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  • Deploying soldiers for elections is unconstitutional, says Falana

    Deploying soldiers for elections is unconstitutional, says Falana

    Lagos lawyer Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has said it is illegal and ultra vires for the President to deploy armed forces to maintain law and order during elections.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos, titled, Illegal Involvement of Soldiers in Election Duties, Falanasaid Sections 215 and 217 of the Constitution stipulates that the power of the President to deploy Armed Forces for internal security is limited to the suppression of insurrection, including insurgency and aiding the police to restore order when it has broken down.

    The frontline lawyer said instead of using soldiers during elections, the President should strengthen the police to ensure internal security while the Armed Forces should be restricted to defend the nation’s territorial integrity.

    He stressed that under the current constitution, the President lacks the power to involve soldiers in maintaining law and order during elections.

    Falana said: “Even in the Northeast, a state of emergency had to be declared by the President to justify the deployment of the Armed Forces as part of the extraordinary measures he was required to take to restore law and order pursuant to Section 305 of the Constitution. Even then, the President had to seek and obtain the approval of the National Assembly for the deployment for a specific period of time.”

    The lawyer described as “misleading apologia for the militarisation of the recent governorship election in Ekiti State” an article by Bashorun Akin Osuntokun on the “militarisation and other fallacies” published in his weekly column in ThisDay of July 11.

    According to him, Osuntokun, in hailing the soldiers for displaying professionalism, “was curiously silent on the infringement of the fundamental right of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s freedom of movement, which occurred at Iju-Itagbolu in Ondo State, contrary to Section 41 of the Constitution”.

    He added: “The governor, who was billed to attend a political rally at Ado-Ekiti on June 19, 2014, was crudely turned back by the soldiers who claimed that they were acting on ‘orders from above’.

    “Mr. Osuntokun was equally silent on the illegal curfew imposed on Ekiti State by the army. Or, was any curfew declared by the relevant authorities that was not announced? A client, Mr. Bayo Fajimi, who was going home from Akure, Ondo State (his place of residence), was disenfranchised as he was prevented by the soldiers from entering Ekiti State at 6.30pm on June 20 because of the illegal curfew! Is the Bashorun not aware that the soldiers subjected every hotel in Ado-Ekiti to a search without warrant between 10pm and 2am for the sole purpose of ejecting all those who could not give ‘satisfactory’ explanation of their business in Ekiti State? Yet, while all ‘illegal aliens’, like Governor Amaechi and others suspected to be All Progressives Congress (APC) members were harassed and expelled from the state by the army, some non-indigenes, who are chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including two serving ministers and an influential thug from Anambra State, were allowed to ‘monitor’ the election. Indeed, they were fully protected by the armed Gendarmes.

    “Even though the Bashorun admitted that he was ‘struck and inconvenienced by the rigour and saturation of the security blanket’ on account of repeated security check points, he dismissed the complaints of the militarisation of the election. As far as he is concerned, the United States Embassy had endorsed the militarisation by issuing a statement to the effect that ‘the security forces collaborated effectively and provided a safe and secure environment free of major incidents’…”

  • Falana: deployment of soldiers for elections is unconstitutional, illegal

    Falana: deployment of soldiers for elections is unconstitutional, illegal

    Lagos lawyer Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has said it is illegal and ultra vires on the part of President Goodluck Jonathan to deploy the armed forces to maintain law and order during elections.

    Falana, in a statement yesterday, titled: “Illegal involvement of soldiers in election duties,” said sections 215 and 217 of the constitution are abundantly clear that the power of the President to deploy armed forces for internal security is limited to the suppression of insurrection, including insurgency and aiding the police to restore order when it has broken down.

    Rather than use soldiers during elections, he advised that the police should be strengthened  to discharge the duty of ensuring internal security while the armed forces are restricted to the defence of the nation’s territorial integrity.

    He said under the current constitutional dispensation, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed lacks the  power to involve soldiers in maintaining law and order during elections.

    “Even in the Northeast region, a state of emergency had to be declared by the President to justify the deployment of members of the armed forces as part of the extraordinary measures he was required to take to restore law and order pursuant to section 305 of the Constitution.

