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Plateau killings: Military commanders lose their job for going after killers – Kaigama
Ignatius Kaigama, Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, has again raised a disturbing dimension to the killings in Plateau and elsewhere in the Middle Belt, saying military officers, were not only being restrained from cleaning up the areas, but actually get punished for going after the culprits by higher authorities.
Appearing on Hardtalk, a Channels Television public affairs programme, the cleric, who spoke against the backdrop of incessant killings in the country and the seeming helplessness of the security agencies to deal with the situation, regretted the absence of sincerity of purpose in the entire operations to eradicate the menace.
Hear him: “We need to be sincere, but beginning with the authorities. When you send security agents there to deal with these issues, you should give them a free hand to do so, but you would most times hear a general or senior police officer telling you they haven’t had directives from Abuja yet, or they’re about to do something and they were asked to stop.
“I conversed with one general who was retired prematurely. I would say, he told me how he was ready to deal decisively with the situation, he was ready to penetrate the nooks and crannies of where these crooks were hiding, and he was doing it, but before you know it, somebody would say ‘Oh this man has come here to kill people of our religion or people of our tribe’.
“Then, an instruction comes from Abuja saying, ‘Okay, he’s not being helpful, so remove him,’ and that is how they go one by one. But is that the solution? Before the criminals came, they (security agents) were better armed and remember it is their profession to kill, so even if you arm yourself, they come better prepared, so what does your arm do?”
The cleric who also spoke on what transpired between the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) with President Bola Tinubu, Kaigama, said it was a big insult to accuse the religious leaders of meeting the President to collect money, adding that the result of the parley, which he said was not the first time it would be taking place, would be evident, regarding if anything had changed.
His words: “Well, we usually have many meetings, and you know that in Nigeria when things happen, you set up committees, and probably that is where it ends. But for meeting with Mr. President, it was not the first time we met him. We met him even before he became President. When he was campaigning, I remember two or so weeks before the elections, we met him and we had a one-on-one encounter.
“We engaged him, gave him a memo and told him what we wanted to see in a new Nigeria. We just went to him to remind him in March. It was the reminder to tell him. ‘What we told you, we still stand by them,’ and those who don’t understand the Catholic church and how we operate, some of them thought, oh, we went there to collect some envelopes.
“It’s a very terrible insult to the integrity of the Catholic bishops. We know how to get money if we want to, and any money we get, goes back to the people; we give it out.
“Well, it’s well known to everybody, the insecurity in the country, the poverty, the hunger, the prices of things, and all that. If they have changed, you would know. I don’t need to tell you, but we did do that, we didn’t go there for our private interests. We didn’t go there to seek contracts or to ask for money or anything.
“Each time we go to the Presidency, remember he’s not the first President we have visited. From the time of (the late Sani) Abacha, (Chief Olusegun) Obasanjo, (Musa) Yar’adua, we’ve gone consistently to speak on behalf of the people. But those who are so worldly minded and very parochial in their thinking believe that when you step your foot into Government House, you have gone to ask for money. I say what a terrible insult.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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