Insecurity: HURIWA backs Obasanjo’s call for state police, says existing security apparatus has failed

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria,(HURIWA) on Friday, supported the call by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo for state police to tackle the worsening security situation in Nigeria.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, stressed that the present security architecture of the country has failed, and there is no need to live in denial about it. 

HURIWA wondered why President Muhammadu Buhari undermined the agitation for state police because he thought the Northern Moslems have upper hands in the command and control of the police and in its hierarchical structure. But unknown to President Muhammadu Buhari the overwhelming and skewed domination of the Moslem Northern Nigeria of the police and other internal security institutions did not stop the North from becoming the hotbed of Islamic terrorists because some of those in control of these security infrastructures compromised National security interest due to their extreme Islamic affiliations to terrorists and left the North to become the points for smuggling of sophisticated military grade weapons by Non State actors of Fulani ethnicity. 

HURIWA cited the many terrorist attacks in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, and the entire North-East with the most recent one by the Islamic State of West Africa Province in the Ardo Kola Local Government Area of Taraba State where the insurgents claimed it bombed a drinking spot of “a gathering of infidel Christians”. Several lives were lost, and several others were injured in the explosion.

Also, HURIWA cited the abduction of 80-year-old founder of the Solid Rock Kingdom Church, Apostle John Okoriko, Akwa Ibom State, with the hoodlums demanding a ransom of N100m for his release.

HURIWA said with the rising spate of kidnapping, terrorism, banditry, bank robbery, ritual killings, rape cases, herdsmen attacks, amongst other vicious crimes, the creation of state police must be quick and the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari must be responsive about it.

According to reports, Obasanjo on Wednesday, said, “Our situation in Nigeria concerns everyone, particularly the case of terrorism. The case has gotten over the issue of community police. It is now state police. It is from that state police that we can now be talking about community police.”

Reacting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The general state of insecurity all over Nigeria and especially the crime of kidnapping and terrorism have become widespread because Nigeria is living a lie by claiming to be practicing federalism while the federating units do not legally have powers to control the security institutions.  

“Although there are some leeways that may be explored in the constitution for the states to create security vigilante but these crimes of kidnappings for ritual purposes and for ransom payments need to be stamped out. Also, terrorism must be stamped out. It is long overdue. 

“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was right that state police is the way forward as the existing security apparatus of the country has failed just as President Muhammadu Buhari has woefully failed in his constitutional role of protection of lives and properties. 

“There has to be a police reform. Nigeria must recaliberate and restructure urgently so the states have express powers over the security of their domains.

“The executive and the legislature must join hands together and impose stiff penalty of death by firing squads on convicted kidnappers and terrorists. The judiciary should also join this effort through the speedy dispensation of justice within weeks. 

“Governors like Babagana Zulum should also stop accommodating terrorism through nonsensical and irrational amnesty granted to so-called repentant insurgents whom they claim surrender their arms after killing, kidnapping and raping thousands of innocent Nigerians. Such things as amnesty is intolerable and condemnable as it would buoy more terrorists and kidnappers to continue their heinous crimes knowing well that they would be granted amnesty later in the future. Granting amnesty to bloody terrorists without letting the law take its full course is a sabotage of the Nigerian Constitution”.

“There must be stringent measures against terrorists and kidnappers to serve as deterrent and send strong signals to the enclaves of those Jihadist enemies of Nigeria who suck the blood of Christians while the President, the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force and others look away.”

Aprll 22, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).

SHUT UP, NO JUSTIFICATION FOR N100 MILLION FEES: HURIWA TO APC

Prominent Civil rights advocacy group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has told the national hierarchy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to shut up and cover their faces in unmitigated shame and opprobrium for trying to create phantom JUSTIFICATION for why the All Progressives  Congress has pegged her nomination fee and expression of interest form to contest to be the Presidential Candidate of the ruling Paryy in the 2023 polls at N100 million.

