PROMINENT Yoruba leaders, including chieftain of pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; former deputy national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George and a former Lagos State deputy governor, Mrs Kofoworola Burknor-Akerele, have decried the parade in Abuja of 20 Yoruba suspects who were arrested aftermath the Yoruba/Fulani crisis in Ile-Ife, Osun State.
The leaders, who spoke in separate interviews with the Nigerian Tribune, cautioned the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government, while describing the one-sided parade as unfair and an invitation to further conflagration if not properly handled.
Adebanjo, who saw the parade as demonstration of oppression again the Yoruba, reinforced his call for restructuring of the country, where state police would be allowed to take care of security of each state of the federation.
Adebanjo said it was obvious that oppressors now lived amongst the Yoruba considering the way the crisis had been handled so far, while wondering why the suspects arrested in connection with the incident had to be taken to Abuja, whereas none of such was done in respect of genocidal killings in Southern Kaduna and Benue State.
“That is the case we are making for restructuring of the country. State police must be responsible for each state, but they are saying no. They don’t want restructuring so that they can continue to use the police to oppress the areas that are obstacle to them.
“How can you parade people who have been offended while those who attacked are now left free? It is just unfair,” he stressed.
Chief George condemned the action and urged key operators in the Buhari-led administration to exercise caution so that the country was not set ablaze.
“We must avoid with caution, things that would conflagrate this country. Parading only people from a section of the country has tribal linkages and we cannot afford that at this point in time.
“Politically, that is not wise. I want to tell the IGP that to parade one tribe is not sensible. People would read whatever meaning. The interpretation would go beyond the level we can control, it is not palatable. Nigeria is an heterogeneous state,” Chief George said.
Mrs Buknor-Akerele decried the manner of parade, contending that doing a parade of suspects before trial was wrong.
Besides, she said doing one-sided parade was even worse, recalling that the altercation in which lives were lost and properties destroyed involved both Yoruba and Hausa.
“First of all, I think it is wrong to parade suspects in any case before trial, and worse thing, I think it is even more wrong to parade one side. This was an altercation that involved the Yoruba and Hausa,” she said.
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former deputy national chairman of the party, Chief Shuaibu Oyedokun, cautioned the police and other security agencies in the way they handled the crisis in Ile-Ife.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune during an interview on Tuesday, Oyedokun said the call became necessary so as not to turn the crisis to ethnic vendatta.
According to him, “the incident is very unfortunate; my plea with the police and other security agencies handling the matter is that they should treat it with utmost care to avoid it being degenerated to ethnic vendetta.
“They should also consider the situation in the country, the recession, the economic woes, the hardship in the land generally so as not to turn the matter into a dangerous situation that will be difficult to control.
“It is a delicate situation but like I had said, our security agencies should be careful, let those arrested for the crisis be investigated in Osun State and not Abuja or anywhere else, since the offence was committed in Ile-Ife, Osun State.”
Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, in his reaction to the development, said the Afenifere’s position was in order, noting that Yoruba would no longer accept being treated as second-class citizens in the country.
Fani-Kayode, who is of Ile-Ife extraction, in a chat with the Nigerian Tribune, added that the pan-Yoruba group; Chief Gani Adams and he spoke for the Yoruba nation in different statements on the Ife crisis, calling on the police not to be selective in handling the crisis.
“I find it amazing that no Hausa/Fulani suspect has been picked up or paraded. Many of our people died in the crisis and yet you have not arrested any Hausa/Fulani man, are you suggesting that those people killed themselves? Are you suggesting that nobody from the Hausa community committed any crime? This is most unacceptable.
“The whole crisis started because the Hausa community allegedly beat up a Yoruba woman; stabbed her husband and even killed a young man and put his body in a wheelbarrow and the people of Ife found it as unacceptable and reacted.
“The police should not be selective in this matter and this government needs to be careful with the way it treats Yoruba people. So, Afenifere has spoken for all us; Gani Adams has spoken for all of us and I have also spoken for the Yoruba people in article.
“We will not accept a situation whereby we will be second-class citizens in Nigeria. If you don’t accept that we are equal before the law and equal before God, then we will no longer accept the concept of one Nigeria. It is as simple as that,” he said.
Abuja-based lawyers, however, expressed different opinions on the matter.
