In Plateau, Sudan, Two Faces of (In)Justice
“SADLY, MANY ARE NOW ACCUSING PRESIDENT BUHARI, OF BREAKING HIS OATH OF OFFICE, BY CONDONING ‘GENOCIDE’,....IT IS TIME FOR THE PRESIDENT PROVE HIS ACCUSERS WRONG, AND INDEED, SHOW THAT HE ‘BELONGS TO EVERYBODY AND HE BELONGS TO NOBODY’!”
In Plateau, Sudan, Two Faces of (In)Justice Three issues caught my attention last week. First, was a video that trended on social media, of a young man who attempted to commit suicide in broad day light on Falomo Bridge, by jumping off into the water. Amidst his cries of “leave me alone, let me just die, what is in this life”, he was dragged off by law enforcement agents. I received several calls from people, asking me why someone with feelings of extreme hopelessness, unhappiness and frustration, in such a poor mental state, should be arrested, instead of being taken for proper psychological/psychiatric evaluation, counselling and treatment, which he is obviously in dire need of? The answer is that, attempted suicide (self murder), is an offence contrary to Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act which provides that, “Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment”; this young man could face up to 1 year imprisonment (a fate worth than death, with the disgusting conditions of our prisons), instead of receiving the mental health care and encouragement, which he so clearly needs.
Noura Hussein
The second issue, was the case of Noura Hussein, the young Sudanese lady, who had her death sentence commuted to 5 years imprisonment, for killing her husband, Abdulrahman Mohammed Hammad, who had raped her, and attempted to do so again, according to her.
Ms Hussein was forced into marriage with Hammad, at the age of 14, despite her refusal and insistence that she did not want to marry him. She wanted to complete her tertiary education, and become a Lawyer, before marriage. Three years later, they went on their honeymoon, and she refused to allow Hammad to consummate the marriage. A few days into the honeymoon, with some of his family members whom he obviously summoned for assistance, holding Ms Hussein down, one relative slapped her, they tore her clothes, Hammad raped her, and left her naked and bleeding. The next day, when he attempted to rape her again, she stabbed him to death. Ms Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging, by an Islamic Court.
In Sudan, the legal age for marriage is age 10! How can it be moral and lawful for a 10 year old child to marry? The law also, does not recognise the crime of rape between spouses. It seems that our Penal Code in Nigeria, also does not recognise rape between spouses, as an offence.
I certainly do not agree with the Sudan Appeals Court decision, which overturned Ms Hussein’s death sentence, and commuted it to imprisonment. As far as I am concerned, it was rape and self defence, and Ms Hussein has no business being imprisoned.
UNICEF considers all children under the age of 18, as minors, and I believe that age 18 should be adopted worldwide, as the legal age for marriage.
Of course, there can certainly be rape between spouses, and all laws which do not classify it as an offence between spouses, should be updated accordingly.
The Plateau State Massacre: Condolences
Thirdly, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the people of Plateau State, and the families of the deceased persons, on the senseless, grisly, cold blooded murders of over 130 people, residing in about 11 villages within 4 Local Government Councils in the State.
Constitutional Obligations
Incontrovertibly, Government and the law enforcement agencies, especially the Police, have failed in their constitutional obligations to protect the lives and property of Nigerians. Is it really true, that over 20 Assistant Inspector Generals and some Deputy Inspector Generals of Police were sacked, just to be able to elevate Ibrahim Idris Kpotum, the present Inspector General (IG) to the position? If so, it seems that it was a grave mistake to do so, a serious lapse in judgement. Statistics from Amnesty International and other sources, reveal that, since he assumed office in 2016, not only have the killings in the North Central Zone risen dramatically, in places like Lagos where certain crimes for example, home invasions/burglary, were reduced to a bare minimum, they are back on the rise. Is it only after all the farmers, Christians, and villagers in places like Benue, Plateau and Taraba States, are completely wiped out, so that their farms can be taken over by Herdsmen for grazing their livestock, that this Government will realise that, there needs to be some affirmative action, like a change of baton in the leadership of some of these law enforcement agencies, so as to get an injection of new useful ideas and strategies, on how to combat those responsible for the violence, and bring the bloodshed to an end?
From Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) (the Constitution), which makes the security and welfare of the people the primary purpose of Government, to Section 17(2)(b) which provides that the sanctity of the human person shall be recognised, to Section 33(1), which guarantees all the right to life, no intentional deprivation of same, unless in execution of a judgement of a Nigerian court of competent jurisdiction, as punishment for a crime committed, for example, murder or armed robbery, to Sections 215(3) and (4) of the Constitution.
Even the President, in the Oath of Office of President contained in the 7th Schedule to the Constitution, swore inter alia that “....I will strive to preserve the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions;....I will do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear of favour....”.
The security and welfare of the people, constitute part of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, which the President has sworn to preserve. Sadly, many are now accusing President Buhari, of breaking his oath of office, by condoning ‘genocide’, in failing to deal decisively with the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (also the Kautal Hore Branch of it, which is strictly for the Fulanis), and Herdsmen, because he is of Fulani extraction like many of the Herdsmen, and he is a Grand Patron of the Association. It is time for the President prove his accusers wrong, and indeed, show that he ‘belongs to everybody and he belongs to nobody’!
No Justification for Gruesome Killings
There is no justification for the gruesome ‘slaughtering’ of people, talk less of such heinous acts of murder, being retaliation for the disappearance of 300 cows. How does one equate the lives of human beings, with that of cows, that are bred to be sold and slaughtered for food? Has it been established that, it was the people of those communities who were killed, that were responsible for the missing cows, and not cow rustlers? And even if those people were responsible for the disappearance of the cows, does the law not make adequate provision for dealing with thieves? Apart from this, some of the States have a system of compensation in place, whereby culprits who are found to have stolen cows from Herdsmen, must compensate them. Could this system, also not have been employed? If it is in fact true, that a threat of retaliation had been issued by Miyetti Allah, what steps did the Police take to avert this crisis?
Genocide/ Crimes Against Humanity
With the frequent killings of people in certain parts of the country, predominantly the North Central parts by Herdsmen, many have referred to the killings as ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘genocide’. Genocide is defined as “the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group”. Genocide is a crime prohibited under International Law, whether or not a country has ratified the
1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention).
This Herdsmen or suspected Herdsmen killings, are in my opinion, stepping up to crimes against humanity, because while genocide targets a particular group, crimes against humanity, are against any civilian population.
“Crimes against humanity, are certain acts that are deliberately committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack or individual attack, directed against any civilian or an identifi- able part of a civilian population.” They can occur during peacetime - and in the case of Herdsmen killings, a wide practice of atrocities that seem to be tolerated or condoned by Government. These types of killings, murder, ethnic cleansing, genocide “may reach the threshold of crimes against humanity, if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice”. More than half of the States in Nigeria, especially farming communities, have experienced killings by suspected Herdsmen, and even though such attacks existed before 2015, they seem to have escalated in number and frequency, in recent times, especially in North Central Nigeria.
Condonation
I reiterate the fact that, the killings by suspected Herdsmen, are being condoned by Government, and I will provide a couple of reasons for my assertion/conclusion.
If the President issues an instruction to the IG, to relocate to a particular place, to restore peace and security, and he disobeys that order, the killings remain unabated, and the IG is neither relieved of his job or made to face any sanctions, for gross insubordination and failure to perform his duties, it means that Government is condoning the atrocities that are being committed in that particular area, since Government has failed to take any active or appropriate steps, to check the IG and put an end to the violence.
Again, if a Federal Minister of Government, openly insists that, if they want peace, States must suspend a law, that is, the law against open grazing, which was enacted as a means of protecting the people of those States, just to please a particular group of people who have been fingered on numerous occasions, as the culprits responsible for countless bloody massacres, I will not only call it condoning, but go as far as saying that, it is Government that has given those criminals the impetus to continue with their dastardly activities. Amnesty International, has accused the Nigerian Government of this.
It is time for Government to take decisive action, and stem this tide of crimes against humanity. We have all seen where several leaders have ended up, after they faced the International Court of Justice, for similar crimes. Omissions, can sometimes speak louder than Actions! A word they say, is enough for the wise.