A human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana,
has called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo to apologize to
Nigerians over the deployment of the military to invade communities
under his administration...
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, while
criticising Obasanjo for urging President Muhammadu Buhari to negotiate
with the embattled leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Mr.
Nnamdi Kanu, said the administration led by the former President clamped
down on agitators.
Obasanjo had in a recent interview with the Newsweek Magazine
advised Buhari to negotiate with Kanu to curb the secessionist
agitations instead of the deployment of soldiers in the South-East.
He said, “I don’t see anything wrong in
that (Buhari meeting with Kanu). I would not object to that; if
anything, I would encourage it. I would want to meet Kanu myself and
talk to people like him; people of his age and ask, ‘What are your
worries?”
Falana, in a piece sent to The PUNCH
exclusively and titled ‘IPOB Proscription and Hypocrisy of the Ruling
Class,’ recalled that the Obasanjo-led administration detained and tried
leaders of secessionist movements.
He said, “In calling for a dialogue
between President Buhari and Mr. Kanu, former President Obasanjo ought
to have apologised publicly for the military invasions of Odi in Bayelsa
State and Zaki Biam in Benue State ordered by him.
“The basis of the call should have been
explained since President Obasanjo charged Niger Delta militants,
leaders of ethnic militias and separatist movements with treason, which
led to their prolonged detention in prison custody.
“Convinced that former President
Obasanjo has realised that the criminalisation of such agitation did not
achieve its objective, his suggestion for a dialogue should be
seriously considered by President Buhari and the South-East governors.”
The activist lawyer also faulted former
President Goodluck Jonathan for calling for a meeting of the Council of
State to resolve the crisis caused by the secessionist group.
He said, “For goodness sake, why was
such a meeting not called before soldiers were deployed in the Niger
Delta to deal with militants? Did President Jonathan call any meeting
before deploying soldiers all over the country for the 2015 general
elections in defiance of the judgments of the Federal High Court and the
Court of Appeal?
“Instead of suggesting irrelevant
meetings, the root causes of the increasing loss of faith in the
corporate existence of Nigeria by unemployed youths and other
poverty-stricken people should be urgently addressed by the ruling
class.
“As a matter of urgency, the
underdevelopment of the nation caused by the mindless corruption and
criminal diversion of public funds by unpatriotic public officers on our
hapless people should be addressed.”
Falana urged the National Assembly to
enact an enabling law as required by Section 217 of the Constitution on
deployment of members of the armed forces by the President.
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