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Tag: Barbaric

  • Barbaric

    Barbaric

    •Mob killing of alleged offenders is savage justice that must be stopped

    Another victim of jungle justice by irate mobs was recorded penultimate weekend. This time, it was in Kasuwan Garba, Mariga council area of Niger State, where a female food vendor was lynched for alleged blasphemy against the Islamic faith.

    Reports said the local food vendor, identified simply as Ammaye, got lynched and her body burnt by angry youths for alleged blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad. Trouble started, according to eye witnesses, when the lady, herself a Muslim faithful and well-known food seller in the community, engaged in a verbal exchange with a young man said to be her nephew.

    The young man was reported to have jokingly told Ammaye that he wanted to marry her to “fulfil the Sunnah,” to which the lady responded with comments considered blasphemous.

    Her comments sparked an outrage among the locals. The matter was taken to the palace of the district head of Kasuwan Garba where the lady was interrogated, and she allegedly repeated what she had earlier said.

    The district head then handed Ammaye over to security agents for further interrogation. But a crowd of agitated youths waylaid her in company of the security operatives, insisting on instant justice for her. Despite efforts by the security agents to protect the lady, the mob overwhelmed them, seized her and stoned her to death, after which the body was set ablaze. Niger State Police Command confirmed that the tragic incident occurred on August 30 at about 2:00p.m.

    Command spokesman Wasiu Abiodun, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said in a statement that efforts were underway to identify, arrest and prosecute those involved in the mob action. “A report was received that (the victim) allegedly made some utterances considered offensive to the Islamic faith. Her comments provoked anger among members of the community,” the statement said, adding: “Unfortunately, it led to a mob attack and the woman was set ablaze before a reinforcement security team could arrive on the scene.”

    The spokesman further said the police command strongly condemned the act of jungle justice, and that even though normalcy had been restored to the area, the command would not relent on its determination to bring culprits of the mayhem to book. The Chairman of Mariga Local Government Area, Abbas Adamu, also confirmed the incident but noted that calm had been restored.

    The mob killing in Niger State occurred just about a week after a woman mistaken for a kidnapper was mob-killed in Kwara State. The victim, who was later identified to be a wandering destitute, was attacked at the popular Ipata Market in Ilorin East council area and inflicted with severe bodily injury that resulted in her death.

    The police in Kwara State said the woman was seen roaming around the community, with community members suspecting her to be a kidnapper, and a mob thereby attacking her. A police patrol team reportedly raced to the scene to rescue the victim and rushed her to General Hospital, Ilorin, for urgent medical attention. But a doctor at the hospital confirmed her dead as a result of the injuries sustained.

    These were only recent instances. Mob killings are a regular occurrence in the Nigerian communal experience, and the bigger tragedy is that most victims were later discovered to be innocent of the crimes they were killed for – not surprisingly so, because room was not made to ascertain their offence in the first place.

    Meanwhile, jungle justice is a criminal act under Nigerian law because it violates constitutional provisions that guarantee every citizen the right to life (Section 33) and to fair hearing (Section 36).

    By engaging in mob justice, perpetrators commit unjustified assault and murder, which are offences punishable by death or long prison sentences. Besides, jungle justice entails disturbance of public peace and is the height of lawlessness, because what perpetrators do is take the law into their own hands.

    Read Also: Nigeria needs feasible housing policy to tackle deficit – Adeoye

    But the experience is that culprits often go un-apprehended. Whenever there is an occurrence of mob justice, the authorities condemn the act in strong terms and vow to bring those involved to the real justice. That, however, rarely happens and there is no dissuasion of perpetrators from future recurrence.

    Nigeria’s history is replete with cases of mob killings that have gone unrequited. Notable ones include Deborah Samuel, a student at Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, who in 2022 was accused of blasphemy on a class WhatsApp group.

    A mob of fellow students dragged her out, stoned her and set her body ablaze. Long before that, there was the case of the Aluu Four in 2012 whereby four students of the University of Port Harcourt were falsely accused of theft and lynched by villagers in Aluu community. They were beaten, stripped and burnt alive – a case of brutality that sparked national outrage.

