16102021 - Southeast Gov INEC top official in trouble over $4m bribe

'Ozekhome, Sani clash over amnesty for terrorists'
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stated.
“We will not engage with bandits or
kidnappers. Private Citizens like clerics
and clergy men can do so in their
individual capacities, to preach to them
and ask them to repent. We also want
them to repent but it is not our job to ask
them to do so,” he added.
Like El-Rufai, Masari is not prepared to
be fooled twice as on September 7, 2021
as guest in Channel Television’s breakfast
show, Sunrise Daily, the All Progressives
Congress, APC chieftain regretted
pushing for amnesty for the devils in
human aprons, saying, “the only thing I
can say is that with the benefit of
hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it
(negotiating with bandits). We realised,
who are you talking with because they do
not have an umbrella.
“They are not pushing for any ideological
view; they are not pushing for any religious
view. They are simply bandits, criminals and
thieves. Any person in the forest is a
potential criminal and should be dealt with
as such,” Masari had said.
The governor also said open grazing of
cattle is un-Islamic and that a ban across
the country had become imperative
although only this week he went against
Southern governors for enacting laws
banning open grazing in their various
states. His argument was that time was
needed for the resettlement of herdsmen in
ranches which have not been built.
His words: “We intend to ban unnecessary
roaming about with cattle. But before we do
that, we will make provisions where the
animals will stay. I think the situation in the
Southern part of the country is slightly
different from the Northern part of the
country.
“The majority of the herders are from the
Northern part of the country. So, for us, we
need a law that should be obeyed, not one
that will be disregarded. For us to come up
with the law, we will first of all put some
structures on ground, then, we will have the
law that can back up the structures so that
nobody would roam or move about with
cattle.
“Even that is un-Islamic (open grazing). It
says do not have the numbers you cannot
feed that you have to stretch over to people’s
land or on somebody’s farm. I do not think
that it is right. And certainly, once we put in
place ranching for the grazing of all
animals, the issue of anybody roaming
about will be a thing of the past.”
On September 21, 2019, Governor
Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger state at the
2nd General Abdulsalami Abubakar
Foundation Annual Peace Lecture, granted
amnesty to 13 suspected bandits saying,
“after hearing them on why they decided to
engage themselves in such activities, we had
to go into a peace arrangement with them
in the interest of peace and for them to help
us with useful information to tackle spate of
insecurity in the state.”
As it were the governors have since
realized the futility of entering into a peace
pact with criminals
Matawalle on June 11, 2021 at a special
prayer session to mark the second
anniversary of his administration in Gusau,
the Zamfara state capital, called on his
people to return fire for fire anytime they
come under attack from bandits.
“I am calling on the people of the state to
defend themselves if the bandits attack
them. My government has approved that
whenever the bandits attack you, do
not wait for the security personnel
to come to your rescue. You
should rise up and protect
yourselves. My government
has also planned to recruit the
locals from each community
who will be in charge of
monitoring their villages to
ensure that the bandits did not
attack them,” he stated, a
marked departure from his
stance few years ago.
So what could have caused
such a 360 degrees volte-face?
Are the governors now better
informed today than they were
years ago? Were they deceived
into parting with huge sums of
money to criminals who only
went back to their killing
camps after realizing that they
made more money to continue
their evil enterprise than
engage in legitimate business?
In similar fashion, Bello has backed out of
amnesty talks with terrorists in the state.
On April 29, 2021 while addressing
newsmen in Minna, the Niger state capital,
Governor Bello said, “As it is today, the
governors of Niger, Zamfara, Kebbi and
Katsina states have agreed to come
together and act as governments to
confront these hoodlums realizing that
the idea of granting them amnesty
cannot work.
“It is regrettable that efforts by some
state governments to grant these
bandits amnesty have yielded no fruitful
results and so, we have decided to go all
out to frontally confront them.”
So what prompted these governors
from ruling out amnesty as a solution
having earlier embraced same?