    “Even then, the President had to seek and obtain the approval of the National Assembly for the said deployment for a specific period of time,” he stated.

    Falana described as “misleading apologia for the militarisation of the recent governorship election in Ekiti State”, an article by Bashorun Akin Osuntokun on “Militarisation and other fallacies” published in his weekly column in Thisday newspaper of Friday, July 11, 2014.

    According to him, Osuntokun,  in commending the soldiers for displaying professionalism, “was curiously  silent on the infringement of the fundamental right of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s freedom of movement, which occurred at Iju-Itagbolu in Ondo State, contrary to Section 41 of the Constitution.

    “The governor, who was billed to attend a political rally at Ado-Ekiti on June 19, 2014, was crudely turned back by the soldiers who claimed that they were acting on “orders from above.

    “Mr. Osuntokun was equally silent on the illegal curfew imposed on Ekiti State by the army. Or was any curfew declared by the relevant authorities that was not announced? A client, Mr. Bayo Fajimi, who was going home from Akure, Ondo State ( his place of residence), was disenfranchised as he was prevented by the soldiers from entering Ekiti State at 6.30 pm on June 20 because of the illegal curfew! Is the Bashorun not aware that the soldiers subjected every hotel at Ado Ekiti to a search without warrant between 10pm and 2am  for the sole purpose of  ejecting all  those who could not give “satisfactory” explanation of their business in Ekiti State? Yet while all “illegal aliens” like Governor Amaechi and others suspected to be All Progressives Congress  members were harassed and expelled from the state by the army, some non-indigenes who are chieftains of the People’s Democratic Party, including two serving ministers and an influential thug from Anambra State, were allowed to “monitor” the election. Indeed, they were fully protected by the  armed gendarmes.

    “Even though the Bashorun admitted that he was “struck and inconvenienced by the rigour and saturation of the security blanket” on account of repeated security check-points, he dismissed the complaints of the militarisation of the election. As far as he is concerned, the United States Embassy had endorsed the militarisation by issuing a statement to the effect that, “the security forces collaborated effectively and provided a safe and secure environment free of major incidents”.

    He added that Bashorun Osuntokun claimed that the soldiers displayed civility as they were “neither intrusive nor threatening”.

    Falana, however, pointed out that the Americans, who issued the statement, do not involve armed troops in the management of their own elections.

    He added that the soldiers drafted to  his community at Ilawe-Ekiti  constituted  themselves into an army of occupation.

    “Apart from assaulting individuals without any justification, they beat up a policeman on June 20, which led to a violent clash between the police and the army. As a result of the pandemonium which ensued, the main market in the town was abruptly closed down. I personally witnessed the brutality exhibited  by the rampaging troops. I have other reports of human rights abuses committed in other parts of Ekiti State by those armed soldiers who usurped police duties of maintaining law and order before and after the election”, he said.

    He pointed out that with what he witnessed during the election, there was no role that the soldiers played that the mobile section of the Nigeria Police Force could not have played even better, adding: “Or when has the manning of road blocks become a military affair?”

    According to him, the three criminal elements, who were caught with a lorry load of ballot papers before the election were arrested by the police.

    “With the figure of 36,790 armed soldiers, police, state security service and civil defence personnel deployed for the Ekiti election, not less than one million armed troops will be required for the 2015 election.

    “Since the Federal Government cannot possibly mobilise that number of troops, the United Nations may be requested to send a Peace Keeping Force for the militarisation of the entire country during the general election.

    Falana recalled that when former President Obasanjo deployed the army during the 2003 general elections, over 200 people were killed by the security forces.

    He said the courts have consistently enjoined the Federal Government to desist from involving the armed forces in the conduct of elections.

    He cited several court judgments to back his claim that it is illegal to deploy soldiers for elections, including a lead judgment of the Court of Appeal in Yussuf v Obasanjo (2005) 18 N.W.L.R. (Pt 956) 96. Salami JCA (as he then was), held that “It is up to the police to protect our nascent democracy and not the military, otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly militarised. This is not what the citizenry bargained for in wrestling power from the military in 1999. Conscious step or steps should be taken to civilianise the polity to ensure the survival and sustenance of democracy.”

