UK-based group decries el-Rufai’s ‘body bag’ statement

A group, Vision, Integrity, Security, Transparency and Accountability (VISTA), has decried the statement made by the Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, that foreign election observers, coming to monitor the elections holding across the country from Saturday would go back in body bags, describing such utterance as reckless.

VISTA, a UK-based organisation out to promote democracy and good governance and fight against terrorism and corruption, said this in a release made available to the Nigerian Tribune, even as it made known that it was not surprised at what it described as el-Rufai’s latest antics and vituperation given his most unpleasant pedigree.

According to the group, the same Malam el- Rufai had condemned the killing of Osama Bin Laden by United States forces, recalling that the Kaduna governor had, in an article published in a national daily of August 2011, stated that US violated the fundamental human rights of the known global terrorists by killing him in a foreign soil and subjecting him to trial in the US.

“We are not surprised at el-Rufai’s reckless utterances against the wise counselling of the International community in the build-up to the 2019 general election, his latest antics and vituperation giving his most unpleasant pedigree.

“The same Nasir, we regret to observe, had in his trademark condemned the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US forces. In an article published in his Thisday newspaper column of August 2011 in which he stated that US violated the fundamental human rights of the known global terrorists by killing him in foreign soil and subjecting him to trial in the US,” the group said.

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However, VISTA warned that el-Rufai and his cohorts must be held to account for any likely outcome of violence, intolerance and intimidation against the opposition before, during and after the election, just as it hinted that the group had already instituted criminal proceedings against them at International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague for sundry crimes against humanity, including the state-sponsored murder of thousands of Shiites Muslims in Nigeria.

“We have already instituted criminal proceedings against them at ICC in Hague for sundry crimes against humanity, including the state-sponsored murder of thousands of Shiites Muslims in Nigeria,” it said.

Also, the group condemned the invasion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Port-Harcourt, describing such as dastard act, obnoxious and treasonably inclined.

“We strongly condemn the dastard act, it is obnoxious and treasonably inclined,” VISTA said, calling on the ICC to hold the law enforcement agencies, among others responsible for any likely break down of law and order in the state.