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 Daily Independent Online.
* Monday, July 26, 2004.
Waive Taylor’s prosecution for now, says Abubakar
By
Habib Aruna
Assistant Political Editor
Former
Liberian President Charles Taylor’s hope for reprieve from those out to
see him docked received a fillip at the weekend as former Head of State
Abdulsalami Abubakar advised that he should be left alone for now to
encourage stability in that country.
There
is need for caution in handling “the Taylor question”, he said, because
any misjudged move may jeopardise current peace efforts in the war weary West African country.
“First and foremost, the essence of
trying to bring peace to Liberia is so that Liberians can now live with
better aspiration to develop their country. People are calling for the
head of Charles Taylor, but I am begging people to understand the
situation. Let us have peace first”, he stated in Lagos at the 3rd annual
Abraham Adesanya lecture.
Abubakar
participated in negotiating Taylor’s asylum in Nigeria where he has lived
(in Calabar) since August last year after Aso Rock hearkened to pleas from the international
community.
He
is accused of being responsible for the death of over 50,000 Liberians
through his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) which unleashed
terror on that country and later on its neighbours.
Based
on this, pressure has been mounting for Taylor to be brought before the
United Nations War Crime Tribunal in Sierra-Leone to face charges.
But
Abubakar advised against it, saying such a step would stoke tension in
Liberia with unpredictable results.
Said
he: “The people who are still holding guns, who have not disarmed, and
most of these people are die-hard supporters of Taylor. If they are still
having guns and we are asking for Charles Taylor’s head, I don’t think we
are facing reality. I believe peace should come first.
“At
any other time anything could be done. But for now I think we should have
complete peace in Liberia, let’s finish disarmament in Liberia before we
talk of any other thing”.
On
the democratic process in Nigeria and the attitude of politicians, which
has come under intense criticism of late, Abubakar, who mid-wived the
current civilian administration, said people should not be in a hurry to
learn the ropes of democracy.
“The
people should allow the system to move from one stage to another. Well,
you see even in developed societies, whether democratic or not, they have
problems especially when you are talking about a situation where every
person has the right to express his opinion. I think we are making
progress gradually”.
Abubakar
also touched on the current national insecurity, stressing the need for
every one to get involved in improving the situation by supplying
information to the appropriate official agencies.
“We
always say security is not the business of the government alone. It is
the business of every Nigerian, every citizen. All those who are
criminals are living among us, it is left to us as citizens to expose
these people and hand them over for prosecution”.
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