me because I never collected my security votes. I am supposed to collect from Imo State now N8 billion if I have to make claims for security votes I did not collect”.

Statements like these assail public sensibilities as they have no bearing with the issue at stake. This is more so for a man in a running battle with the authorities including the Imo State government over sundry allegations of financial impropriety while he was in the saddle. This unbridled boastfulness assaults our collective psyche especially for a man recorded on video saying he is richer than Imo State.

If Okorocha says Imo State owes him N8 billion as security votes not collected, that calls for investigation. From what account did he fund the security of the state in his eight years in office? It is also very childish to ask how much is a state governments’ money worth? I think there is something unsavory and aching in the way Okorocha goes about proving his innocence in the sundry allegations of corruption heaped against him. And that could complicate matters for him.

He is at liberty to deny the allegations or plead his innocence. The law deems him innocent until found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. But he does not help matters either by asking how much a state government is worth or boasting that he is richer than his state government.

In saner climes, such claims would be immediately matched with serious inquisition into the source of his touted wealth and the tax paid on the alleged stupendous wealth. But not here! That is why he can make such claims severally and go to bed.

Beyond this however, is the propriety of the EFCC action. What does the anti-graft agency seek to achieve by filing the court charges hours after Okorocha presented his leadership credentials to the Nigerian public? Was it to inject a virus into his ambition, alert Nigerians that a credibility baggage allegedly hangs over his neck for which his ambition cannot sell or both? Given that Okorocha left office over two and half years ago, why did it take the day of his declaration for court action to be filed against him?

It is clear the timing of the court action was intended to encumber the claims Okorocha bandied for which he seeks to rule the country. Okorocha’s allegation of political motive cannot be completely ruled out even as the EFCC is within its rights to institute the case at its convenience. A lesson has obviously been served to political office seekers.

But can the EFCC really stop him from realizing his political ambition through the current court action? If it took the agency more than two years to put the facts of the case together, there is everything to expect that the court process will take a longer time.

Even then, mere institution of the case cannot debar the accused from carrying on with his political ambition. The case will have to run its full course before it takes legal effect. He may even be sworn in only for the immunity clause to constrain the EFCC from further action. It happened in Abia State. The EFCC should get more serious with its statutory mandate for it to earn public confidence.

Last week was extraordinary for the people of southeast. It was perhaps, the first time the zone would stay indoors for three to four consecutive days due to conflicting signals on the sit-at-home order which the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB had since confined to days their leader, Nnamdi Kanu would appear in court.

Even in this case, the self-determination group had clarified for the umpteenth time that it had cancelled its Monday sit-at-home order. It said sit-at-home would only be observed on Tuesday January18, when Kanu would appear for trial at the Abuja Federal High Court. The group further clarified there would be free movement on January 19 and 20 despite the billed appearance of their leader in an Abia High Court on those days.

Though the clarifications were to correct reports of an impending weeklong sit-at-home given the experiences of previous Mondays, the billed appearance of Kanu at the Abuja court on Tuesday January 18, and his case coming up in Abia on Wednesday, they appeared not to have achieved the desired result. Matters were further aggravated by reports in the social media reminding people of the consequences of coming out given the fluidity of such situations in the past.

Unfortunately, some of those reports were neither signed nor their source indicated. Yet, they found their way in the social media. These created fear in the minds of the people and contributed in scaring them away from the streets. Perhaps also, Kanu’s case in Abuja contributed to the uncertainties of last week in the zone. The last time he appeared in court, the trial judge had adjourned the case for accelerated hearing when it resumes.

This gave rise to speculations that the case may run for some consecutive days on resumption. Should that happen, the projection of a week-long sit-at-home would have become a foregone conclusion. That prediction somewhat became a reality when the case was adjourned the following day.

So it was that for three consecutive days, activities in the zone were virtually at a standstill except in some state capitals.  Respite however came with the adjournment of the case in Abuja to February and the judgment delivered by Justice Benson Anya at the Abia High Court, sitting in Umuahia.

With the adjournment of the Abuja case and the judgment delivered in the Abia case, temporary relief came the way of the people of the southeast who had been on lockdown. That was after they had lost three days to contrived sit-at-home order.

In the Abia judgment, Justice Anya ordered the federal government to pay N1billion to Kanu and apologize to him over the infringement on his fundamental rights by the military. He also advised the federal government to seek political solution to the Kanu matter. The ruling seemed to have brought closure to the Abia suit albeit temporarily.

