The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has counselled President Muhammadu Buhari to show humility and accept the bitter truth that poverty, internal conflicts, bloodletting, banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, abuse of human rights and general national insecurity have escalated under him rather than picking a fight with the United Nation (UN) Rapporteur, Agnes Callamard, for highlighting the grave security issues in our country.
The Presidency has expressed disappointment with a UN report that highlighted fault lines in the country that could destabilise the continent.
But the PDP insists that the UN Rapporteur report only reinforces the positions of credible international bodies including the United States Department of State, Amnesty International (AI) and Transparency International (TI) which also reported cases of arbitrary and extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, arbitrary detention, torture, festering violence, reported disappearances and abuse of human rights under the Buhari administration.
“Today, Nigeria is becoming one of the most insecure places to live. Citizens can no longer move freely around their country as marauders, kidnappers, insurgents and bandits take over the highways, pillage communities, kill and take citizens captive at will.
“By fighting persons or organization that tell us the truth instead of seeking solutions, the Buhari Presidency is doing a great disservice to Nigerians especially those in communities being ravaged by insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and ethnic clashes.
“The PDP holds that at the moment, what ought to be paramount to the Buhari Presidency should not be the sentiments of regime image but the welfare and security of vulnerable Nigerians”, it added in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
The Federal Government on Saturday said it was disappointed with the United Nation (UN) Special Rapporteur\u2019s report of \u201cviolence in Nigeria\u201d, a statement from the presidency said.
According to the statement that was issued by the presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, the preliminary report on violence in Nigeria as released by UN Rapporteur, Agness Callarmad, did not reflect the general state of security in all its ramifications.
Therefore, Mr Shehu said, the presidency \u201cis disappointed.\u201d
The presidency\u2019s reaction to the UN Rapporteur\u2019s report came nearly three weeks after Ms Callamard made public her report of violence in Nigeria.
In her report, which partly acknowledged efforts being made to douse the fight against Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, the UN envoy said: \u201cNigeria is a pressure cooker of internal conflict.\u201d
And that \u201cthe absence of accountability is on such a scale that pretending this is not a crisis will be a major mistake.\u201d
Ms Callarmad mentioned lack of accountability, poverty, climate change, the proliferation of arms, government repression on groups like Shia Muslims, Indigenous People of Biafra and the Ogonis as factors fueling localised system of violence.
In its reaction, the presidency said while it agrees with the UN Rapporteur on the rippling effects of violence, it is totally disappointing that the report ignored some other aspects of violence which the Nigerian government is battling to tackle.
\u201cWe have read press reports of the UN rapporteur on violence in Nigeria,\u201d Mr Shehu said.
\u201cWhile we agree that the violence in Nigeria, or in any country, is a major concern and that there is a rippling effect, we are disappointed that the rapporteur was silent on intra-group violence.
The presidency pointed out that \u201cIn Benue, Taraba, the Cross River States and many parts of the country, most of the casualties result from intra-group, inter-group and community violence. Many of the displaced persons across the nation are also victims of these conflicts.\u201d
Mr Shehu said the UN Rapporteur Report did not appreciate the efforts and positive inroads that the Federal Government of Nigeria has made in managing conflicts like the farmers\/ herder clash, which he said has now abated.
\u201cThere is absolutely no doubt that violence between farmers and herders, which has a long history in our country spiked in recent years but the effectiveness with which the federal and state authorities responded made a big difference,\u201d Mr Shehu noted.
\u201cCalm has virtually returned to all parts affected by the peculiar violence.
\u201cTherefore, we are saddened that the rapporteur did not address intra-ethnic conflicts and cattle rustling as key elements in herder\/farmer conflicts.
\u201cIn Benue State, for instance, the Tiv\/Jukun conflict and kidnapping is a major problem. We are glad that local communities have fully realized this, and scholars with a strong motivation for peace and stability in their communities and the nation are trying to address the problem.\u201d
Ignored Efforts
The presidential spokesman said the UN Rapporteur\u2019s report ignored salient local efforts being deployed by top scholars working with the federal government to address local issues that lead to conflict in parts of the country.
\u201cIgnoring the salient issues will not help to solve the problem,\u201d said Mr Shehu.
\u201cIf you are going to address violence and the general insecurity in Nigeria, incidents everywhere should be part of the narrative. Not addressing this might make it easier to blame the federal government, but national peace and security is a community-based and collective responsibility.
