By Femi Falana
It is public knowledge that the dangerous criminal elements who kidnapped the Chibok and Dapchi secondary school girls in the North-East Zone in 2014 and 2017 respectively were not referred to as bandits. They were called terrorists by the Federal Government and the media. The description was correct as the abductions carried out by the criminal elements were acts of terrorism.
But for reasons best known to the Federal Government the criminal elements who are currently involved in the brutal killing of innocent people and abduction of thousands of people including primary school pupils in the North-West Zone are called bandits and not terrorists.
A few weeks ago, the so called bandits downed a fighter jet belonging to the Nigerian Air Force. Curiously, it was reported by the Federal Government and the media that the dastardly act was perpetrated by a gang of bandits.
But contrary to such misleading description of terrorists as
bandits the mayhem and violent attacks unleashed on unarmed people and wilful
destruction of properties by the dangerous criminal elements are
classified as “acts of terrorism” under the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011 as
amended by the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013. For the avoidance of
doubt, section 2 of the Terrorism Prevention Act states as follows:
“act of terrorism” means an act which is deliberately done with
malice, aforethought and which:
(a) may seriously harm or damage a country or an international
organization;
(b) is intended or can reasonably be regarded as having been
intended to –
(i) unduly compel a government or international organization to
perform or abstain from performing any act,
(ii) seriously intimidate a population,
(iii) seriously destabilize or destroy the fundamental
political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an
international organization, or
(iv) otherwise influence such
government or international organization by intimidation or coercion; and
(i) an attack upon a person’s life
which may cause serious bodily harm or death;
(c) involves or causes, as the case may
be-
(i) an attack upon a person’s life
which may cause serious bodily harm or death;
(ii) kidnapping of a person;
(iii) destruction to a Government or
public facility, a transport system, an infrastructure facility, including an
information system, a fixed platform located on the continental shelf, a public
place or private property, likely to endanger human life or result in major
economic loss;
(iv) the seizure of an aircraft, ship
or other means of public or goods transport and diversion or the use of such
means of transportation for any of the purposes in paragraph (b) (iv) of this
subsection;
(v) the manufacture. possession.
acquisition. transport, supply or use of weapons, explosives or of nuclear
biological or chemical weapons, as well as research into, and development of
biological and chemical weapons without lawful authority;
(vi) the release of dangerous substance
or causing of fire explosions or foods, the effect of which is to endanger
human life;
(vii) interference with or disruption
of the supply of water, power or any other fundamental natural resource, the
effect of which is to endanger human life.”
From the foregoing, it is undoubtedly
clear that the criminal elements who abduct unarmed citizens, kill them or
release them after collecting ransom to the tune of several millions of Naira
are terrorists.
The criminal elements who attack and
down military planes are terrorists. The criminal elements who attack police
stations and seize weapons to attack innocent people are terrorists. The
criminal elements who attack correctional centres and release inmates therein
are terrorists.
The criminal elements who destroy
government properties or public facilities are terrorists. But the
Federal Government has deliberately refused to declare the bandits terrorists
and prosecute them.
In May this year, the Federal Ministry
of Justice announced the arrest and detention of 800 terror suspects and 400
sponsors of terrorism. It was further announced that the suspects would be
arraigned once the industrial action of the judicial staff was called off. The
strike was called off over three months ago.
But the office of the Attorney-General
of the Federation has not deemed it fit to filed charges against the
suspects and arraign them at the Federal High Court. As part
of its anti-corruption policy the Buhari administration regularly engages in
naming and shaming alleged looters of public funds from time to time.
Armed robbery suspects are
paraded by the police from time to time. But the Federal Government has ruled
out the publication of the names of the sponsors of terrorism on the ground
that it is prejudicial to fair hearing!
In total frustration the North East
Governors Forum recently applied for the fiat of the Attorney-General of the
Federation to prosecute the hundreds of terror suspects languishing in
military custody in Maiduguri, Borno State for years without trial.
The request was turned down without any
justification. A few days ago, the report of the panel of inquiry set up by the
Zamfara State Government to probe the activities of terrorists in the State was
published. Two former governors and some Emirs were indicted in the report.
The State Government has since accepted
the recommendation of the Panel that the suspects be prosecuted.
Although terrorism is a federal offence the authorities in Abuja have not
ordered the arrest and prosecution of the highly placed sponsors of terrorism in
Zamfara State.
Prosecution of political opponents got
terrorism
In 2017, the Federal Government
announced the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for
agitating for the establishment of the State of Biafra. The leader of the IPOB,
Mr. Nnamdi Kanu is currently facing a charge of terrorism and treason at the
Federal High Court.
The Federal Government has since
declared a full scale war on IPOB members in view of the killings and
destruction of properties being perpetrated in the South East region by alleged
gunmen.
In 2019, the Federal Government proscribed
the Movement for Islam in Nigeria (MIN) was proscribed for allowing its members
to embarrass the Federal Government by demanding for the release of their
leader, Ibrahim Elzakzaky from the illegal custody of the State Security
Service which had defied the order of the Federal High Court to release
him and his wife.
In a desperate bid to silence the
radical wing of the mass media in the country the Federal Government has stigmatised
some journalists and charged them with terrorism.
For instance, Messrs Emperor Ogbonna
and Abba Jalingo were arrested and charged with terrorism charges at the
Federal High Court for daring to accuse the Governors of Abia and Cross River
State Governors of corruption.
In August 2019, the State Security
Service arrested and detain Mr. Omoyele Sowore for planning a peaceful rally
against the Buhari administration. While he was in detention the SSS secretly
applied for an ex parte order to have Sowore detained for 90 days for the
purpose of investigating his alleged terrorist activities.
Even though there was no evidence to
support the application the Federal High Court ordered that Sowore be detained
for 45 days. At the end of the investigation the SSS confirmed that there
was no scintila of evidence linking Sowore to terrorism.
Recently, the Kaduna State High Court
dismissed the charge of culpable homicide against Sheikh Ibrahim Elzakzaky and
his wife. Completely dissatisfied with the verdict the Kaduna State
Government has charged them with terrorism.
And sequel to the proscription of
the MIN the police and the army engage in routine extrajudicial execution of
scores of Shiites for embarking on peaceful protests in Abuja and other states
in the North.
However, while the Federal
Government is waging a full scale war against the Shiites, IPOB members and
journalists it has continued to treat the so called bandits with kid glove. For
instance, parents are allowed to negotiate and pay ransom to secure the release
of their abducted children while the security agencies look away.
Embarrassed by the reluctance of the
Federal Government to deal decisively with the so called bandits the members of
the Senate and House of Representatives, in separate sittings, unanimously
passed resolutions last weekend requesting President Buhari to declare the
dangerous criminal elements as terrorists and proscribe them in accordance with
the provisions of the Terrorism Prevention Act as amended without any further
delay.
The federal lawmakers also asked
President Buhari to declare all the known leaders of the bandits wanted and
track them wherever they are for arrest and prosecution. So far, the
Federal Government has ignored the resolutions. However, as the Federal Government
is not prepared to declare them as terrorists we call on the media and the
Nigerian people to stop referring to terrorists as bandits.
*Falana, (SAN) Interim Chair, Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond, (ASCAB), wrote from Lagos.
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