The handling of the two suits put paid to speculations and rumour mongering. Their net effect became evident in the easing off of the tension and paralysis in social and economic activities that had held the people down for three days. Things started looking better on Thursday as some people resumed their normal activities though not without some measure of caution.

Of the three days the southeast was on shutdown, the IPOB only declared ghost town on January 18, while urging people to go about their normal activities on other days. So how come people stayed indoors refusing to venture out on Monday January 17 and Wednesday 19? While that of Wednesday could in part, be attributed to the adjournment of Kanu’s Abuja case and rumours before then; continued observance of sit-at-home on Mondays has become a huge puzzle- a challenge to the authorities.

This is more so with clarifications by the IPOB about September last year that it had put off ghost towns on Mondays to days Kanu would be appearing in court. Why still Mondays? Why are people scared from coming out on Mondays despite the cancellation of the order four months ago? Who profits from it or what interest does it still serve? What sustains civil disobedience on those days and on whose shoulders do we rest culpability for the fear and mistrust that add up to restrain people from venturing out?

These are the very issues thrown up by the continued observance of Mondays as sit-at-home despite its cancellation by those who instituted it. And in this, both the governments of the southeast and the IPOB share the blame. Yes the IPOB because, it has come out to accuse sacked and dissident members of unauthorized enforcement of non-existing sit-at-home orders.

It is being blamed for its inability to rein in those members. The group had also blamed security agencies for alleged clandestine roles that instil fear in people during those Mondays. This has been evident in the blame-game that has been the fate of some of the attacks on innocent citizens that ventured out on some of those days.

Though security agencies denied those allegations, they contributed in no small measure to the spectre of fear, trepidation and uncertainty that added up to incapacitate activities on that day. And since human life is involved, people prefer to err on the side of caution. Nobody wants the risk the uncertainties of a fluid and ominous situation in an obviously insecure environment.

But because the responsibility of maintaining law and order is the primary duty of governments, the blame for the fear that prevents people from coming out on Mondays, weighs heavily on their side. It is the duty of the government to secure the environment for lawful activities to thrive. The ability of the present government to discharge that basic responsibility has been in serious doubt as events from across the country have shown.

Since the IPOB has severally said it has nothing any loner to do with Monday ghost towns, one had expected the security agencies to capitalize on that and ensure there are no further disruptions and threats to lives and property on those days. But that has failed to happen. What we get are blames and counter blames for some of the infractions that are recorded on such days.

It is true the sit-at-home orders have become injurious to the economy of the zone. There is no doubt about that. No less a person than First Republic minister, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi had cause to decry the debilitating effects of the order on the fragile economy of the southeast zone. He called for a change of tactics from the IPOB for him to continue with the peace mission to the president during which his group demanded for the release of Kanu. So the damage to the economy of the zone by the recurring sit-at-home orders is not in doubt.

The impression these convey is that of a government that is unable to protect its citizens- a government that is in a ferocious and constant struggle with non-state actors for the loyalty of the citizens. And in this competition, primordial loyalty seems to be having an upper hand against the civic authority. That is the sad realty brought to the fore by events in the southeast. And it does the country no good.

The situation calls for a change of attitude by the leadership of this country. And as events clearly indicate, the solution to the Kanu challenge does not lie in his current court trials. He may as well be convicted and jailed. He could also be incarcerated as long as the case lasts. But that can nether offer lasting solutions to the issues to the agitations nor assuage the feelings of his teeming followers.

His continued trial would only lead to situations that had held the southeast economy prostrate for quite some time now. Maybe some people will not care if that region collapses. But whatever damage the zone suffers will ultimately have a domino effect in other parts of the country. That is the potent danger in the current posturing that the judicial angle holds the ace for the final resolution of the matter.

The judicial dimension can neither bring a final closure to issues to the agitations nor assuage the feelings of those who share sympathy with the cause Kanu is championing. The political angle that has been copiously canvassed by many including Justice Anya of the Abia High Court at last week’s ruling is definitely the way to go. But will someone listen?

The manner of penultimate Sunday’s arrest of a former governorship candidate of the Action Alliance party (AA) in Imo State, Uche Nwosu is as puzzling as it is disgusting. His release few hours after he was abducted from a church service in a Gestapo fashion is no less troubling.