\u201cArrests, prosecution and locking people up are only small parts of National Security and Safety strategy.
\u201cIn Benue State, as cited earlier, the work of a US scholar of Tiv extraction, Professor Dick Adzenge, deserves special mention for attempting to get aspects of violence addressed. The expectation that arresting and putting people in prison is the only credible response to violence is a mistake.
\u201cProfessor Adzenge and a few others like him are working with young people, traditional rulers and communities to seek peaceful resolution of conflicts and encourage peaceful co-existence.
\u201cThe sort of effort we are talking about here has so far revealed interesting facts about the problem in Benue State that cannot be ignored.
\u201cAnd it is the sort of support we seek from the UN rapporteur in reporting, not the report that scratches the surface of the subject then ends up blaming the government under the able leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. The UN representative needs to be truthful and even-handed in her assignment.
The UN Rapporteur\u2019s Report
On September 3, UN Special Rapporteur, Agnes Callamard, who had been in Nigeria since mid-August gave her report on what she observed about the dicey security situation in the country at the end of her 12 days mission.
Part of her \u201d preliminary report\u201d was published on the UN website.
\u201cThe overall situation that I encountered in Nigeria gives rise to extreme concern with issues like poverty and climate change adding to the crisis,\u201d Ms Callamard was quoted to have said after presenting a preliminary statement at the end of her 12-day mission.
She pointed out that if such challenges are ignored, \u201cthe ripple effects of unaccountability on such a large scale, had the potential to destabilize the sub-region if not the whole continent.\u201d
\u201cNigeria is confronting nationwide, regional and global pressures, such as population explosion, an increased number of people living in absolute poverty, climate change and desertification, and increasing proliferation of weapons\u201d, she elaborated.
\u201cThese are re-enforcing localized systems and country-wide patterns of violence, many of which are seemingly spinning out of control.\u201d
Boko Haram used to illustrate the story.
Ms Callamard\nbrought out many areas of \u201cconcern\u201d, including \u201carmed conflict against the Boko Haram terrorist group in the northeast; insecurity and violence i\nn the northwest; the conflict in the central area known as the Middle Belt and parts of the northwest and south, between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farming communities.\u201d
According to the UN, Ms Callamard who is a Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, \u201calso noted the prevalence of organized gangs or cults in Nigeria\u2019s south; general repression of minority and indigenous groups; killings during evictions in slum areas; and widespread police brutality.\u201d
Some signs of improvement
Despite the disappointment of the Federal Government of Nigeria about the report , the Rapporteur had mentioned in her preliminary report that \u201cthere were some positive signs, including progress against the extremist Boko Haram group and affiliates, as well as a decline in allegations of arbitrary killings and deaths in custody at the hands of the military over the last two years.\u201d
She, however, noted the limited progress in terms of accountability and reparations for grave human rights violations in the past.
\u201cI particularly urge the Nigerian government, and the international community, to prioritize as a matter of urgency, accountability, and access to justice for all victims and addressing the conflicts between nomadic cattle breeding and farming communities, fueled by toxic narratives and the large availability of weapons\u201d, she said.
\u201cWhile some high-profile cases of killings by police have resulted in the arrest and prosecution of the officers responsible and others involving clashes between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farming communities have been investigated in Benue State, she flagged that \u201csuch examples of accountability remain the exception.\u201d
\u201cIn almost all of the cases that were brought to my attention during the visit, none of the perpetrators had been brought to justice\u201d, lamented the Special Rapporteur.
\u201cThe loss of trust and confidence in public institutions prompts Nigerians to take matters of protection into their own hands, which is leading to a proliferation of self-protecting armed militia and cases of \u2018jungle justice\u2019.\u201d
Ms Callamard called on the Nigerian authorities \u201cto look carefully into my findings,\u201d saying that she remains \u201cavailable for further cooperation.\u201d
During her 12 days mission, the UN envoy said she \u201cmet government officials, local authorities and civil society as well as family members whose relatives had been brutally killed and people forced from their homes.\u201d
Ms Callarmad said while in Nigeria, she visited Abuja, Maiduguri, Makurdi, Jos, Port Harcourt, and Lagos.
According to UN officials, Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on crisis situations in countries. And the positions are usually honorary and such envoys receive no pay for their work.
Ms Callamard is expected to report back to the UN by submitting her full report in June 2020.
Additional reports by Premium Times
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