HURIWA said the All Progressives Congress must be made up of leaders that have lost touch with realities and bent on selling their Presidential ticket to the highest bidder no matter how roguish or criminal way the person may have raised the exorbitant cost of the Presidential nomination fees for aspirants just as the Rights group has asked the National Publicity Secretary of the APC to shut up and stop celebrating his ignorance in trying to buy credibility for the criminal decision of his party to peg the Presidential nomination fees at N100 when the combined total of the salaries of Professor Yemi Osinbanjo for eight years is not near enough that amount. “NO decent businessman can fritter N100 million on a project he is only going to compete with others and may not enjoy the right of refunds. Only drug barons and armed robbers can run for the Presidency under the All Progressives Congress.  

HURIWA stated that the All Progressives Congress, APC, National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka had said that the ruling party advised itself on the price tags on its nomination forms. It was reported yesterday that the APC fixed the presidential nomination form for N100m.

The Rights group recalled that the  APC announced on Wednesday that the party’s forms for Presidential ticket will be sold at N100 million, governorship N50 million; Senate, N20 million; House of Representatives, N10 million and State Houses of Assembly, N2 million.

HURIWA said: ” We beg of the grossly disrespectful PRO of the APC to stop insulting the psyche and intelligence of Nigerians by trying to provide fallacious justification for this I’ll advised decision of his party. To tell you that APC is behaving like a political gathering of daylight robbers, they are making N100 million look cheap when a Permanent Secretary in a civil service may need two life times to gross that amount as legitimate salaries. How could have insulted Nigerians in such a fashion because when asked if the price tag was in line with the present economic situation in the country, the APC Spokesperson, in an interview with Channels Television, said, “What is the current situation in the country? We still live in a country where there are people who make legitimate money.”And on whether the party is for the rich, he said, “The party is not for the rich. I just told you that for instance, any woman who wants to run for the office of the President is not paying the full amount. The youths as well.”When asked who advised the party on the price tags, he said, “The party advised the party. The party thinks that…and made the decision that the value put on these forms are justified.”

HURIWA dismissed the ruling party’s mouthpiece’s effort to try to mitigate the ethical damage and the credibility crisis that the fixing of the exorbitant cost of the Presidential nomination fees has caused his party by saying youths and the physically challenged are not expected to pay close to the high fees of N100 million,  the Civil Society Organization HURIWA said the APC is wrong to fix their ticket for Presidential  form at N100 million because it has shown the party as a collective of shylock and greedy cash chasing money guzzling political gamblers who are in politics for the cash they can loot. 

“There is no logical justification for such a crazy fees because it is even a violation of the NOT TOO YOUNG TO RUN LAW which the President signed.  HURIWA said that the high fees shows that APC is telling us that only looters can afford their ticket. Nigerians must come out and condemn this show of shame and the promotion of ostentatious appearances and inordinate wealth”. 

“Who is that youth that can afford 50% of the N100 million fees if the APC is saying youths would get a rebate? And even if youths can get that much to fritter on a nomination form, the intention and import conveyed by the APC is that politics is for the highest bidders and for those heartless enough to loot the Nation’s treasury mindlessly BECAUSE THE LOGIC OF PAYING SO MUCH TO OBTAIN A TICKET IS THAT WHEN YOU WIN THE ALL POWERFUL POSITION OF PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA, YOU EXPECT TO GAIN SO MUCH THROUGH ILLEGITIMATE AND CRIMINAL MEANS,” HURIWA affirmed.  

INEC officials involved in 1.3 million multiple voter registration must be prosecuted – HURIWA

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria,(HURIWA) on Thursday, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to prosecute its officials who compromised the ongoing voter registrations nationwide which led to the inclusion of over 1.3 million invalid registrations. 

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, also raised the alarm that there is a deliberate plot to disenfranchise millions of Southernern voters in the 2023 elections. HURIWA has asked the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission to designate registration points so Nigerians without Permanent voter’s cards can present themselves for registration and be provided with their voter cards. 

Recall that INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, on Wednesday, said the commission discovered 1,390,519 invalid registrations in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration, amounting to 45 per cent of 2,523,458 completed registrations from June 2021 to January 2022.

The INEC boss cited multiple registrations, failure of Automatic Biometric Identification System, amongst others for the infractions which he said occurred nationwide, while indicting some members of staff of the Commission for the infractions.

