Protests against the relocation of Boko Haram prisoners to the South East deserves dispassionate assessment
It is not unusual in a democracy for people to protest against public policies for various reasons. This is the hallmark of the democratic order. However, in our clime, such protests and the response to them are often smeared by sectarian considerations. The plan by the federal authorities to move some insurgents serving term in some Northern prisons to Ekwulobia in Anambra State in the South East is being stoutly resisted by the governments, leaders and people of the region.
Last week, governors pf the five states in the zone rose from a meeting in Owerri, the Imo State capital, to denounce the move and request that the federal government restrict Boko Haram prisoners to the federal capital city, Abuja. They reasoned, quite logically, that the South East has been so devastated by its own peculiar security challenge that it could not afford to watch another dimension introduced. They also argued that only Abuja, with the concentration of security agencies, devices and personnel, could house such men and women.
But, earlier, the people of Anambra State had protested against the plan on the ground that Northern prisoners should not be brought to their state. We consider that line of reasoning untenable as all prisons in the country are owned by the federal government and the prisoners were tried and sentenced under federal laws. It is therefore unacceptable that people of different localities determine who may be jailed in what federal facility. If the protest along that line is sustained, there would soon come a time when deciding where to locate detainees and prisoners would become a problem.
We recall that there had been times when prominent political prisoners were moved away from the scene of their alleged crimes. The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi was jailed at the Gashua prison while the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, after the famous Treasonable Felony trials of the First Republic was moved to the Calabar prison. The people could, applying sentiments, have protested the decision on political, ethnic or sentimental grounds. They could also have argued, perhaps irrationally, that it could generate tension with their kiths and kins in Yoruba land being attacked.
We, however, call on the prison authorities to consider the plea on the ground of insufficiency of security network in the area. It is known that dare devil attacks have been launched by heavily armed insurgents to free their colleagues. In Kotokarfe, Kogi State, such an attack was launched and prisoners set free. In Ado Ekiti, too, a jail break last year was said to have been informed by the presence of some Boko Haram insurgents there. When this is considered along with the blood chilling operations of the terrorists, it is not surprising that the Anambra State people are worried at the frightening prospect of sending some of them to the state.
In 2011, the suicide bombing of the United Nations House in Abuja and the unprecedented earlier attack on the Police Headquarters at the federal capital city caught the attention of the world. Since then, the sacking of military and Police formation in Bama, Borno State, abduction of more than 200 secondary school girls in Chibok, Yobe State, capture of towns in the North East, successes recorded against the Nigerian military and internationalization of their operations have shown that it is a well corordinated and funded group.
The war of words involving Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano and his predecessor, Mr Peter Obi is uncalled for and diversionary. The suggestion that the relocation was approved by the former governor is ridiculous as the federal government needed no one’sendorsement to locate prisoners. It is a classical example of how not to politicize a matter of serious public interest. Politicians and public officers should always place the general interest above narrow political gains.
The Ekwulobia prison is small and thus unsuitable for such use. Jailed terrorists are meant tio be kept in maximum security prisons where the security forces are at alert at all times and the facilities adequate to deter attempts at freeing them We call on the federal government to upgrade facilities in all the prisons. They should be rehabilitated and security in and around them improved. This should take into consideration development in the country. Armed robbers are known to have access to the most sophisticated weapons and could be encouraged by successes recorded by the Boko Haram attacks to make bids of their own.
There are also those jailed for laundering huge sums of money and could therefore hire hands to overwhelm the security in the prisons. The logic of spreading the jailed terrorists in various parts of the country should inform the need to establish maximum security prisons in all the geo-political zones. Until then, while the federal government has the right to decide where to send prisoners, terrorists should be kept in only maximum security prisons located in cities where there is sufficient security presence.