    Even in Lagos, a reputed cosmopolis, there was in 2022 the case of David Imoh, a sound engineer who was beaten and burnt to death by commercial motorcyclists in Lekki after a misunderstanding over payment.

    We have written repeatedly against this barbaric trend, but it keeps recurring. Something decisive must be done to punish culprits; otherwise it is a basket case.

  • Budget presentation: ‘Heckling of Buhari was barbaric’

    The Buhari/Osinbajo Youth Support Movement (BOYSM) has described as barbaric, the heckling of President Muhammadu Buhari by some lawmakers during the presentation of 2019 budget.

    It said the President presented the budget in compliance with Section 148 of the 1999 Constitution, adding that the lawmakers’ conduct did not portray them as good role models to young people.

    BOYSM said in a statement by its National President, Comrade Ibe Emeni: “By Section 148 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the President can appear for himself in any government function or delegate his function to any officer of his government. We commend the President for taking the bold step in the self-presentation of the budget.

    “The leadership of BOYSM condemns the action of the federal lawmakers by jeering at the number one citizen of the country.

    “It should be noted that the federal legislators are models to the upcoming Nigerian youths, but their display of shame goes to the root of their understanding of legislative works.

    “President Buhari has taken the National Assembly so serious and as a matter of courtesy, personally presented the budget.

    “Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan for most part of their administration sent the budget to the house via a covering letter through their Finance ministers.

    “The opposition National Assembly members were very disrespectful for their misconduct and became so unruly to the symbol of our national sovereignty during an event that was broadcast live on television stations.”

    According to the group, the rowdy session suggested that a majority of the opposition legislators were insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.

    It said: “They have shown that the 8th Assembly is not for the people but politics driven. Everything is on party politics, nothing about the Nigerian state and the poor Nigerians.

    “The President’s speech, which was read at the floor of the House, clearly summarises that the Nigerian economy has recovered from recession and growing to perfection, that the government has made strenuous and successful effort to overcome insurgency in the Northeast.

    “That the government has sustained its effort in fighting grand corruption and improve public financial management through the comprehensive implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

    “That the government has maintained sustained accretion to foreign exchange reserves from a low $28.57billion in 2015 to $42.92billion in 2018. That the country has moved from deficit to surplus in our trade balance.”

  • Barbaric

    The party system in Nigeria is still a baby. Sometimes it appears to have grown into its adolescent years, but it quickly recoils into its cot, squealing and all teary-eyed. Its greatest feature is that it is often undemocratic. But it is undemocratic because of what political scientists call the big man syndrome.

    The big man syndrome hails from our feudal makeup in which kings and princes ride over a fawning and helpless people. Capitalism upended it, but in our country and most of Africa, democracy has not rewarded the individual freedom that helps to nourish a modern state.

    But there is a reason why we have the big man syndrome. It is the big money syndrome, which arises from a milieu of crude money makers based on rent. When money comes in, choice vanishes. That is something that is going on right now in the so-called party of change as regards the delegates system.

    It is one of the landmark actions that Adams Oshiomhole will have to make as the party helmsman as the National Working Committee of the APC meets today (Monday) over whether they should institute direct primaries or go through the indirect one, which is the delegates system. The next test of this action will be the Osun State primaries for the post of governor.

    Some members of the NWC say they want the delegates system, while the others want it to be through direct primaries. But at  bottom is the question as to what is the system that best represents the tempo and temperament of the party. This idea also refers to other parties, including the PDP. The delegates system, in and of itself, is not philosophically anathema. But it is subject to abuse in a society like ours where the big man takes precedence over choice and conscience.

    If it is the democracy of conscience we want, then we should not have a delegates system yet in the country. As a so-called change agent, the APC should not put money over choice. When the primaries are under the delegates system, it becomes not a democracy in this instance. It becomes an oligarchy. A few powerful, tendentious characters corral some men and women who are arbitrarily picked to become deciders of who becomes the party flag bearer for the top office in the state.