    He maintained therefore that the deployment of the armed forces for the maintenance of law and order during elections cannot be legally justified in view of Section 215(3) of the Constitution which has vested the police with the exclusive power to maintain and secure public safety and public order in the country.

    He said the President is only empowered by virtue of Section 217(2) of the Constitution to deploy the armed forces for the “suppression of insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore law order”.

    The Senior Advocate said this, in effect, means that before the armed forces may be involved in the maintenance of law and order, there must have been insurrection or civil disturbances which cannot be contained by the Police.

    The Constitution, according to him, never envisaged that the armed forces will usurp the powers of the police with respect to the “preservation of law and order” in any part of the country.

  • Falana urges NBA to publish voters’ register

    Falana urges NBA to publish voters’ register

    •Association’s election tomorrow

    Lagos lawyer Mr Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Electoral Committee, Okey Amechi (SAN), to publish the voters’ register compiled for this year’s election.

    The Bar election will hold tomorrow in Abuja.

    The frontline lawyer said there was a reason to suspect that the register may contain fictitious names, including the names of dead lawyers, as it happened in the 2012 poll.

    Falana said unless the voters’ register is published before the day of the election, he would not hesitate “to approach the appropriate High Court to stop the manipulation of the electoral process by the NBA leadership”.

    He added: “Lawyers cannot afford to fix election results as they are entrusted with the responsibility of filing and defending election petitions in the country.”

    The activist explained that to ensure transparency in this year’s NBA poll, he was compelled, last week, to apply for a copy of the voters’ register under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.

    He said he was assured that the register would be published ahead of the election. “But for some inexplicable reasons, the NBA Electoral Committee has refused to publish the voters register 48 hours to the election,” Falana said.

    The lawyer alleged that “with the connivance of the leadership of the NBA, those lawyers were allowed to vote from the grave! Even though the credibility of the election was called to question, those who were genuinely dissatisfied with the fraudulent results were advised to allow sleeping dogs to lie.

    Falana said: “I have drawn the attention of the Secretary of the NBA Electoral Committee to the evidence at my disposal that the voters’ register compiled for the election contains the names of many lawyers who are not qualified to vote. For instance, some concerned members of the NBA have reliably informed me that the list of the 47 delegates representing the Abuja branch of the NBA was compiled in utter breach of the Constitution of the NBA.

    “I have equally confirmed that the list of co-opted members of the National Executive Committee of the NBA contains 135 names, contrary to the clear provisions of the NBA Constitution.

    “In a similar situation in August 1992, I had cause to obtain a court order to stop the NBA election when I discovered that the then military junta had concluded plans to hijack the electoral process with a view to installing and imposing its stooges as leaders of the Bar.

    “It is hoped that history will not be allowed to repeat itself by the NBA Electoral Committee.”

  • Chibok: Sagay, Falana caution on use of force

    Constitutional lawyers, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) and Femi Falana (SAN) on Thursday called for caution on the part of the government in the attempt to rescue the abducted schoolgirls from Boko Haram sect.

    The lawyers who were reacting to the Democracy Day speech of President Goodluck Jonathan counseled him against the use of force on Boko Haram while the girls are still in their custody.

    However, Prof. Sagay noted that President Jonathan’s speech on Democracy Day has given Nigerians a ray of hope in the fight against terrorism and the decision to rescue the abducted schoolgirls currently in Boko Haram custody.

    The President in his speech said, “It is now 45 days since the horrifying abduction of the college girls of Chibok. I share the deep pain and anxiety of their parents and guardians and I assure them once again that government will continue to do everything possible to bring our daughters home.”

    “I am determined to protect our democracy, our national unity and our political stability, by waging a total war against terrorism. The unity and stability of our country and the protection of lives and property are non-negotiable. I have instructed our security forces to launch a full-scale operation to put an end to the impunity of terrorists on our soil.”

    But Sagay, posited that it will be dangerous to talk about the use of force in crushing the insurgency when the abducted girls are still in Boko Haram custody.

    According to him, the use of force may endanger the girls’ lives.