Nwosu who had just buried his mother was in an outing church service at St Peters Anglican Church, Eziama-Obaire in the Nkwerri Local Government Area of the state when heavily armed and masked gunmen stormed the church venue and engaged in sporadic shootings that disrupted the church service and sent worshippers scampering for safety.

Reports had it that the church service was still on when the gunmen stormed it and engaged in sustained shootings that not only disrupted the service but ruffled the peace and tranquillity of that rural community. The manner of the sustained shootings and the style of the gunmen shared similar traits with the modus operandi of the so-called unknown gunmen that had rendered the state a verity of the state of nature where life has at once become nasty, short and brutish.

So when the gunmen eventually took away Nwosu from the church service, the story that went round was that he had been abducted and kidnapped. The social media immediately went into frenzy.

But as speculations were still rife on the motive of the attack and those behind it, Imo State Police Command issued a terse statement clarifying that the incident was not a case of abduction.  According to the statement “Uche Nwosu was not kidnapped but was arrested by the police and Imo State Police Command is aware of the arrest and presently, he is in police custody”. Arrest?

The statement which gave no reason for the arrest or why he had to be bundled out of the church in such a callous and unprofessional manner reassured the people of the state of their safety while urging them to shun fake news.

But soon after the incident, former governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha in an emotion laden interview accused the state government of masterminding the arrest to get even with his political adversaries. He alleged that his family members were not only manhandled but had their dresses torn in the course of the confusion in which the church was embroiled. Okorocha called on the federal authorities to investigate the incident especially because of the wider repercussions of the attack on the religious sensibilities of people of the state.

In the midst of the uncertainty of the arrest, the news filtered some hours later that Nwosu had been released from police custody in Abuja. He had since corroborated the story that he was flown to Abuja in a chartered flight after his arrest through the Akanu Ibiam International airport Enugu. The fact of his hurried release after all the bravado inside the house of God further injects complications to the entire episode.

It raises searing posers on the propriety of the invasion of the church ostensibly to have Nwosu arrested. So why did he have to be arrested in the manner the police did only to be released few hours later? If the matter for which the police invaded St Peters’ Church was that light, why assail the sensibilities of worshippers through violent disruption of their service?  Is Nwosu that powerful or so elusive that the church premises had to be the best place to track him down? Why inside the church of all places?

These questions are raised to underscore the absurdity of that arrest. It is one arrest gone awry. Initial statement by officials of the state government on the incident was nothing to write home about. Apparently realizing the folly of that initial outing especially in a predominantly Christian state, the state government made a volte face condemning the arrest within the church premises.

The state government claimed the “full reason why such an action was taken will eventually unfold and perhaps guide the public better”, even as it urged those negatively affected by the action to bear with the security agencies. We are yet to be availed of either the reasons for that attack or the offence Nwosu committed that the church was considered the only place he could be tracked down in the most violent manner.

Both the Anglican Church and the Orlu Catholic Diocese have taken turns to deprecate the desecration of places of worship and the scant regard for the religious sensibilities of the people in the name of arresting a suspect for whatever reason.  The issue is not just about Nwosu or the right of the law enforcement agencies to arrest a suspect. It has also little to do with his brand of politics or that of his benefactor. I do not also believe Nwosu is such a security risk to warrant the embarrassing show of force that disrupted that church service on that fateful Sunday.

The man in question had a few days earlier buried his mother and received many guests. He was obviously in public glare. Such a person will pose no difficulty in being tracked down if the security agencies had reasons to do so. Nwosu has also given account of the distressing incident insisting that no invitation was extended to him before his so-called arrest. So, it is difficult to fathom why the church premises should be the best ground to have him arrested in the manner that was seen.

With the way he was quickly released notwithstanding the bravado of his arrest, it is clear that there is more to the incident than ordinarily meets the eyes. He has alleged the purpose was to eliminate him given what he went through. Those who conducted that operation did not do the image of the federal government any good. It is adding up to the festering feeling that the religious sensibilities of certain people are not being respected by the government of the day.

That is the sad reality evoked by the incident at St Peters Anglican Church, Eziama-Obaire. There is also the disturbing impression that the attack was to get even with political opponents. Both Okorocha and Nwosu have made allegations along these lines and they should not be ignored. Not with the spectre of insecurity that had enveloped Imo – a once very peaceful state for quite some time now.

But for the admission of the state police command, that incident would have added up to the several cases of unresolved abductions, kidnappings and killings that are easily attributed to unknown gunmen and sundry non-state actors. It was not for nothing that initial feelers attributed the incident to a case of kidnapping. It is a big statement that the action of the police could be likened to that of unknown gunmen.