    So, it is a unilateral aberration. But what problematises it is that the NWC is not clearly mandated to pick a particular formula. This constitutional agnosticism opens the democratic system to fraud. It becomes the decision of a few men, and often in our society, it is the decision not of a few wise men, but a few foolish men. Put more clearly, it is the decision of a few tendentious men, who want to  cow the system and crown a man who has not felt the heartbeats of the men and women in the lower rungs of the party.

    The APC constitution says in Article 20 (vi) that “without prejudice to Article 20 (ii) and (iii) of this constitution, the National Working Committee shall subject to the approval of the National Executive Committee make rules and regulations for the nomination of candidates through primary elections. All such rules and regulations for the nomination of candidates through primary elections. All such rules, regulations and guidelines shall take into consideration and uphold the principle of federal character, gender balance, geo-political spread and rotation of offices, to as much as possible ensure balance within the constituency covered.”

    The letters of these words point to an openness of decision. But the spirit is unimpeachable. It means the decision must not be rigged by a cabal of party bigwigs. It calls for inclusiveness. How inclusive can it be when only a few men, who have held the party’s artificial jugular, decide for the ordinary man and woman who must be their candidates.

    If money is the centre of this problem, it has other branches. Since money can be received and the receiver can decide to follow conscience, some party chieftains often decide to tie these delegates to all kinds of oaths. These oaths are often diabolical. In not too long ago, a former governor locked his men in an oath. If you picked the money, you also swore to an occultic oath. This is spiritual blackmail. The delegates, often beholden to this society’s aggressive superstition, cower and obey. We cannot forget the image of the party men in a southwest state carrying calabashes on their heads. Is this a modern democracy, or the democracy of the gods, of the daemons of tradition, of men who have caved in to the spirits of the dead instead of the living.

    How do we trust a system to a few men who hail the name of orisha instead of the people when they pick our governors? Some oaths are not less diabolical when the consequence is death by non-supernatural means. The oaths that force the delegates to drink blood of goats, or rams or chicken or, as some have speculated, human blood, also means disobedience is death, or some greater body or psychological harms. The men and women obey because, it is safer to obey than to sacrifice their lives and careers. Democracy suffers and the people mourn.

    It means our politics is beholden to cabals of aggressive spiritual content, and contempt for the people. If democracy is a system of popular persuasion, we need the process to be about the people. Not about a few.

    The NWC has a chance to pick apart a system of barbaric efficiency, or pick the popular will.

  • Dogara: Incident repugnant, barbaric

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara also condemned the incident.

    He described the attack as another low in the inhuman, repugnant, callous and barbaric acts of the Boko Haram terrorists.

    “It is saddening that people, who have been sacrificing to save lives, and offer succour to our people in the North East are now targets of blood thirsty terrorists,” the speaker said in a statement in Abuja.

    He said the attack was “against all rules of engagement in conflict zones all over the world,” and appealed to all humanitarian agencies not to be deterred by “this new dimension of violence by the insurgents.”

    Dogara challenged security agencies to also provide adequate protection for humanitarian workers in the region.

  • The barbaric assault on Lagosians

    SIR: We in the Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate, (CPPM), condemns in strong terms the recent barbaric, crude, uncivilized, undemocratic, provocative, irresponsible, inciting, reckless, undemocratic, unconstitutional and terrorist assault on the fundamental and democratic rights of Lagosians by a group named Coalition of Concerned Nigerians (CCN).

    In as much as we recognize the constitutional right of freedom of citizens to protest or hold demonstrations, it must be done with civility and absolute respect for the democratic rights of other Nigerians and the constitution. The barbaric and unconstitutional conduct of CCN in assaulting the economic and fundamental rights of Lagosians through destruction of political party billboards, banners and posters as well as terrorizing innocent road users is highly provocative, despicable and condemnable.

    From our investigations, the CCN is allegedly owned and funded by Mr. Gani Adams, the factional leader of OPC who was allegedly awarded recently the contract for the protection of Nigerian waterways and oil pipeline with effect from March 16, 2015 under the name Donyx Global Concept among other militants’ owned companies by the Federal Government of Nigeria. We are also aware that all the companies recently awarded oil pipeline protection contract by the Federal Government are owned by militants who have publicly threatened national peace and security if in their words, President Jonathan is not re-elected.