    “I am happy the President has finally made up his mind that he is going to deal with the matter with vigour. I am only worried about the girls because there are some contradictions about the use of force and securing the safety of the girls. If the girls had been secured and had been released and he is talking about the use of force, then I will support him 100 percent.

    “But with the girls still in captivity, their lives will be put on the line and this is the only reservation that I have and I want to assume that the President is aware of this fact,” he stated.

    Falana agreed, saying use of maximum force will endanger the girls’ lives.

    “Boko Haram militants are using the girls as shield, so we are likely to lose those girls if maximum force is employed.

    “It will be dangerous to pounce on them and the essence of the rescue operations will be defeated if those girls are wasted. That is why all efforts must be made to have those girls rescued alive,” he said.

  • Stop trivialising girls’ abduction, Falana tells Fed Govt

    Stop trivialising girls’ abduction, Falana tells Fed Govt

    Lagos lawyer Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the Federal Government to stop trivialising the abduction of the over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State, for the sake of public morality and sensibility.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos, the frontline lawyer noted that the manner President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience, were handling the abduction of the schoolgirls did not show enough seriousness.

    The activist recalled that President Jonathan, last Saturday, set up of a 26-member committee to probe the abduction of the schoolgirls.

    He said few hours after, Mrs Jonathan reportedly set up a parallel panel of enquiry on the same matter.

    Falana noted that while the Jonathan’s panel could be regarded as ministerial, that of his wife has no constitutional backing or legal backing.

    The frontline lawyer suggested that the panel set up by the First Lady be disbanded immediately.

    According to him, most members of the First Lady’s panel are based in Borno State, who she summoned to appear in Abuja at the weekend.

    Falana said: “Officials of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) were also ordered to report in Abuja by the President’s wife.

    “In a well-televised drama, some of the panel members, who responded to the summons, were interrogated. Frustrated by the refusal of the wife of the Governor of Borno State to turn up at the mock trial, the First Lady broke down in tears as the ‘grandmother’ of the abducted girls.

    “To the utter embarrassment of the Nigerian people, the First Lady has since declared that no child is missing!

    “In spite of the inauguration of the Presidential Committee to investigate the abduction of the over 200 girls and the publication of the names of about 185 of the missing girls by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), some political leaders have insisted that no child has been abducted.”

    The activist decried the level of insensitivity being displayed by highly placed persons, such as the President and his wife, at a time Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, admitted that the sect abducted the innocent girls, and threatened that they would be sold into slavery.

    He said: “Are we to believe that the Borno State Government and the Boko Haram sect conspired with the parents of the missing girls to embarrass the Goodluck Jonathan administration?

    “Why has the Federal Government accepted the offer of the United States’ Government to join in the frivolous search for the girls since they are no longer missing?”

    Falana added that the statements credited to certain people that “no child is missing” must  have accentuated the agony of the parents of the abducted schoolgirls, some of who had taken part in street demonstrations, tagged: “Bring Back Our Girls”.

    Citing a decided case, Fawehinmi v. Babangida (2003) 3 NWLR (PT 808) 604, the frontline lawyer recalled that the Supreme Court held that the power of the President to set up a commission of enquiry is limited to the Federal Capital Territory, by virtue of the Tribunal of Enquiry Act (CAP T21 ) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    “Therefore, the committee set up by the President and inaugurated on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 to probe the abduction of the girls is best a ministerial act. But the First Lady has no power whatsoever to institute a panel to investigate any matter in any part of Nigeria.

    “To that extent, the panel of enquiry alleged to have been set up by the First Lady is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void. It should be disbanded without any further delay,” Falana added.

  • Falana to FG: Stop trivializing Chibok abduction

    Falana to FG: Stop trivializing Chibok abduction

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    Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has advised the Federal Government to stop trivializing the abduction of female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, in the interest of public morality and sensibility.

    In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday, Falana remarked that the manner in which President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, are carrying on about the Chibok abduction leaves much to be desired.

    The activist noted that last Saturday, President Jonathan announced the setting up of a 26-member committee to probe the abduction of the school girls.

    He also noted that few hours after, the First Lady was reportedly said to have set up a parallel panel of inquiry on the same matter.

    He pointed out that while the panel set up by the President could be regarded as a ministerial panel, that of his wife has no constitutional backing or any known law.

