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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Govt declares MASSOB rebel group
From Emmanuel Onwubiko, Abuja
THE Federal Government yesterday unfolded what seemed a resolve to crush the Ralph Uwazurike-led Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) with a declaration by the Federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi (SAN) that the group will henceforth be regarded as a rebel group.
Olujinmi also justified the stringent measures being adopted by the nation's security operatives to deal with unarmed members of the movement, saying they are in breach of the statutory provisions that prohibit treason.
The minister said that unlike the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), the MASSOB seeks secession from the corporate entity called Nigeria and vowed that the Federal Government will crush them.
The Attorney General (AG) made the disclosure at the 2004 ministerial media briefing of the Federal Ministry of Justice even as he stated that the Federal Government is worried that the killers of the former Federal AG, Chief James Ajibola Ige have not been arrested.
Government, he said, will adopt result-oriented strategies to ensure that the perpetrators of the dastardly crime are apprehended and made to face the law.
Commenting on the activities of MASSOB, which a week ago successfully persuaded Igbo traders to boycott markets across the country on August 26 Olujinmi said: "MASSOB is
sponsoring a return to Biafra and this is treasonable felony. The OPC, I am not aware are sponsoring anything like that. I am aware that the OPC disturbs the peace of some communities here and there, that I am aware, and you can not of course treat the two groups the same way. MASSOB is sponsoring rebellion against the state."
But the MASSOB leader, Uwazurike reportedly denied that his group was sponsoring rebellion, insisting that they are only interested in righting the several wrongs that have been committed against the Igbo ethnic nationality by successive administrations.
The Federal High Court in Abuja recently granted 32 detained members of MASSOB leave to seek to enforce their fundamental rights after almost four months of detention at the Police Headquarters in Abuja on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Tafa Balogun.
On the killing on December 23, 2001 of the then AG, Chief Ige and the inability of the security agents to apprehend the murderers, Olujimi declared:
"The killing of the former Federal Attorney General and for the fact that the killers have not been arrested is a big concern to the Federal Government because, when crimes are committed and the criminals are not arrested, it serves as a form of encouragement to the criminals that they can commit crimes with impunity.
"It is important that steps are taken to detect the crimes and even to nib the crimes in the bud.
One thing I want to say and very emphatically here is that, we Nigerians are not helping the situation because when crimes are committed, not too many people volunteer information to the Police. As you well know, the Nigeria Police are not soothsayers and crystal ball readers who must know every perpetrator of crimes. Sometimes, when crimes are committed and some people are aware, they will not volunteer the vital information to the police."
Olujinmi also stated that the suspects rounded up by the police at the Okija Shrine in Anambra State will be investigated properly before government would file charges, if any, against them adding that the Federal Government is not out to witch-hunt believers in the African traditional religion.
Said he: "Government is not interfering with the activities of the believers in traditional religion by the action of the police in invading the popular Okija shrine. There are allegations that within this shrine people were killed and used for ritual purposes. If it is established that those arrested violated the law of the land they will definitely be prosecuted. In the law of the land, we are not allowed to interfere with corpses in any way. Even the burial of corpses in the premises is forbidden in the law. These are things we do and we say that, after all, the man built the house so there is nothing wrong with doing that. The law is to regulate human conduct in the society. The mere indecent interference with corpses even where you have not killed the human being, you will face prosecution for that alleged crime of interfering with the corpses."
On the continued withdrawal of police security from the Governor of Anambra State even after a pronouncement of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division to the contrary, the AG insisted that the Court of Appeal did not ask that the police security be restored but rather that the Federal Government should not interfere with the activities of the Governor of Anambra State.
AG also denied allegations that since he assumed office last year, he has continuously advised President Olusegun Obasanjo and some Federal Government agencies to disregard some orders of courts. The Federal Government, he asserted, is determined to enthrone a reign of good governance and rule of law.
Speaking on what he called relentless war the Federal Government is waging against drug trafficking, Olujimi commended the Bello Lafiaji-led National Drugs law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and vowed that the government will continue to ensure that Nigeria becomes a hard drug free-zone.
He said: "The NDLEA has raised the profile of its anti-drug campaign programmes and enforcement without undue violation of human rights and abuse of power, a process that led to the certification of Nigerian ports by the United States of America. The proactive activities of this agency have led to considerable improvement in the image of Nigeria as far as the campaign against narcotics is concerned. It has conducted extensive research into the nature and pattern of drug abuse in Nigeria as well as the capacity for counter measures".
Olujinmi disclosed that from the year 2000 to this year, 305 suspects were arrested by NDLEA for trafficking in cocaine while the total number of suspects convicted for trafficking in diverse kinds of hard drugs for the same period stands at 815 people.
The AG also commended the Director-General of the Legal Aid Council, Mrs. Uju Hassan Baba for helping indigent persons by providing remedies for victims of arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention and persecution.
The Federal Government he said, will liaise with all necessary bodies to make it mandatory that before any lawyer is made a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, he must show evidence of the number of pro-bono (free) legal services that he or she has rendered to poor litigants.
Olujinmi denied knowledge of the setting up by his predecessor, Chief Kanu Agabi of a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the N300 million fraud in the Independent National Electoral Commission involving some senior lawyers in Lagos and Abuja.
The minister also made a pledge thus: "I believe that one of the worthy legacies that this administration will bequeath to future generations is that of a virile and responsive legal aid system, which is capable of guaranteeing effective access, not merely to the courts but to justice in all its ramifications".
On the much criticised Bill by President Olusegun Obasanjo, the minister insisted that the bill is meant to, in his words, "democratize the labour union and not to stifle opposition voices."
He denied receiving the file to pick who succeeds Chief Kayode Jegede as the Director-General of the Nigeria Law School in his office, but said that government will select a competent administrator for the law school.
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