Reacting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The revelation by INEC is not new but expected. This was why HURIWA in an earlier statement on April 8, 2022 called on the electoral umpire to clean its voter register and expunge child voters as well as dead persons from it so that the 2023 general elections won’t turn out a fraudulent one.

“Going by INEC’s timetable, the Presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on Saturday 25th February 2023, followed by the Governorship and State Assembly elections on Saturday 11th March 2023. This is less than a year ahead.

“However, INEC should be more prepared and stop hibernating without doing much to clean up the National Voter Register to ensure that all eligible Nigerians who wish to be registered are captured and automatically issued their PVCs.

“If over 1.3 million voter registrations are marred with multiple registrations, amongst other infractions, then, Nigerians need to query the validity and truthfulness of previous elections.

“INEC should ensure that its officials culpable in the invalid registrations are fished out and prosecuted, they should be named and shamed; they are enemies of Nigeria’s democracy and peace and so therefore they and their paymasters and politicians should be exposed and prosecuted.

“Apparently, there is a deliberate plot to disenfranchise millions of Southern voters in 2023 but this game plan should not be allowed to manifest.

“INEC should speedily work on the efficiency of its Automatic Biometric Identification System, electronic voters machines and other technologies that are to be introduced or already used in the last Anambra election but did not yield maximum results. 

“INEC should conduct security audits of Nigeria and put in place strategies with the security agencies on how to prevent security challenges that always come up during elections. 

“So much depend on the 2023 elections and INEC should be up and doing so as not aid and abet any fraud.

Aprll 14, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).

It’s fraudulent to go into 2023 elections with dead persons, child voters, HURIWA tells INEC

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria(HURIWA), on Friday, tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission to expunge the names of dead persons and child voters from its voter register ahead of the 2023 general elections.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said anything short of the removal of child voters and dead persons would produce fraudulent polls next year.

The group argued that child voting and the presence of dead persons in INEC database would encourage rigging and vote-buying by moneybag politicians who desperately want to occupy elective office in 2023.

Recall that INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, in a PUNCH report dated January 1, 2022 said that the names of dead voters and child voters cannot be removed from the voter register due to the absence of reliable data of births and deaths (https://punchng.com/why-we-cant-remove-dead-persons-from-voter-register-inec/).

The implication of this is that Nigeria may go into the 2023 general elections with a faulty voter register marred by multiple registration and underage persons which could mar the credibility of the elections as well as make the commission incur unnecessary costs, given that the commission might have to print ballot papers for the registered voters.

INEC had said that the Presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on Saturday 25th February 2023, followed by the Governorship and State Assembly elections on Saturday 11th March 2023.

However, HURIWA stated that mere announcement was not enough, the commission must get to work, adding that with the assent to the Electoral Act 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari recently, the electoral umpire should be more concerned about having a clean and credible voter register. 

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The preparations of INEC for general elections has not been impressive at all. With the Electoral Act in place although with some legal issues that would be resolved soon, INEC needs to be seen to be in top gears in preparations for the general elections which is around the corner.

“However, it is very clear and disappointing that INEC is just hibernating and not doing much to clean up the National Voter Register to ensure that all eligible Nigerians who wish to be registered are captured and automatically issued their PVCs.

“At the moment, millions of Nigerians have no voter cards and not much is heard from INEC on where to go physically and get the registration done. 

“INEC should by now be thinking ahead on the workability of the electronic voters machines and other technologies that are to be introduced or already used in the last Anambra election but did not yield maximum results. 

“INEC should conduct security audits of Nigeria and put in place strategies with the security agencies on how to prevent security challenges that always come up during elections. 

“INEC should by now have kickstarted enlightenment on voting rights and how to exercise the rights and INEC has not done anything to eliminate child voters that are a disturbing part of elections in most populous northern states like Kano and some riverine states in Southern Nigeria so that the coming election is not contaminated with children voting at elections when adults who are ready to vote are deliberately denied their PVCs. 

