13072019 - Buhari on new cabinet: I’ll never appoint ‘strangers’ again

SATURDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2019—25
f
continue
rica . . .
intervention to bring the perpetrators to book.
Again, in July last year, one Victor Onazi was
shot dead. The following month, precisely on August
25, 2018, one Mr Okechukwu Chukwumezeriri
39, who hailed from Imo State, was shot dead on a
football field at Rietondale Park in Pretoria.
Next day, being 26 th , another Nigerian, Olushola
Ayanleye , 42, from Ondo State, was also shot dead
at Essellen Street, Sunnyside in Pretoria.
In this case, the President of the Nigerian Union
in South Africa (NUSA), Mr Adetola Olubajo,
disclosed the tragedy was a gang-related
killing.
But he was however quick to add that :
“ As the umbrella organisation of
Nigerians in South Africa, our stand is that
whoever kills should face the full wrath
of the law, irrespective of his or her
nationality.”
2019
In April 2019, news of the death
of one Bonny Iwuoha, 48, from
Ihitte/Uboma in Imo state,
filtered in again. He
was reportedly
stabbed to death
at about
11.45pm on
April 6,
2019, in
Johannesburg
South.
H i s
assailants
were
said to
have
followed
him
from
1 5 2
Hay
Street
Turfontein
and
thereafter,
stabbed
a n d
killed
him in
front of his
gate at Turf
R o a d ,
Turffontein.
Next day,
another
Nigerian,
Goziem
Akpenyi,
had life
snuffed
out of him
in a
similar circumstance. He was said to have been
stabbed to death by three unidentified coloured
South African men after an argument, at Bellville
Stadium parking lot in Cape Town at about 1pm.
Same month, there was also the killing of Clement
Nwaogu , a father of two. Not done, his assailants
, reportedly burnt him.
A month earlier, four Nigerians were shot
dead. Three of the victims were murdered in
Sunnyside, Pretoria and one in Balfour Park,
Johannesburg, as gathered.
For Mr Ozumba Tochukwu-Lawrence, another
•Uchenna Eloh
Nigerian, he was shot
dead by an unknown
gunman at 10 Koppe,
M i d d l e b u r g ,
Mpumalanga, South Africa,
on July 6.
Three days later, another
Nigerian, ThankGod Okoro,
was also allegedly shot dead
in Hamburg, Florida West
Rand, Johannesburg, by the
South African Police Flying
Squad.
Again, on July 12, 2019, another
Nigerian, Mr. Martin
Ebuzoeme, was murdered by
unknown assailant in South
Africa.2
President of Nigerian
Union in South Africa, Mr.
Adetola Olubola, who
confirmed the killing, said
the victim was killed in Yeoville,
Johannesburg, around 7:30pm.
South African
President visit to Nigeria
Surprisingly, this incident , happened
barely 24 hours after the visit of South Africa’s
President Cyril Ramaphosa, to Nigeria.
During the visit, Ramaphosa had said that the
killing of Nigerians and other foreign
•Chidi Ibebuike
•Ebuka Okori
nationals in his country was an
act of criminality, not
specifically targeted at
Nigerians.
He said, “The killings
are caused by high
level
of
unemployment
among the youth as
well as other social
factors emanating
from long apartheid
m i s r u l e .
Government is
however, doing all
best possible to
bring them down,”
Ramaphosa had
said.
One would have
expected that with
Ramaphosa’s visit,
modalities to put
these uncanny
incidents in check
would have been
deliberated on by
him and his
N i g e r i a n
counterpart.
While Nigerians
were awaiting the
outcome of his visit, news of
the death of another Nigerian
filtered in, with the latest being
late Mrs. Elizabeth Ndubuisi
Chukwu’s.
At the moment, her body has been
deposited in a morgue in Asaba, from where
it would be taken to Ihiala in Anambra State
for burial., according to the Anambra State
Commissioner for Information and Public
Enlightenment, Mr. C. Don Adinuba.