While some lawyers are of the opinion that the country had a federal police and could parade the suspects in Abuja, others held different views on the action of the police.
A constitutional lawyer and public affairs analyst, Godwin Sunday Ogboji, told the Nigerian Tribune that since there was a federal police in the country, the police were not at fault parading the suspects in Abuja.
Ogboji said the police could bring the suspects to Abuja for futher investigation, as they had done in the case but could not arraign them outside the place the alleged offences were committed.
He said it happened when (former minister) Bola Ige was murdered in Ibadan, adding that those suspected to be behind the murder were brought to Abuja for investigation.
Another lawyer and national coordinator of the Human Rights and Accountability Initiative (HURAIN), Peter Odia, said the action of the police in parading the suspects was abnormal on the ground that the scene of the alleged crime was out of the jurisdiction of the parade.
“I want to believe that the suspects will not be prosecuted in Abuja by the police, because that will amount to illegality,” Odia stated.
He said the police had infringed on the fundamental human rights of the suspects by parading them in Abuja instead of Osun where the said crime was allegedly committed.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome, said it was absolutely wrong and against the tenets of justice and the provisions of Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act to parade suspects.
“That is simply sensational media trial that dehumanises and degrades the suspect who may never be tried at all, or if tried, may never be found guilty.
“Secondly, it is curious and bizarre that in a two-way fight involving two combatants, 20 people of only one ethnic group, the host for that matter, were arrested, detained and now paraded. Where is the justice in this?” he asked.
Another lawyer, Eddie Inegedu, cooroborated the views of Ozekhome, even as he said the police would create more damage if the suspects were arraigned before any court in Abuja.
He cited the case of the former governor of Edo State, James Ibori, who challenged his prosecution in Kaduna and the Court of Appeal held that his case be transferred to Edo State, where the offences for which he (Ibori) was charged was committed in Edo.
He, however, said parading the suspects in Abuja was a prerogative of the police.
Another lawyer, Max Ogar, in his reaction, said the action of the police was not in line with the law, as an accused person was presumed innocent until proven otherwise by the court.
Lagos-based activist, Ikechukwu Ikeji, told the Nigerian Tribune that it was not constitutional to parade suspects as they were still presumed innocent of the allegations.
“Parading suspects at all is inimical to and in breach of their fundamental rights under the constitution. Every person is deemed innocent until proven guilty. Parading suspects in public without first getting final conviction of the suspects paints them as already guilty. Coming before trial is a breach of their constitutional rights, not to talk of parading them outside of jurisdiction.
“However, note that crimes may be committed across different jurisdictions and each of these jurisdictions can handle the case. Every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty under Section 36 (5) of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999, as amended,” Ikeji stated.
Also speaking, Mr Emeka Ozoani, a lawyer, said the act of parading suspects was like sending them to the public court and condemning them without fair trial.
“It is quite wrong to parade suspects without trial. What happens after they are found innocent of such allegations? They would already be seen as criminals in the eyes of the public and this will have a lasting effect on them,” he said.
In a related development, the Senate, on Tuesday, urged the Federal Government to bear the cost of rebuilding the burnt houses and payment of adequate compensation to the families of the bereaved during the clash with a view to alleviating the sufferings of the victims.
It equally observed a minute silence in honour of the dead victims.
Consequently, it called on the Inspector-General of Police that while the police tried to prevent a recurrence of such dispute in Ile-Ife or anywhere in the country, the force must conduct investigation into the remote and immediate causes of the dispute.
The resolutions followed a motion sponsored by Senators Jibrin Barau and Shehu Sani, as they noted with dismay the recent clash.
According to the sponsors, “Ile- Ife holds a special place in the consciousness of the Yoruba race as their ancestral home and in which other ethnic groups, including the Hausa, have lived and thrived for several decades, if not centuries.”
They expressed regret that several people were killed and scores of houses and shops burnt in an orgy of anger during the clash.
Ruling on the motion, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, urged Nigerians to always defend sections 41 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, “which give them freedom of association and also prevent them from any form of discrimination across the country.”
NB: In the story of the parade on Tuesday, we erroneously reported that 38 people were paraded as against 20. Though 38 people were arrested by the police in connection with the crisis, only 20 were paraded by the police in Abuja, on Monday.
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