    He suggested that the panel set up by the first lady be disbanded immediately.

    Falana recalled that because most members of the First Lady’s Panel are based in Borno State, she summoned them to appear in Abuja over the weekend.

    “Officials of the West African Examination Council were also ordered to report in Abuja by the wife of the President.

    “In a well televised drama, some of the panel members who responded to the summons were interrogated.

    “Frustrated by the refusal of the wife of the Governor of Borno State to turn up at the mock trial, the First Lady broke down in tears as the “grandmother” of the abducted girls.

    “To the utter embarrassment of the Nigerian people, the First Lady has since declared that no child is missing!

    “In spite of the inauguration of the Presidential Committee to investigate the abduction of the over 200 girls in Chibok and the publication of the names of about 185 of the missing girls by the Christian Association of Nigeria, some political leaders have insisted that no child has been abducted,” he noted.

     

  • Civil society groups protest Chibok abduction in Lagos

    Civil society groups protest Chibok abduction in Lagos

    Civil society groups and women on Monday stormed the office of Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), to protest the abduction of 234 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
    The protest march, organised by Women for Peace and Justice in Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, was attended by various civil society coalition groups, accompanied by their male counterparts, including rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN).
    They were dressed in red outfit, and began the street protest at about 9am at Allen Roundabout, Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja, before marching in unison to the governor’s office in Alausa.
    Armed with placards some of which read, “Bring back our girls,” “Our future leaders are missing, bring them back,” “Chad, Cameroon and Niger, stop enabling criminals,” “We want our girls back alive,” “Save innocent girls,” “Enough is Enough,” “234 girls, Haba!” and “FGN, Free the Chibok Girls,” among others.
    Their activities however caused intermittent traffic gridlock on Awolowo Way as they marched along the road singing and demanding for the release of the children.
    Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the former Attorney General of Lagos State, Justice Wonu Folami (rtd), said the protesters were at the State House to express their grievances over the abduction of the girls in Borno State.
    “Our children have been brutally murdered. Over 200 girls were kidnapped, this is very sad that nothing is being done about it. It is sad that the government does not even know the number of girls that are missing.
    “We want security to be redoubled immediately. We want them back alive and without them, there can be no tomorrow. Fashola should double his effort to provide security in Lagos State as there are insinuations that they might strike here,” she said.
    Falana on his part said, “We demand on the part of the government immediate rescue operation of these girls so that that they can join their parents. We urged the Lagos State government to help convey this message to the Federal Government.
    “Until these girls are released, we cannot give the government any pass mark, we want the government to redouble its efforts so that these girls can be returned to their parents. We call on the government to deploy all military forces in Nigeria to collaborate with the international organisations and countries that have gone through this before t ensure the freedom of these abducted girls.
    Receiving the protesters, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said the state government would work with the federal government to ensure the girls were released, adding that it is disheartening to hear that 234 girls were kidnapped.
    “We are pained as mothers for this to be happening to our girls. We will do our best to ensure that they are released. All of us should pray and fast for the release of these children because we believe God can do it,” the deputy governor said.

     

  • Privatisation: Falana sues VP over sale of Geregu Generating Company

    Privatisation: Falana sues VP over sale of Geregu Generating Company

    Vice President Namadi Sambo has been sued before a Federal High Court, Abuja over the sale of Geregu Generation Company Limited. The suit dated April 24, 2014 and  number FHC/ABJ/CS/328/14 was filed by Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) on behalf of Yellowstone Electric Power Limited.

    Other defendants in the suit are National Council on Privatisation; Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited and Seoul Electric Power Limited.

    In the origination summon, Falana listed two issues for determination of the court.

    He asked the court to determine whether the first, second and third defendants have the power under the Privatisation Rules and Guidelines and the Proposal for Request to extend the deadline for the Preferred Bidder to post the preferred bidder’s bank guarantee for Geregu Generation Company Limited beyond  April 14, this year.

    He also asked the court to determine whether  the first, second and third defendants were not under a legal obligation to designate the plaintiff as the preferred bidder for Geregu Generation Company Limited since the fourth defendant failed to post its bank’s guarantee for Geregu Generation Company Limited before  April 14, 2014.