“INEC needs to work out  communication lines that are functional right now for Nigerians with election related complaints especially with the exercise of their voters rights to contact them and get redress. 

“INEC should by now be telling Nigerians living with disabilities that the voting environment will be made friendly and show evidence of the infrastructures that are already put on ground to ensure that disabled citizens are not disallowed to exercise their civic rights.”

Aprll 8, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).

It’s sad soldiers who should fight Kaduna terrorists are protecting Fulani cows in Ondo – CSO

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria,(HURIWA) on Wednesday, said it is very unfortunate that soldiers who should be deployed to confront savage terrorists overrunning Kaduna State are wasting away in Ondo State, protecting Fulani cows.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, described as a blatant misplacement of priority, the deployment of soldiers in the entire Southern region of Nigeria including the South-West and South-East zones for purposes such as protection of herders and their cattle.

The group urged the military authorities to recall a sizeable percentage of troops posted to Southern Nigeria and redeploy them to Kaduna to combat bloodthirsty terrorists who have daily invaded the North-West state in the last two weeks, wreaking unprintable havoc including ghoulish killings, bombings and kidnappings.

According to news reports, terrorists killed 17 soldiers and wounded 40 others in an attack at a military base in Polwire, Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna this week. This was barely a week after the marauders bombed an Abuja-Kaduna train, killing scores and injuring hundreds while many are still unaccounted for. 

The insurgents numbering over 200 had also invaded the Kaduna International Airport, killed an airspace worker and injured many other airport staff, even as they forced a plane from taking off from the airport. Many pockets of gruesome and macabre attacks have been recorded in the last two weeks in Kaduna. The death toll emanating from Kaduna in the last two years is concerning with over 2,000 murdered and over 5,000 killed by terrorists hitherto labelled bandits.

But just as the terrorists are unfortunately overrunning Kaduna, classified a war zone by Governor Nasir el-Rufai and presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, men of the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigeria Army, Akure are gallivanting in Ondo, demanding the release of Fulani cows seized by the Ondo State Security Network Agency also known as Amotekun Corps for violating the state anti-open grazing law.

Reacting in the statement released on Wednesday, HURIWA’s Onwubiko described the deployment of soldiers in relatively peaceful states of Southern Nigeria as a misplacement of priority.

Onwubiko said, “It is an established fact that Kaduna State is a war zone going by the carnage committed by terrorists in the last two weeks, especially and going by the description of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai; as well as presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina. 

“The onslaught by audacious terrorists is unprecedented in the entire North-West and akin to the Boko Haram/ISWAP ferocious attacks in the North-East.

“However, instead of deploying most of its men to the theatre of war to stamp out terrorists overrunning Kaduna State and having a field’s day, the Nigerian Army, sadly, is more concerned about the safety of trespassing cows than the thousands of innocent Nigerians killed by insurgents in Kaduna State month in, month out. This is most unfortunate.

“This sort of misplacement of priority abound in media reports of the past seven years because the Federal Government in Abuja elevated cows to a sacred position far above the sanctity of life. This is why the combat readiness of soldiers are declining because they are being deployed for roles they are unsuited for due to selfish reasons. This is indeed why rampaging Fulani terrorists are killing soldiers and bombing down military jets and nobody is called to account.

“HURIWA urges the service chiefs to face reality and put away ethnic sentiments. Kaduna needs all the soldiers that the military can muster now. War, aside weapon sophistry, is also about numerical strength. Apparently, the terrorists are recruiting en masse. For 200 terrorists to invade an airport at once? Who knows how many hundreds of them bombed the Abuja-Kaduna train, amongst other vicious attacks. The service chiefs should act fast and deploy soldiers lagging away in Southern Nigeria to Kaduna, the new theatre of war in Nigeria. The earlier the better. A word is enough for the wise, the elders say.” 

Aprll 6, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).

