10 Dec 2008 |
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Jos Mayhem: Who is Responsible? By Atsar Terver In a space of just two days, over 400 people are reported to have lost their lives in Jos the Plateau State capital following the political turned religious crisis in the tin city. Jos has not been politically stable for some time. Similar violence erupted in the city in 1994, and in 2001 when a state-of emergency was declared by the Federal Government and a SoleAdministrator appointed to relieve the then incumbent Governor Joshua Dariye for six months. Both instances had roots in political disagreements but were eventually converted into a Muslim-Christian confrontation. I am amazed at the ease with which political crisis in the northern part of the country is usually converted to religious war. Most disheartening is the fact that, the rampaging youth who always perpetrate this evil target innocent women and children as well. Most of the people killed do not even know what the crisis is all about. Their only crime is being in a certain place at a certain time and perhaps being of a particular religious orientation. As usual government officials came out to announce the efforts of the state and federal governments to quell the violence and forestall future occurrence. This is a normal ritual by government every time there is crisis. But the fact that this unfortunate carnage reoccurs again and again with increasing sophistication and scale exposes the emptiness in the boast by government to be on top of the situation and taking measures to forestall reoccurrence. But who is to blame for this latest violence? The AC has asked us to blame the PDP for rigging the disputed election. The PDP has pointed the other way accusing opposition parties of being bad losers. The state Government is accusing her detractors and enemies of progress. The Christians are blaming the Muslims; the Muslims are blaming the Christians. But nobody has come up to take responsibility. In India where terrorists recently held the city of Mumbai hostage, leading to the death of over 175 people, the Chief Security Adviser of that country resigned. He resigned out of moral obligation. He knew he was not directly responsible for the attack but he reasoned that there was a failure in the system he was superintending. But the closest we got to showing some remorse from our law enforcement agents, was the redeployment of the Plateau State Commissioner of Police to Force Headquarters (and probably against his will). What this implies is that Nigerians are virtually on their own. Their safety and security is not somebody’s business. It is like living in the jungle or what lawyers call the ‘ hobbesian state’. This explains why most Nigerians have so much learnt to put their lives in the hands of God while others prefer to take the laws into their hands. They believe it is only God that has accepted to take responsibility for their safety, failing which, they help themselves. The police are there but they only wax professional when it comes to harassing the innocent public on the highways. The only time you feel the impact of the police is when they chase you out of the way with blaring sirens and horsewhips to clear the way for their convoys usually conveying politicians and government functionaries or on their way to mount illegal roadblock on the highway. But when there is a real emergency, they find excuses in lack of equipment, poor remuneration and understaffing. I recall when armed robbers held a neighbour hostage for over two hours, the man being a police officer had called the nearby police station before the robbers gained access to his room but for two 60-minute hours, the police never showed up. They finally did at 6.00am, four hours after the robbers had gone and began to look out for any passer-by to arrest as a suspect. Having looked critically at the polity, I have come to the conclusion that the failure of the Nigerian Police to perform up to minimum expectations is the bane of our nation. Wherever and whenever something goes wrong, one could always trace it to the Police. It is either they are directly responsible or they fail to stop those responsible. If you see traffic hold-up in Port Harcourt where I live, the police probably caused it by driving against traffic, thereby attracting other motorists who follow them on the wrong side of the road. If politicians rig elections, it is either with active connivance of the law enforcement agents or it is done under their full watch. In fact they provide ample protection to these politicians while they perpetrate their acts. Every politician of renown has hoarded a gang of policemen who they use as bodyguards alongside armed thugs. And the Policemen in the ranks see it as prestigious posting to be attached to a politician. So they can go to any length to violate the rights of innocent members of the public to serve the interest of their secondary employers. If a hardened criminal who was arrested find his way back to the streets and even goes back to attack the informant that gave the Police useful information that led to his arrest then you can be sure a Policeman compromised his duty somewhere. This is why sometimes people shy away from confiding security information in the police. The police have also caused multiple accidents at their illegal checkpoints. One happened near Ile Ife, along Ibadan Expressway on November 5, 2000 when they abruptly stopped a Petrol tanker, which subsequently lost control and crashed into a queue of vehicles forced by the police to line up by the roadside. The tanker spilled its contents, exploded and burnt to death several innocent persons including a newly wedded couple. Again in 2004, on February 6th the Punch Newspaper reported that ten people, including a baby lost their lives in an accident at a police checkpoint Oyo state. An eyewitness was quoted as saying that policemen at the checkpoint caused the accident. "The policemen had stopped three minibuses for checking when a trailer carrying a container crashed into them. The other one happened near Tsekutcha along Gboko-Makurdi Road in 2005. This time, the driver of a Coaster Bus was reported to have failed to stop when the police waved him down at one of their extortion points. The policemen opened fire on the back tyres of the vehicle which somersaulted several times killing all on board. I lost a very personal friend on this one. In both cases the Policemen took to their heels! And this year around February at the hilly town of Idanre in Ondo State, some mobile policemen at a checkpoint in Yaba Area of the town stopped a truck driver but the driver refused to stop. It was reported that one of the policemen then shot at the vehicle, which later lost control and knocked down a commercial motorcycle killing a female passenger in the process. When some women gathered to protest this sad murder, the same police opened fire on them killing 5 persons. Back to Jos, the irate mob was allowed to go about their heinous destruction unhindered for a whole day before security personnel showed up, probably after the mob had exhausted their ammunition and scaled down the action. In a situation like this the helplessness of the innocent citizens in the city could better be imagined. The proliferation of firearms is also an indictment on the Police. The guns and other weapons used by rioters don’t drop into their hands from heaven on the day of riot. They are acquired and moved into town through the same roads on which they (Police) stand daily collecting twenty- Naira from motorists. The government is there but only to collect taxes from us from which her agents finance their personal comfort. A responsible government should have taken a cue from what happened in 2001 in that city and managed the recent violence more effectively. What happened to the report of the commission of inquiry set up by government in the aftermath of the 2001 crisis? Obviously that commission only served the purpose of enriching some government officers and those who were appointed as members of the commission, the report itself may be somewhere in the archives. Nigerians pay too heavy a price for bad leadership. They are short-changed every day and in numerous ways. If it is not through direct stealing from the public purse, it is through denial of basic amenities like water, roads, electricity etc, or through avoidable loss of property and above all they pay the supreme price with their blood as it happened in Jos. Thousands of people have been displaced from their residences rendering them refugees in their own country. Three Youth Corps members, in whom their families had invested so much hope and resources, were cut down in the most gruelling manner. These young men had only one business to do in Jos; that is to serve their fatherland. They obeyed the clarion call to serve the nation with dedication and selflessness only to be hacked down by a mob of street urchins. Though no amount of compensation from government can restore lost life, it is important that the Federal Government pay reasonable compensation to the families of the slain Corps members while the Plateau State government should rehabilitate and compensate all victims of the unfortunate incident. Above all those responsible should be apprehended and brought to book. This will serve as a deterrent to others.
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