    In the light of the above assault of the economic and democratic rights of Lagosians and the constitution, we want to ask if the recent disruption of the economic life and intimidation of Lagosians from exercising their fundamental rights is part of the oil pipeline contract job of Donyx Global Concept of the OPC? Again, is this part of the grand design to cause mayhem in parts of the country starting with Lagos so as to engineer another postponement of the 2015 general elections on the grounds of insecurity?

    Therefore, our committee is hereby demanding the following: Immediate investigation and arrest of the leaders of (CCN) for this breach of public peace: Immediate prosecution of the leaders of this lawless group for violations of relevant laws: Immediate apology to the good people of Lagos State by the Nigeria Police for not living up to their constitutional responsibility by allowing these flagrant violations of the laws to occur and that: The security agencies should rise up to their constitutional responsibility by ensuring a peaceful pre, during and post 2015 general elections.

    We are warning that Nigerians are desirous of participating in a free, fair, transparent and credible 2015 general elections and every hand should be on deck to ensure a successful exercise. All agents of evil and anti democratic elements are hereby warned to stay off our democratic path, lest they be crushed.

     

    • Nelson Ekujumi

    Executive Chairman, CPPM.

  • Mass shooting threat: Mbu is lawless, barbaric, says APC

    Mass shooting threat: Mbu is lawless, barbaric, says APC

    The Police authorities yesterday sought to douse the tension sparked by Assistant Inspector General Joseph Mbu that the police would kill 20 people for every one of their own lost during the forthcoming elections.

    Mbu, who oversees Zone 2 comprising  the Lagos  and Ogun Commands,  had declared  in Abeokuta on Thursday  that : “If one of my men is killed, I shall kill 20 of them but don’t shoot first. If they shoot you, shoot back in self-defence. Anybody who fires you, fire him back in self-defence.”

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) called Mbu’s statement barbaric and said his actions since he was posted to Lagos “have neither dignified the police as an institution nor portrayed him as a well-trained law enforcement agent.”

    However, Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba yesterday pledged the commitment of the police to the rule of law and the respect of the fundamental rights of citizens and residents alike by all Police officers.

    Although he admitted that there are circumstances under which an officer may be provoked in the course of duty, he reminded the rank and file that the Police Regulations require of every one of them to exercise “tact, patience and tolerance and the control of his temper in trying situations.”

    The IGP reassured the public that the Police have a mandate to save and protect lives, and not to kill, contrary to recent statements in the media, a veiled reference to Mbu’s statement.

    Abba cautioned officers to avoid excesses, pointing out the dire consequences attendant on abuse of human rights, all of which are contained in the recently released Human Rights Practice Manual.

    The Force Public Relations Officer at the Police Headquarters, Acting Police Commissioner Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the IGP, addressing senior officers and stakeholders in his office, advised all policemen of the imperative necessity to apply caution in the use of firearms, warning that except in extreme circumstances, arms shall not be used during the forthcoming elections. He observed that the rule of law is the underpinning tenet of democracy, which will guide Police officers in the discharge of their roles in the forthcoming national elections.

    The Police, according to him, are prepared to provide the requisite security before, during and after the elections.

    Mbu had also at the Abeokuta meeting with his men declared that they had the authority to arrest, before, during and after elections.

    He said it was not compulsory for them to even greet a governor who comes to vote.

    He went further: “You have the power to stop the governor. We are in a critical period. We are not para-military. We must be bold and brave. Keep an eagle eye on everybody. We are authorised by the constitution to arrest before, during and after election. Our role is to ensure free, fair and violence free elections.”

    The APC, reacting to Mbu’s statement said it smacked of lawlessness and barbarism.

    The party asked the police authorities to call him to order “before he starts another around of his trade-mark nihilism in his new posting.”

    “The temperament, comportment, utterances and actions of Mbu, a very senior police officer, are capable of inciting mass killings, violence and anarchy,” the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said in a statement.