It’s buffoonery to talk about expelling a civil society leader: HURIWA

A bunch of apparently jobless clowns some of whom are surviving by jumping from one government office to the other on a rampage to capture as much as possible the crumbs that fall off the masters table in Abuja, have just issued a very illiterate statement that is so illogical and irrational saying that my humble self has been expelled from a so-called civil society coalition.
They said their reason for “expelling” me is because I criticized Mr. Godwin Emefiele the CBN GOVERNOR for allegedly meddling into partisan politics. The views I gave were published in PUNCH Newspaper. 
At first the entire statement published in a section of the media sounded comical and unreasonably dramatic because it is inconceivable that any thinking being can conjure up this sort of baseless and meaningless publication that is groundless and is baseless and bears no resemblance to critical thinking that someone can actually come up with such a drab statement. 
At first, I never wanted to honour such an illogical statement with a response because it is self-evident that the writer or writers is/are embarking on an adventure of intellectual idiocy. 
How do you expel a citizen from the civil society? Assuming without conceding that the contraption that was elevated to a scale of a pseudo platform do actually exists in the imagination of the writer, a follow up question to ask is this, can you expel an entity or an individual that is not affiliated or connected in anyway to you? Can you remove what you never constituted? 
We are only doing this response so that the writer (s) does/do not benefit more from this show of shame that is as unrealistic as it is impracticable. Nigerians should dismiss this as fallacious and unreasonable. 
 Recall that in a publication, a group identifying itself as the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under the aegis of the CSOs Coordinating Center (CCC), have expelled the Convener, Adopt A Goal Initiative, Dare Ariyo-Atoye; Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko; and the National Coordinator, Advocate for People’s Rights and Justice, Giwa Victor.
 
The reason for expelling them, according to the group, was their attack on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
 
The Centre’s Director, Mallam Abubakar Mohammed, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said that they were motivated “to smear Emefiele and expel them from activities of the CSOs Coordinating Center, which is an apex platform for all CSOs involved in public advocacy and ban them from attending any event that the CCC is part of for one year until they apologise for the smear attacks.
According to the statement, Mohammed said we hope they will retrace their steps.”
Mohammed further raised alarm over plans by some desperate politicians to continue to sponsor some CSOs to embark on ceaseless campaigns of calumny against their perceived opponents ahead of the 2023 general elections.
 
He said: “Part of the strategy is to enlist some unsuspecting sections of the media into a plot to continue to blackmail and ridicule their opponents by whipping some sentiments against them.”
 
Mohammed noted that one of such perceived opponents, who have been marked by desperate politicians with the aim of pulling him down in the media is Emefiele.
 
Mohammed said: “We, members of the CSOs Coordinating Centre, also expressed our confidence in Dr Emefiele’s leadership of the apex bank and positive achievements being recorded under his watch.” 
The National Coordinator of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) is by this rebuttal is informing members of the public that tjese bunch of persons are unknown to the critical section of the organised civil rights community in Nigeria and should not be accorded any level of attention. 

Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko:
National Coordinator:
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA). APRIL 5TH 2022. 

Group accuses EFCC of ethnic profiling against Igbo:

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) on Tuesday, expressed profound trepidation and worry that a lot of critical minded members of the public in Southerm Nigeria have accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of ethnic profiling against Igbo notable sons in the last few months.

HURIWA also strongly recommend to the hierarchy of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to adopt transparent and accountable methodology of operation irrespective of whether it is Northern or Southern Nigeria so they are not permanently perceived as a group of people who have deviated from the time honoured and time tested mandates of anti -corruption crusade devoid of Ethnic or religious profiling. 

“The idea that whenever Igbo youths may be due to exuberance are shown on videos to appear to be spraying HUMONGUOS amount of cash at social or religious functions such as funeral rites or weddings, the next day the principal characters seen in the videos who are Igbos are profiled and arrested at the airport or just somewhere and the next day the newspapers are awash with propaganda demonising the arrested citizens of South East origin. But the same EFCC officials are never seen arresting or profiling Northern youths similarly captured during high profile social or religious functions like the weddings of Sons of prominent Northern politicians who obviously treated like sacred cows”. 

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the field officers of the anti-graft agency under the leadership of Abdulrasheed Bawa must be probed for allegedly picking up innocent Nigerians in Gestapo style, sometimes in the middle of the night, after invading their residences and hotels.