Apart from the admission that the police carried out the action, nothing has been said of the reasons for such a manner of arrest that has thrown up credibility challenges for the federal government. Neither the federal government nor the Inspector General of Police has come up to clarify the situation. All is still left to speculations. This is not good for the image of the government.

The situation demands high-powered investigation to get at the root of that embarrassing incident. Allegations have been freely traded and only thorough and transparent investigation will clear the air that attack was not just contrived to settle political scores. Both Okorocha and Nwosu have alleged political motives for their travails. This needs to be investigated.

It is hoped the heightened insecurity in Imo State that has led to killings, kidnapping and serial abductions has no political coloration. Neither is it contrived to weaken or decimate political adversaries. Only a thorough investigation of the Eziama Obaire encounter will clear the cloud surrounding the incident. The public deserves to know the outcome of such findings.

What could account for the rising attacks and abduction of traditional rulers in Imo State? Why Imo? These are the questions on the lips of the people following the spate of violent attacks on traditional rulers in Imo State in the last one month or so.

The sad episode crept in with the gruesome attack on traditional rulers who had gone to the Njaba Local Government headquarters to honour a meeting summoned by the local government caretaker committee chairman. While in the meeting, the traditional rulers were attacked by armed men who succeeded in snuffing life out of two of them. Many others sustained varying degrees of injury while scampering to safety.

As I write, not much has been heard of the outcome of that attack except blame trading between the police and the caretaker committee chairman on why security was not provided for that meeting given the volatility of the area in the state’s insecurity matrix. It is not on record that arrests have been made. Neither is there any evidence before the public that our security agencies have been able to unravel the masterminds of that dastardly attack and desecration of the traditional institution.

Since after that attack, the state appears to have carved out an unenviable record in violent attacks and kidnapping of traditional rulers. About the 9th of this month, the traditional ruler of Mbutu ancient kingdom in the Aboh Mbaise LGA, Eze Damian Nwigwe and his counterpart from Attah in the Njaba LGA, Eze Edwin Azike were separately kidnapped from their palaces. But while Nwigwe was freed two days later, Azike was not that lucky. His dead body was dumped in his car and parked at the community’s market square.

Before then, the traditional ruler of Achi Mbieri in the Mbaitoli LGA, Henry Madumere was abducted on his way to a public function. He regained freedom after many days in the hands of his captors. The list is endless.

What upped the ante in the violent and gruesome assault on the Imo traditional institution was the abduction and subsequent burning down of the palaces of two traditional rulers in the Okigwe LGA two Sunday’s ago. The affected royal fathers are Acho Ndukwe of Amagu Ihube and Pul Ogbu of Ihitte Ihube. Eze Ndukwe was lucky to be rescued by a special team of security operatives but Ogbu’s fate has remains largely unknown. There are speculations that the worst may have happened.

Unlike most of these kidnappings and killing of royal fathers that had remained largely unresolved, that of the two Ihube traditional rulers took a different but seemingly revealing dimension.  State security agencies said they discovered dead bodies, decapitated human heads and roasted bodies at ESN and kidnappers’ camps when they raided two communities in Imo and Anambra states.

Imo State Director of State Services DSS, Wilcox Idaminabo said the combined team of security operatives rescued Eze Ndukwe, arrested 30 IPOB/ESN and kidnap suspects during the operation. Hear him: “In the course of the operation, the security forces were able to rescue Eze Acho and we discovered a lot of decapitated bodies. I wonder, in the 21st century, we noticed that people still practice cannibalism here. We saw human flesh being roasted. It was an eyesore”.

Since after that media briefing, the video of the cannibalism Idaminabo spoke of has been trending in the social media apparently to give credence to the claims by security agencies. Two weeks earlier, the Minister of Information Lai Mohammed had in a statement while deprecating the alleged decapitation in the most gruesome manner of two police officers by the IPOB/ESN made claims to the same cannibalism theory.

He had assured that those who killed the officers “in a cannibalistic manner” videotaped and circulated the atrocious act would be brought to book. Soon after, here we are with a seeming evidence of the alleged cannibalism. The coincidence appears curious.  Does that say something?