    ‘’Since his posting to the Zone 2 Command, this contumacious policeman has exhibited an egregious act of lawlessness by barging through the Lekki Toll Plaza without paying toll and then ordering the arrest of policemen and workers at the Plaza. Is it not an irony that a man who is trained to enforce the law is the same who is breaking the law?

    ‘’But that action, as bad as it was, pales into insignificance when compared to his most recent statement in which he was basically inciting the police against the citizenry and encouraging the killing of civilians. It is sheer irresponsibility for a senior policeman to say that for every policeman who is killed during the election, he will kill 20 civilians.

    ‘’Lest we are misunderstood, our party will never condone the killing of police personnel or of any law enforcement agent for whatever reason, just as we will not condone the killing of any innocent Nigerian. If a senior police officer does not know how to convey to his officers and men that they should protect themselves while also avoiding extra-judicial killing of any citizen, then the funds spent in training him have been wasted.”

    The APC said such language as ‘fire-for-fire’, “If one of my men is killed, I shall kill twenty of them” or “you have the power to stop the Governor” is inappropriate, inciting and barbaric, especially under a democratic dispensation, and is most unbecoming of a senior law enforcement agent. It therefore said Mbu should be held solely responsible for any violence or killing of innocent citizens before, during and after the elections in the area under his command.

    APC warned Mbu to mind his utterances and actions, shake off all the vestiges of lawlessness and barbarism for which he has become infamous and comport himself like a senior police officer that he is if he wants to succeed in his new assignment, saying ‘’if he continues in his old, unedifying ways, he will face a public opprobrium as he has never done before’’.

  • Attacks barbaric, says Tukur

    Attacks barbaric, says Tukur

    Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Dr Bamanga Tukur, has condemned the Wednesday twin bombings in Kaduna.

    The newly appointed Ambassador at Large said such attacks are against the teachings of Islam, the religion of peace.

    A statement yesterday by the Senior Assistant in the office of the politician, Jenny Moses, said: “Our prayers are with those that who died, were wounded and saved from the hands of terrorists. Our country is going through some challenges. We condemn the killing of innocent people and attack on political and religious leaders.

    “There is no religion that supports or incites their followers to such barbaric acts.”

  • Grounding of Oshiomhole’s chopper barbaric, says NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday condemned aviation authorities in Benin City for grounding the helicopter conveying Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole to Awka, Anambra State.

    NLC President Abdulwaheed Omar, in a statement, “No to Herd Culture”, urged all stakeholders to be cautious in order to avoid barbaric practices in the 21st century.

    He said federal institutions had become willing tools in the hands of politicians.

    “We would want to call for caution on the part of all stakeholders. Democracy without alternative views is not democracy.

    “The earlier we accept and live with this, the better for all of us. We ought to be sufficiently matured enough not to practise herd culture in the 21st century.

    “All too often in recent times, federal institutions have been willing tools in the hands of vindictive politicians or appointees out to settle scores.”

    He, however, insisted that strong institutions are key to deepening democracy.

    Omar recalled that the first victim was Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, whose plane still remains grounded.

    He said: “Congress is dismayed by these familiar but reprehensible styles of dealing with governors with dissenting views.

    “We find these tactics crude, cheap and barbaric, and a throw-back to the days of military dictatorship, which we are better off without.

    “We find it amazing that experienced pilots with hundreds of flying hours will suddenly be bereft of elementary rules governing flight operations.

    “And supposing they had been operating in ignorance or in breach of extant regulations, we are yet to see the sanctions meted out to those institutions or individuals that aided their conduct.

    “We have noticed with concern the growing sensitivity of the Presidency to criticism and the penchant to treat every thought, opinion or action that does not conform as a treasonable offence.

    “May we remind the Presidency and its army of aides, sidekicks and others in the service, that democracy thrives on time-honoured principles of freedom of speech and association and accountability; and not on impunity or brutality.”

  • Mark, Tambuwal, North’s governors: it’s barbaric

    Mark, Tambuwal, North’s governors: it’s barbaric

    Senate President David Mark yesterday asked members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect to give peace a chance.