The group described as witch hunt, the arrest and humiliation of popular socialite, Pascal Okechukwu, known better as Cubana Chief Priest; his associate, Obinna Iyiegbu, known as Obi Cubana; ex-Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano; amongst other prominent sons of Ndigbo locked up on unproven allegations of tax fraud and money laundering whereas suspects of Northern origin even hitherto charged to courts for alleged heist of billions of public fund are suddenly left off the hooks and progressively railroaded into influential national political offices only because of their Ethnic affiliations with those presently wielding political powers in Abuja.

Reacting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko urged the EFCC under Bawa to thread softly and carefully, and quit launching attacks on prosperous Igbo sons. HURIWA thinks the EFCC should operate within the confines of the law so Nigerians will.be able to know when armed robbers have struck. 

“The indiscriminate arrests of Igbo notable sons by overzealous and discretion-less EFCC operative is worrisome. The show of shame  and commando-like raids being branded as legitimate operations that is a pastime of EFCC agents was aptly captured in a PUNCH Editorial dated September 1, 2021 (https://punchng.com/efccs-gestapo-raids-on-hotels-residences/).

“The earlier the EFCC comply with rules of engagement and desist from ethnic profiling of the Igbo the better. Also, the anti-graft agency should investigate its field officials who are alleged to be extorting school children by arresting, detaining and forcing them to part with a lot of money. 

“In as much as we condemn advanced fee fraud, we condemn any activity of the EFCC that is deemed inimical to constitutional democracy and norms and principles of rule of law and due process.”

Aprll 5, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).

Attacks: South-East govs should explore dialogue now, says HURIWA

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria(HURIWA), on Monday, urged the five governors in the South-East geopolitical zone to explore dialogue and consultations to proffer lasting peace and security to the zone.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said constant military deployment in the zone has proven to have failed over the years, hence, the need for a dialogue with aggrieved parties.

The group stated this following the series of attacks in the South-East last weekend including the setting ablaze of the secretariat of Orsu Local Government Area in Imo State as well as the killing of officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps by gunmen along the Igbo-Uku- Uga Road in Anambra State.

In a statement on Monday, HURIWA’s Onwubiko again urged the new Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, to use his new office to champion the campaign for the release of all illegally detained Igbo sons and daughters including leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

The group reminded Soludo to act on the “action plan” on insecurity in the zone, according to his inauguration speech last month when he said, “Criminality cannot be sugarcoated. This must stop. All the stakeholders must now review both the narrative and the action plan.”

Onwubiko said, “The insecurity in the South-East has become a serious debacle and the governors in the zone must strengthen consultations and dialogue with representatives of all shades of opinion with a view to ascertaining the identity of the sponsors of the violence and to reach a truce. 

“The Anambra State governor, Chukwuma Soludo, and Anambra state traditional Council had promised to initiate a regional wide movement to agitate for the earliest release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. That promise must be fulfilled in earnest.

“The Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, who is the closest to President Muhammadu Buhari must as a matter of fact take passionate interest in jointly taking steps with other governors of South East to realise the objective of securing freedom for Nnamdi Kanu and cessation of all violence and for all groups within the zone. Uzodinma should join forces with his brother governors to stamp out criminality in the zone and stop sounding false alarm, blaming opposition politicians. 

HURIWA said it was wrong for the military to have clampdown violently on the Eastern Security Network simply for procuring arms to protect their native farmlands from foreign invasions by armed Fulani terrorists who have killed hundreds of farmers and raped many women on the farms in the South East of Nigeria with none of the killers ever arrested or punished.  

“It is even unjust to isolate ESN for decimation whilst the Civilian Joint Task Force in many Northern States operate side by side with the military to rid their territory of terrorists wondering why the same operational guidelines were not put in place in the South East but the young boys who took up arms to protect their native farms were massacred on the orders of the Commander-in-chief after a clear misinformation from the government of Imo State”. 

HURIWA however said since the mistake has been made and the only thing necessary to stop the bleeding and violence now is to restore normalcy, stability, peace and security in the South East which goes to demonstrate the pivotal place of constructive dialogues by all groups and the governors. The Rights group urged the governor of Imo State to stop further accusations of his rival politicians for the unprecedented violence in Imo State but should be opened to sincere dialogues on the best way to stamp out the bloodshed through non kinetic methodology.  

