THE RECENT KANO EXTRAJUDICIAL DECAPITATION
The last time I checked, recently, there
was no day that passed in Nigeria that one didn’t hear of the emergence of a
highly irrational and monstrous act in a particular part of the country. The
gruesome decapitation of Mrs Bridget Agbaheme by suspected Islamic extremists
on Thursday 2nd June 2016 in the famous Kofar Wambai market, Kano
State, North-West Nigeria over allegations that she blasphemed Prophet Muhammad
wasn’t an exception.
More pathetically and painfully, the
victim who was of Igbo extraction, Mbaitolu LGA in Imo State precisely, was
reportedly in the company of her beloved husband when she was brutally murdered
in cold blood. It was gathered that the dastardly and inhumane behavior was
occasioned by an argument bordering on religion that transpired between the
deceased who sold plastics at the said local market and other traders in the
market.
Isn’t the untold incident synonymous with
that of 1995 decapitation of one Mr Gideon Akaluka still in Kano State, also by
Muslim fanatics who seemed to have acted under the directive of some jihadists?
The late young trader – Mr Akaluka who was equally of Igbo origin, was arrested
in the year in question after his purported wife allegedly used pages of the
Holy Qur’an as toilet paper for her baby. Consequently, having been detained by
the Police, a group of Muslim ‘fundamentalists’ broke into the police cell,
decapitated him, and thereafter walked around the streets of Kano parading his
beheaded head.
Extrajudicial killing or treatment
otherwise known as ‘Jungle juctice’, which is usually carried out either by a
government agency or an angry mob, or sometimes by an individual, has been on
the rampage in recent times in the contemporary Nigerian society in such a
manner that it requires only a severe and drastic approach by the apt
authorities toward its eradication.
Extrajudicial treatment used to be a
feature of politically repressive regimes, but lately even self-proclaimed or
internationally recognized democracies have been known to use the measure under
certain circumstances, thereby ostensibly signifying that even a democratic
state isn’t a respecter of the law contrary to the general presumption. No
matter how long extrajudicial punishment has been harboured or condoned by
various concerned authorities, either in Nigeria or elsewhere, the truth of the
matter remains that it is barbaric and illegal; hence, totally unacceptable.
Even in a military government, there is a
given procedure through which an accused person would be convicted of such
crime or offence, let alone a democratic dispensation like ours where there are
constitutionally instituted bodies that are statutorily in charge of judicial
proceedings. For instance, when the aforesaid 1995 extrajudicial murder of Mr
Gideon Akaluka took place, the then military Head of State in the person of
Late Gen Sani Abacha frantically frowned over the anomaly, thereby leading to
the immediate arrest and prolonged detention of the suspected jihadists who
masterminded the evil act.
This implies that the recent killing of
Mrs Bridget Agbaheme or the lingering harbouring of all forms of extrajudicial
treatments in the Nigerian society, isn’t just an insult to the government or
the relevant constituted authorities but to say the least, an assault to the
country’s criminal laws that are reckoned to be mightier than any person or
group irrespective of the circumstance. This is why the President Mohammadu
Buhari – led administration through the Interior Minister – Gen Abdulrahman
Dambazau, coupled with the Kano State government, is required to act very fast
towards ensuring that the perpetrators are duly brought to book headlong.
Moreover, it’s more worrisome to note
that someone whose case is in court may be brutally murdered by the aggrieved
party or the plaintiff owing to a perceived delay in the court
proceeding/hearing. One may wonder how an individual would courageously made up
his/her mind to eliminate someone else over a certain dispute, even when the
disagreement in question is being considered by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
Currently, the most alarming aspect of
extrajudicial killing or punishment is the one being carried out by a group of
civilians popularly referred to as ‘angry mob’. It’s often observed on the
street, inside a motor park, or in a market arena, as the case may be, when one
is merely accused of theft, pick-pocketing, rape, or any form of jungle crime.
The mob often accomplish their mission by setting the suspect ablaze at the
scene of the incident using fuel and condemned tyre, prior to the arrival of
the concerned security personnel. The most awful part of the illogical act is
that, an innocent citizen is mostly mistaken for the person who actually
committed the crime. It’s note worthy that constitutionally, if a suspect is
allegedly guilty of a certain crime or offence, he or she shall remain innocent
till otherwise proven by any court of competent jurisdiction.
Another pertinent fact we must acknowledge
is that, sparing the life of a culprit would help to apprehend his/her
accomplices. To this end, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in
collaboration with the various civil society organizations is expected to
thoroughly sensitize the general public on the enormous benefit of upholding
the law as well as the evitable dangers inherent in taking the law into their
hands. They ought to be meant to comprehend that no individual or group, under
any circumstance, is above the law.
Meanwhile,
as much as I vehemently pray for quick recovery of President Buhari, all the
concerned authorities must acknowledge that Nigerians and the world at large
are longing to hear when justice would be done to the gruesome decapitation of
Mrs Agbaheme. On their part, I urge the family of the deceased and Nigerians in
general to remain law-abiding while we await the justice, because two wrongs do
not make a right. Think about it!
Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor
(TheMediaAmbassador)
-Public Affairs analyst & Civil Rights
activist-
Chief Executive
Director, Centre for Counselling, Research
& Career
Development - Owerri
_____________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056
Twitter: @mediambassador
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