Nigerians
protest
Last month, the Consul General of the
Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg, Mr.
Godwin Adama, announced plans by the
mission to protest killings and highhandedness
of the South African police
against Nigerians.
This planned action was as a result of the
killing of a Nigerian, Maxwell Okoye,
allegedly by the South African police.
He stated that “I have confirmed the death
of Maxwell Ikechukwu Okoye in the hands
of South African police officers at about 01:00
hours on Friday, June 14 , 2019, when a group
of policemen invaded his house in Ladysmith
in Kwazulu Natal Province.
“He reportedly alerted a leader of the
Nigerian community in the area of the
presence of policemen in his house and called
for their intervention.
“However, help was not immediately
available, probably due to the time of the night
and the fact that all attempts to get him on
line was futile.
“He eventually was reported dead by the
During the visit,
Ramaphosa had
said that the killing
of Nigerians and
other foreign
nationals in his
country was an act
of criminality, not
specifically targeted
at Nigerians
police who claimed they met him foaming
when they broke into his house in that odd
hour of the night, a claim that appeared
suspicious and compromising.”
By the time members of the Nigerian
community got to the victim’s house, report
said that his apartment was turned upside
down and that the Police had taken his body
to the mortuary .
But the planned protest according to
Adama, who informed that the mission
had reported the matter to the national
headquarters of the South African
Independent Police Investigative Directorate,
would be carried out through diplomatic
channels.
Alleged killings by
South African Police
He revealed that “ This is about the third
case involving alleged torture and murder of
Nigerians by the South African police within
one month.
“It happened in Cape Town, Durban and
now in Ladysmith. As the Nigerian Mission
in South Africa, we will not fold our hands
and allow these infractions to continue.
“We will not stand by and allow this
development to continue. We shall be visiting
the area to see things for ourselves while
engaging relevant authorities on the matter.
It is unacceptable.”
He recalled that how a Nigerian, Badmus
Olalekan, was allegedly murdered in
October 2017, by men of the South African
Police, adding however, that eight policemen
were arrested and arraigned in court, in
Vanderbijlpark Park, near Johannesburg, over
the murder.
He said that particular case was at the
High Court in Johannesburg and would be
concluded in October 2019 going by the
conclusions of the last court sitting.
He said, “We are closely following up this
along with the others to ensure that justice is
served. We shall not leave any stone unturned
concerning these matters.
“The high-handedness of the South African
police against Nigerians over flimsy excuses
has become worrisome and deserves the
intervention of the authorities.
“This is to protect the excellent relations that
exist between the two countries as well as
preserve coexistence of Nigerians and their
South African hosts.”
Back home in Nigeria, former chairman
of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission,
NHRC
Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, would not allow the
murder of Uju to be swept under the carpet ,
as he had begun a campaign with
#WhoKilledUjuNdubuisi.
Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra State , also
lent his voice to the call for a discreet
investigation into the murder
Obiano said: “It has become necessary to
request the SGF to personally wade into the
killing. “The police in Johannesburg may be
capitalising on the absence of a foreign
minister in Nigeria to treat the case with
levity.” According to him, there is report on
death of 53-year old indigene of Anambra
State, which suggest that the South African
police are treating this murder as just another
death of a Nigerian. “It is disheartening that
more than three weeks after the dastardly act,
the South African police have not deemed it
necessary to investigate the heinous crime
with the seriousness it deserves.
On its part, the Senate, Wednesday, warned
the South African government to accord due
respect to Nigeria, cautioning it not to take
its good gesture towards it for granted.
With such weighty words from the senate,
one would have expected something tangible
to have come out from the investigation back
in South Africa but till date , anxious
Nigerians still await its outcome.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of
the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, Mrs
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said that the
Nigerian Government would not fall for a
cover-up of the alleged murder of late and
had also assured that investigation to unravel
the killers of late Ndubuisi would be
thorough.
If this assurance is anything to go by, then,
justice may not be far fetched .