“The Federal Government and security agencies must also realise that  military build-up alone without the components of civil dialogue can’t bring about lasting peace in the South-East.”

April 4, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).

EFCC Is On A Vendetta Against Chief Whip Of The Senate For Political Reasons: Says HURIWA

Leading civil Rights Advocacy Group:- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has carpeted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) latest round of forum shopping and targeted political persecution of the most senior South Eastern Political office holder in the current dispensation –the chief whip of the senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.
HURIWA said it is inconceivable that the anti-graft agency will devote a lot of man-hour and resources chasing shadows because it has a preconceived political agenda to demarket the most influential political leader of the National ruling party who is a pole’s position to clinching the prestigious Presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress in a sinister plots to deny the Igbo religion of the historic opportunity of becoming an executive President of a United Nigeria. 
“The latest application made by the EFCC praying the Abuja division of the Federal High Court to transfer the fresh trial of former Abia State governor over alleged N 7.1 billion fraud to Lagos State smacks of desperate forum shopping by an agency that is so much in a dead hurry to politically harass the chief whip of the senate to quit his presidential aspiration in favour of the political Godfather of some powerful forces embedded within the hierarchy of the EFCCA”. 
HURIWA also tasked the EFCC to tell Nigerians What the logic is in seeking to transfer the trial of a matter alleged to have happened in Abia State, South East of Nigeria to Lagos State as if the South East has become the outpost of the South West of Nigeria? This is provocative as well as vexatious. ”
“We in the civil Rights Community hereby condemns the hierarchy of the EFCC for the undue interest and desperation to terminate the political rise of a phenomenal political leader who had previously been cleared by the nation’s apex court of having anything to do with this politically coordinated and calculated persecution to rubbish the presidential ambition of the most prospective candidate of Igbo origin”.
HURIWA recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC on Thursday last week asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to transfer to its Lagos division, the fresh trial of former Abia State Governor, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and two others in an alleged 7.1 billion naira fraud.
The motion on notice seeking the transfer was brought pursuant to sections 18, 19, 22 and 45 of the Federal High Court Act 2010 and section 93 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
The motion prayed for an order of the Federal High Court in Abuja, transferring the case with charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/56/2007 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Orji Uzor Kalu and two others to the Lagos division of the court.
Two others on the motion paper are Jones Udeogo and Sloks Nigeria Limited, an alleged family company of Senator Kalu.
Oluwaleke Atolagbe, counsel to EFCC said the motion was predicated on 5 grounds among which are that the Abuja division of the Federal High Court lacked the requisite territorial jurisdiction to entertain and try the defendants in the instant charge.
Another ground for seeking transfer of the trial was that the charge was preferred against Orji Uzor Kalu, Slok Nigeria Limited and Ude Jones Udeogu at the Federal High Court Abuja sometime in number 2007 by the EFCC, following an investigation by the commission.
The motion further indicated that after taking their plea, the defendant brought an application challenging the competence of the charge and contending that there was no prima facie case against them.
It was also contended that following the decision of the Supreme Court that many of the ingredients of the offences against them occurred in Lagos and even most of the witnesses who are bank workers reside in Lagos, the EFCC applied to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to transfer the matter to Lagos.
Satisfied that many of the ingredients of the offences occurred in Lagos the Chief Judge transferred the case to the Lagos division of the court where the defendants were prosecuted and judgment delivered in the matter.
He, therefore, asked Justice Ekwo to issue an order transferring the trial to Lagos in compliance with the Supreme Court order.
When the matter came on Thursday, Justice Inyang Ekwo said that he would not be able to take the application in view of the approaching Easter holidays.
The Judge consequently fixed May 17, 2022 for determination of the application.
At the proceedings, Prof. Awa Kalu SAN stood for former governor Kalu, Mr Solo Akuma SAN stood for Jones Udeogu while Goddy Uche SAN, stood for Slok Nigeria Limited.
HURIWA said it was worried that the EFCC is seeking to prosecute the Chief whip of the senate twice over the same matter in which a Judge who got elevated to the Court of Appeal chose to hang on as a Federal High Court judge and ended up passing a preconceived verdict against the former governor of Abia State senator Orji Uzor Kalu- a judgment that was torn into shreds by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. 
 