It is good security agencies are getting a clue to the rampant killings and kidnapping of traditional rulers in Imo State especially with the arrest of those who kidnapped the traditional rulers of Ihube. The 30 suspects are made up of alleged IPOB/ESN members and kidnappers said to be taken from their camps in Imo and Anambra states. It is not clear whether the alleged IPOB/ESN members shared the same camps with the kidnap suspects.

Whatever the case, it does appear the security agencies have made a major breakthrough in unravelling the purveyors of the heightened insecurity that has rendered life a miserable lot in the state for quite some time now. Before now, they have been quick in attributing any and every security infraction to the IPOB/ESN even when no arrests were made.

One directional approach or reductionism tends to foreclose other leads to the mounting insecurity in the state. Yet, that approach had proved ineffective in taming the tide of violent crimes in the state. What appears evident from the arrest of the 30 suspects is that criminals such as kidnappers, armed robbers, ritual killers and other dangerous men of the underworld are also in the devious game for sundry motivations.

This dimension is very vital in getting a handle to the festering insecurity not only in Imo State but other parts of the country. Mono-causal explanations are of limited value in accounting for burning social phenomena. Now we know there are other undesirable elements at the centre of the insecurity in Imo State, the security agencies are in a better stead to design effective strategies to smoke them out from their hideouts.

The freeing of Eze Ndukwe at the camp of the criminals suspects and arrest of the masterminds are symbolic in more ways than one. For one, it affords the security agencies the opportunity to exhaustively interrogate the traditional ruler on what transpired between the time he was kidnapped and his palace set ablaze by his captors and when he was released. Such inquisition should reveal the motives of his captors, the discussions they had with him, why he was targeted and what they stood to gain. He should have serious information to aid the security agencies.

For another, those arrested at the scene where the traditional ruler was freed will be of immense value in unravelling the motive behind the mounting attacks and kidnapping of traditional rulers. Security agencies should interrogate them thoroughly on what issues they have with traditional rules that they have become an endangered lot in the state. Why have they become targets of selective kidnapping and elimination in the most bizarre manner?

These are some of the puzzles security agencies have to unravel since the suspects were arrested right inside their camps. But the public deserves to know the outcome of this investigation given the high interest the matter has generated and other issues to it. The 30 suspects paraded by the security agencies were said to be composed of IPOB/ESN members and kidnappers arrested in two camps in the Ihiala area of Anambra State and Orsu in Imo State.

But in a trending interview, a former member of the House of Representatives from Orsu, Dr Jeff Ojinika queried some of the claims by security agencies in respect of the people arrested in the Orsu area. He said contrary to the claims by security agencies, some of the people arrested in Orsu were picked up in their homes and while carrying out their legitimate duties and not in any camp.

He reeled out their names which he said were compiled and given to him by his traditional ruler and the president of the LGA progressive union. He called for an independent investigation to ensure that innocent people are not made to suffer unjustly. The issues raises by Ojinika are weighty and very serious and the security agencies must respond to them.

Extreme care must be exercised in ensuring that innocent people are not randomly arrested just to prove that the security agencies are working. Before now, allegations have been rife on the indiscriminate arrest and incarceration of innocent youths on the guise that they are IPOB members. Security agencies must show utmost transparency in handling the 30 suspects in order not to encumber the integrity of their joint outing penultimate Monday.

It is almost certain that the provisions of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill transmitted to President Buhari by the National Assembly will form the basis for the conduct of the 2023 general elections. Though the president could withhold assent to the bill, indications are that the National Assembly is poised to veto such a move and get the amendments through in keeping with extant laws.

So, it can be presumed that electronic transmission of election results and direct primaries by the political parties will constitute the grundnorm for the conduct of the next general elections. If this assumption is correct, then we expect substantial improvements in the capacity of the coming elections to reflect the sovereignty of the electorate. This is more so, given such other scientific innovations by the electoral umpire that have impacted positively on the integrity of elections.

Just as electronic accreditation and transmission of election results are geared towards enhancing the credibility of election results, direct primaries will usher in internal democracy by taking the parties back to their real owners – the people. The overall objective is to deepen democracy and forestall the rancour and acrimonious disputations that had overtime, characterized election outcomes on this clime.

A lot of electoral progress would have been made when election outcomes approximate the collective will of the people as expressed at the ballot box. Then also, the country would have parted ways with our sordid electoral pasts characterized by sundry infractions that had tended to question the continued relevance of our democratic order that has been anything but democratic.