    He sought five reliefs from the court including an order of perpetual injunction restraining the fourth defendant/respondent from posting its preferred bidder’s bank guarantee to the first, second and third defendants/respondents and from accepting the posting of fourth defendant/respondent preferred bidder’s bank guarantee for the purchase of Geregu Distribution Company Limited.

    He asked the court  for an order  directing the first, second and third defendants to declare the plaintiff as the preferred bidder , the fourth defendant having failed to post its bank guarantee for Geregu Generation Company Limited before  April 14, 2014.

    Falana is seeking a declaration from the court that the first, second and third defendants are under an obligation to designate the Plaintiff as the preferred bidder for Geregu Generation Company Limited forthwith since the fourth defendant has failed to post its bank guarantee for Geregu Generation Company Limited before  April 14,  2014.

    He is also seeking for a declaration that the fourth defendant has failed to comply with the requirements for a preferred bidder as set forth in the Request for Proposal (RFP) for The Sale of Shares in Ten Gas-fired Generation Companies Developed under NIPP dated August 19, 2013 and the Privatization Rules and Guidelines having failed to post the preferred bidder’s bank guarantee for Geregu Generation Company Limited on or before April 14, 2014 and for such further order(s) as the court may deem fit to make.                In a nine-point affidavit deposed to in support of the originating summon,  Oluwafemi Adedeji averred that pursuant to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for The Sale of Shares in Ten Gas-fired Generation Companies Developed under NIPP dated August 19, 2014 (the “RFP), the first, second and third defendants solicited bids for ten generation companies owned by the third defendant, including the holding company for the Geregu II Generation Plant (“Geregu Generation Company Limited”).

    He said through the RFP, the first, second and third defendants stipulated the time within which the bidding was to be completed in accordance with the extant rules of privatisation.

  • Falana to Jonathan: Ignore calls for removal of Borno governor, others

    Falana to Jonathan: Ignore calls for removal of Borno governor, others

    Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has berated elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clarke, over his alleged call for the removal of the governors of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States over Boko Haram insurgency.
    Falana urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ignore Clark’s views, seeking the removals of the governors.
    He said in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lagos that it was illegal and unconstitutional for the elder statesman to call for the removal of the governors.
    Though he admitted that Clark wields enormous influence around the Presidency, he maintained that his call for the removal of the governors was diversionary and has no backing in law.
    Falana argued, “there is nothing like partial declaration of a state of emergency in the 1999 Constitution; what section 305 (c) of the Constitution contemplates is the recourse to ‘extraordinary measures to restore peace’ and security where there is a breakdown of public order and public safety.
    “This in effect means that all democratic institution should be suspended to permit the military exercise full control until peace and order returns.”
    He said that Section 305 of the Constitution which empowers the President to declare a state of emergency in any part of the country does not make any provision, expressly or impliedly, for the removal of elected democratic structures.
    “In other words, the power of the President, to take “extraordinary measures to restore peace and security under a state of emergency does not include the removal of elected public officers or the dissolution of democratic structures,” the lawyer added.
    He insisted that state governors cannot be held vicariously liable for the inability of the President to stem the rising wave of insurgency in the country.

  • Falana: pay reparation to parents of Boko Haram victims

    Falana: pay reparation to parents of Boko Haram victims

    Lagos lawyer Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the Federal Government to pay reparation to the parents of the 43 students killed by Boko Haram in Yobe State for the “irreparable and avoidable loss of the precious lives of their children”.

    In a statement in Lagos yesterday, Falana also urged Nigerians to prevail on the government to provide 24-hour surveillance and security in all schools in the crisis-torn areas of the country, adding that it does not appear that government was winning the war against terrorism.

    He commiserated with the parents of the slain students, saying the Federal Government should be held liable for the attack on the students.

    Falana said: “Since the dreaded Boko Haram sect has been unleashing mayhem on schools to kill innocent students, I have repeatedly called on the authorities to provide adequate security in all schools in the Northeast zone.”

    He said it was painful “to say that the mindless killings will continue as long as the federal government continues to deceive itself to believe that the nation is winning the war on terror”.