    Mark, in his reaction to the bomb blast at a military church in Jaji, Kaduna State, asked any aggrieved group or persons to accept dialogue instead of a resort to violence.

    He pleaded with perpetrators of violence to give peace a chance.

    Mark, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary Paul Mumeh, in Abuja, said: “We have more to gain by being our brothers’ keeper.”

    He urged security operatives to step up to the challenge.

    He added: “This is a challenge to all, irrespective of religious, ethnic or political leanings.

    “It’s about the survival of Nigeria.”

    House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal also condemned the blast.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, Tambuwal urged the security agencies not to despair over the attack on their facilities.

    He said no religion condones attack on innocent worshippers, and urged all those behind the bombings to stop forthwith.

    While grieving with the families of those who lost loved ones in “the unfortunate attack in Jaji”, Tambuwal prayed for the quick recovery of those injured.

    He pledged the commitment of the House of Representatives to doing everything possible to assist security and other relevant agencies to tackle the problems of insecurity in the country.

    The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) also commiserated with the military over the deadly bomb incident. It described the attack as “cruel and wicked.”

    The forum said the victims were heroes and heroines who laid their lives for fatherland.

    Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, described the reported death of officers, men and members of their families as a great national loss.

    Aliyu’s Chief Press Secretary, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, issued the statement.

    The statement also urged the military not to be discouraged by the dastardly act, saying the nation would forever remain grateful to the military and other security agencies for the successes recorded so far in the war against terror.

  • Barbaric

    Barbaric

    •Those who killed the four Uniport students for alleged theft must be fished out and punished

    The Hobbesian state of nature where life was nasty, brutish and short was reenacted in the Aluu Community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State at the weekend when some irritant rabbles in the area killed four students of the University of Port Harcourt. The students were accused of stealing phones and laptops in an off-campus hostel. The students, identified as Lloyd, Tekena, Ugonna and Chidiaka were mercilessly beaten and set ablaze.

    The horrendous pictures of the torturing process that the students went through in the hands of the horde, and their eventual being set ablaze are still on the social and print media. The sight is nothing but a barbaric reminder of the abyss into which respect for human lives has sunk in the country. What could have informed the summary trial meted on the students, whether as phones/laptops robbers or even cultists?

    We are aware of reports that the community had been disturbed of recent by hoodlums. While it is a good thing that the students, suspected to have committed an offence, were apprehended, it is incomprehensible that they would be so summarily murdered. It is indefensible for any citizen or group of citizens to take laws into their hands by killing others.

    Definitely, resorting to barbarity smacks of returning the country to the Stone Age. We consider it a sad development that jungle justice could be so meted out in a country that is supposed to be governed by written laws. Sadly too, this gruesome killing must have come to the fore because the affected persons were students. The phenomenal social media technology actually saved the matter from being swept under the carpet, just as we are sure that there must have been several cases like this that happened in some remote parts of the country that were not reported or made known to the public.

    The 1999 Constitution (as amended), being the country’s grundnorm, is quite explicit in section 33 (1) where it provides for respect of right to life of Nigerians. Though the constitution provides for situations where human lives could be lawfully terminated, we are cocksure that jungle justice is not one of those few provisos vitiating respect for preservation of life.

    This is why the murderous act of the Aluu community mob is condemned for denigrating civilised values and for bringing global opprobrium unto the nation. The outrage that the incident has generated should be of tremendous concern to the authorities, especially when not too long ago, 44 students were murdered for inexplicable reasons in Mubi, Adamawa State. Our government should not be seen to be watching helplessly as lives are being wantonly destroyed by outlaws.

    The security agencies must swing into action and ensure that those involved in the Aluu killings are fished out and made to face the full wrath of the law. The public wants to see whether the end of justice would be met so as to serve as deterrence to others thinking along that line. Such primitive thoughts should be perished once and for all in the country.

    Nigeria should not be governed by the whims and caprices of mobs or any outlaw group; rather, the nation should be governed by written laws and guided by civilised standards. We say no to this inhuman extra-legal capital punishment.