Mike Ozekhome is a human rights
activist and a constitutional lawyer who
is not scared of barring his mind on any
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 16, 2021—11
North-West governors did the right thing to
advocate amnesty for terrorists, adding
however that the clear lack of common
ideology among the gunmen led to the
failure of the peace move.
He told Saturday Vanguard: “When the
trio of Governors Masari of Katsina state,
El-Rufai of Kaduna state and Matawalle of
Zamfara state opted for dialogue that could
lead to amnesty for bandits, it was because
they thought that was the reasonable thing
do to end the spate of banditry and
kidnapping in their respective states.
“But their desires and efforts did not find
expression precisely because the bandits do
not stand for any common political
ideology beyond craving for money inspired
by crimes. As a result, they are not centrally
organized with common leadership.
Without any political ideology under the
watch of central leadership, it is difficult to
dialogue with them. That may explain the
change in approaches by the three
governors in favour of application of hard
power of military might.
“As regards amnesty, time will come when
the bandits will decide to surrender their
firearms and be subjected to due processes
spelt out by our local and international laws
which govern surrendering of arms. This
will take place before their reintegration
into the society,” he noted.
On his part, Executive Director, Civil
Society Legislative Advocacy Centre,
CISLAC, Ibrahim Auwal Rafsanjani
said no responsible governor will
consider the thought of pardoning
murderers even as he noted that the
nationwide condemnation of the
activities of Boko Haram and
bandits may have informed the
decision of the governors to change
their stand.
“Given the overwhelming
continuous atrocities, extortion,
starvation of the abducted persons
and inhuman treatment against the
innocent people by these groups
including school children, no- right
thinking and responsible governor
•Ozekhome
will continue to advocate for
amnesty to conscious criminals who
issue regardless of its sensitivity. In an
have turned banditry and ransom
exclusive chat with Saturday Vanguard, payments as business.
the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, “I believe that the popular
faulted the premise of amnesty for
condemnation of anyone pushing for
bandits/terrorists saying “amnesty for amnesty to these gangsters, ruthless and
bandits is quite different from amnesty for human destroyers must have informed
the Niger Delta militants who were fighting the change on their position. Again,
for the liberation of their people from years they are also aware that more groups of
of exploitation, oppression, marginalization
and repression.
kidnappers are emerging due to the
“What ideology were the bandits easy money involved and are becoming
fighting for such as to make them a major business in their states. They
deserve amnesty? They say western have also tried to engage in dialogue
education is a taboo. How? Couldn’t the with them but it didn’t worked as
governors see that such a mindset was banditry is escalating
warped and sickeningly offensive? So, “They also realized that business-wise,
now that the bandits have barred their people will not be coming to their states
fangs in their blood-letting and satanic
murders, kidnaps and killings, the
and this will affect their revenues. The
governors have been forced to have a bandits are gradually visiting
rethink. It is better late than never.” government officials and their families,
Taking a different position is a
so they know that this is no longer
chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum, something to play politics with,” he
Mr. Anthony Sani. According to him, the noted.
Sanwo-Olu can do better er on Ago Road
Just like they do on Mile 2 area
of Oshodi-Apapa Road, the
tanker drivers unleashing
mayhem on Ago Road now hire
policemen to protect them from
residents who may protest vehemently
against their actions. A policeman is
seen in one of these pictures
supervising the madness tanker
drivers visit on Ago Road with
impunity. Sometimes, they block the
ever busy road connecting Amuwo
Odofin and FESTAC areas. The
intermittent blockade started last year
but has now turned a menace on a
stretch of road flanked on both sides
by purely residential estates. The
residents are bearing the brunt and
banking on Lagos State Governor to
rescue them from the menace of tanker
drivers who don't seem to care about
other road users.
Corrupt government officials
approved many truck terminals in the
purely residential areas and they have
not found it necessary to insist on
decency and discipline on the road.
Residents now face unnecessary traffic
on the road. Sanwo-Olu can do better.