 

ASUU strike: Politicians’ children must be banned from schooling abroad, in private universities-HURIWA

..URGES ASUU NOT TO VICTIMISE STUDENTS WITH PROVOCATIVE STRIKES

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) on Wednesday, said for the recurring industrial actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities to end once and for all, politicians and government officials must be banned from sending their children and wards for academic purpose of schooling in private institutions and in foreign jurisdictions. 

HURIWA has also described the quick resort to strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities as lazy and irrational since the members of the Union can as well adopt other proactive, constructive and elaborate alternatives to strikes such as publicising the schools and names of Children of Nigerian public office holders schooling in Western Europe,  Canada and the USA and to write protest letters to those schools informing them that Parents of their Students of Nigerian origin who are in charge of public affairs have sabotaged University education and have therefore decided to fund their Children’s Academic activities from stolen public funds of Nigerians. 

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade  Emmanuel Onwubiko, emphasised that until the children of public officers have no educational alternative both at home and abroad, the perennial strike by public university lecturers won’t be earnestly resolved by those in power. The group therefore Advocates what it calls constructive blackmail of Government officials by the Academic Staff Union of Universities as a possible strategy to compel the central government to honour the promises and agreements reached between government and ASUU.  

The group lamented that the intermittent industrial actions embarked upon by aggrieved university lecturers due to government’s failure to meet certain agreements and conditions is inimical and counterproductive to the bulging over 34 million youths.

HURIWA further said that for a country with over 40 million out-of-school children, prolonged stay out of tertiary institutions by youths will fill the crime pool of bandits, fraudsters, ritualists, armed robbers, prostitutes, amongst others.

ASUU, on March 14, at the expiration of its four-week warning strike which it declared on Monday, February 14, 2022, extended the industrial action by two months.

The union led by Professor Emmanuel Osodeke said it made the decision to extend the strike so as to give the Federal Government and its agencies enough time to meet the lingering demands of the union.

The union had embarked on a nine-month strike in 2020 before it was called off in December of that year.

But ASUU said this week that the government had failed to satisfactorily address all the issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action but the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, insisted that the Federal Government had met all of ASUU’s demands including funding for revitalisation of public universities (both Federal and States), renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ ASUU Agreement and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution.

Other demands of the union as listed by ASUU include Earned Academic Allowances, State Universities, promotion arrears, withheld salaries, and non-remittance of third-party deductions.

Reacting on the impasse so far, HURIWA’s Onwubiko declared, “The Federal Government which is saddled with the provision of quality education has failed woefully. It is more pathetic that government officials including the two education ministers have maintained indifference in meeting ASUU’s demand once and for all and not in piecemeal.

“To think that the present government has eight years to address the matter and it has failed to do so in the last seven years is unthinkable. The reason, however, is not farfetched; every now and then, politicians and government officials flaunt photos of the matriculation and the graduation of the children in first-class universities abroad and a very few in private universities back home unaffected by the perennial industrial actions by ASUU and other unions in tertiary institutions. They do this at the chagrin of abandoned Nigerian students back home who are forced out of school and their stay of four or five years elongated to over seven years due to ASUU strikes.

“HURIWA posits that the National Assembly must be resolute and make laws banning politicians from sending their wards overseas for studies so that all hands can be on the deck to resolve ASUU lingering crisis.

“Nigeria is sitting on a time bomb if ASUU strike is allowed to linger as there are connections between rising criminality and out-of-school students. The government must make hay while the sun shines. HURIWA has also warned that the strike would push thousands of students into such crimes like yahooyahoo and to be available for active recruitment to carry out terrorism. The continuous closure of Public tertiary institutions is a grave threat to national security interests of Nigeria and must be brought to an end immediately. 

March 16, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).