But as good as the coming election-regulating laws and innovations are, their success would ultimately hinge on the human factor. The human element cues in both from the point of view of the dispositions of the government in power; politicians, the electorate and INEC officials to these laws. For, no matter how perfect rules and regulations are, their success would ultimately predicate on the level of cooperation they get from the public. That is why systems that are known to function perfectly in environments they were copied from, fail to deliver in the same measure in some other climes. The fault cannot be located in those systems but the attitudinal dispositions in the new environment they are domiciled. So when politicians rig elections and manipulate its outcome through devious means, that is not the fault of democracy as veritable governance construct. It is failure on the part of those who operate the system.

The high-minded goals in these electoral laws and innovations may come to naught without the collective resolve to play by the rules. Politicians must get off the idea that elections must be won by hook and crook irrespective of their appeal to the electorate. Those who wish to excel at elections, must work their ways through their constituencies and earn the appeal of the people.

The controversy that recently embroiled the mode of primaries by political parties would have been absolutely unnecessary were politicians to be playing by the rules. The grouse against indirect primary is not because it cannot further the cause of democracy. No! If the rules guiding indirect primaries were to be applied to the letters with some reduction in the number of statutory delegates, the cause of democracy could still be very well served. After all, it is in tandem with the notion of representative democracy necessitated by the size of modern states.

But governors and leaders of the parties never allowed the rules of the game to see the light of the day. In many cases, primaries were never held even as questionable lists were produced with names of favoured aspirants. You have to be in the good books of the authorities to be a candidate even when such a person is an unmitigated electoral liability. The quest to deliver such unpopular candidates by all means is largely responsible for the monumental infractions witnessed during elections.

Because there will be people out there to subvert the rules, the prosecution of election offenders must be pursued with added vigour. That is why the agitation for the establishment of election offences tribunals to facilitate extant slow trial processes by the regular courts will continue to draw allure.

Human element primacy in the overall credibility of elections is more critical from the point of view of the electoral umpire – the INEC. Yes, laws and innovations are being put in place to enhance the overall success and acceptability of elections. But these laws are in themselves not self-implementing. Much of their success would still predicate on the characters and credibility of appointees into the electoral body.

So, it is just not enough for the president to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and expect all will be right. Much will depend on the quality and character of people he appoints to superintend over elections. Before this article is published, not less than five national commissioners of INEC would have exited from services having completed their tenure. That leaves us with barely a year before the conduct of the next general elections going by INEC timelines.

It is not clear how long it will take the president to fill those vacancies. But one thing certain is that time is not on the side of the electoral body. The new appointees will require ample time to get acquainted with the workings of the INEC and this may impact negatively on their overall performance. In view of time constraints, it would appear better for the president to look inwards within INEC and fill the vacancies with some credible and experienced commissioners so that the system could leverage on their wealth of institutional memory.

Credibility, track record, character and integrity must form the fulcrum for filling the vacancies created by the departing national commissioners and other appointments. This point is very relevant given the furore generated by the controversial nomination of Special Assistant to the President on New Media, Lauretta Onochie as a national commissioner and that of a niece of the president Amina Zakari. The two nominations cast serious slur on the credibility and impartiality of INEC.

But for protests from the public and Onochie’s rejection by the senate, her appointment was bound to bring with it, credibility deficits in the management of elections by the INEC. Whatever considerations that gave rise to such manifest partisan nominations against the spirits of the electoral law, must be avoided like a plague in filling the vacancies created by the exit of the five national commissioners and appointment of Resident Electoral Commissioners.

That is the challenge before the president and a measure of how committed he is in bequeathing the country an enduring and credible electoral system. Part of the innovations witnessed in INEC during the Jonathan regime can be rationalized on his appointment of Prof. Attahiru Jega as INEC chairman and some of his colleagues from the civil society. Some of Jega’s colleagues with civil society background still in service are acquitting themselves very creditably. Appointees to leadership positions in the INEC must be people with no visible partisan link or questionable integrity for them to command the confidence of the people.

By calling to action clear constitutional provisions in such appointments, the president would have injected fresh blood into the system to complement the innovations in our electoral laws and deepen the democratic engagement.

With the right mix in human capital and the scientific innovations that saw to the success of the Ondo, Edo and Anambra states elections, the president would have been on a sure path to bequeathing a credible and enduring electoral system to the country. Buhari has a date with history on the decisions he takes to institutionalize democracy through fool proof-electoral laws, credible and non-partisan appointments to the leadership of the INEC