Baga Genocide: who do we hold responsible?

Agreed that there is the need to protect the territorial integrity of the nation, but the theory of state has equally put the protection of life and property as a topmost priority of any government. When the state is under threat, it is argued that the military could be deployed to secure its sanctity. But […]

Agreed that there is the need to protect the territorial integrity of the nation, but the theory of state has equally put the protection of life and property as a topmost priority of any government. When the state is under threat, it is argued that the military could be deployed to secure its sanctity. But what we had in Baga was rather a brazen abuse of process and the known conventions that allow for military involvement in civil insurrection.
Baga is certainly the third in the series of such massacres that have taken place in Nigeria’s contemporary history. There was Odi and Zaki Biam.  In Baga, the reports have it that not less than 180 people were cold in cold blood in the name of purging the town of Boko Haram.
Reading through Mahmud Jega’s piece on Monday, I came to the conclusion that truly the action was not only barbaric but a clear expression of the nature and character of the military authorities in the country as well as the political leadership.
The question this piece seeks to ask is: who do we hold responsible for this action? Is President Jonathan responsible or his men in uniform? The bottom line is that the amount of concern which the government in Abuja has shown over this barbarism has to do more with the outrage from the international community. The UN, US and human rights groups came hard on the government and as such there was no hiding place but to come out in crocodile tears.
I wonder how a responsible government would engage its citizens in the argument as to the actual number of those killed by soldiers. The government’s argument was that those killed were only in the thirties while the people of the area are saying over 200. The debate is now on the actual number and clearly the soldiers and government are telling lies because facts emerging are suggesting that indeed the crime was gargantuan.
How could a government claiming to have been elected by the majority of people be so cruel on its electorate? There is complete loss of legitimacy on what the role of the state ought to be and the disaster that we are faced with in the country.
I say time without number that one problem I have always had with the Jonathan presidency since the time of candidacy was and has been the glaring incapacity that the president is made of. It is not possible for a political leader in a federation like Nigeria to be so uninformed about the workings of the various components that make up the federation. That is the problem that Nigeria is faced with.
The most horrifying part of this incapacity is not in the fact that the president and his men lack appropriate knowledge of the political, social and historical geography of Nigeria but the blatant refusal to learn about these realities that define Nigeria as a nation. That is why the violence in the North East especially seems unending. That is why there is blood all over the place and our president and his men are looking the other way.
The initial conception by the powers that be that the insurgency was politically motivated because the North and its elites did or do not want Goodluck Jonathan to have a smooth sail. This view as erroneous as it is has indeed captured the minds of several Nigerians especially those who are non Northerners non Muslims. This view has done tremendous damage to the need to redress the insurgencies.
This pseudo political meaning given to the insurgency has led to the escalation and failure to deal with the crises. What I am saying by implication is that the narrow prism within which those ogas at the top are viewing the Boko Haram phenomena is doing more harm than good to the nation and its people.
It is not enough to continue to argue that Boko Haram kills only Christians. This is untrue and very diversionary. Everyone is a victim and we all are the losers while those who benefit from the crises continue to languish in ostentation born out of the blood of very innocent people.
The view of the government as to the effect that the crisis is a problem of Northern Nigeria and its people only reminds me of a discussion I had with the Deputy Governor of Borno State OVER A YEAR AGO WHEN THE IINSURRECTION BECAME a national attention. The DG pointed to me very clearly, and I quite agree with the view that when the insurrection began, everybody even in Northern Nigeria kept aloof believing that the crisis was a Maiduguri problem. When they cried loud, everybody looked the other way, and that now it has assumed a regional dimension, everyone is crying loud.
Similarly is the case with the Jonathan aloofness on the matter. As long as it is not addressed honestly and with the required brinkmanship, it will soon become a matter of obvious national implication either in its current form or wearing a new character in line with the peculiarities of the other sections of the country. The need to see the development from a national point of view is necessary as a step towards effective resolution.
As an investigation on the mass murder in Baga goes on, what is critical is that those who are responsible must be brought to book. Similar abuses elsewhere were treated correctly so as to avert future occurrences. When Professor Ango Abdullahi called for the sacking of the JTF Commander in Borno, I thought Prof was too lenient. The Army Chief ought to have thrown in the towel after such a disgrace, but he is staying put. This shows that there is indeed government’s complicity in the matter.
Of course, even before the Baga massage, I did say several times that there is blood in the hands of President Jonathan and his Army Commanders. We will continue to hold them responsible for this crime against humanity. I am of the view that appropriate groups ought to have by now filed petitions before the International Criminal Court of Justice on the mass murder in Baga. If this is not done, the blood of all those murdered innocently will certainly continue to haunt those who call the shots on our behalf and not just the uninformed soldiers who saw men, women and children as mere targets in Baga.
It was the late Thomas Sankara who said that a soldier without genuine political education is a potential criminal. This applies unquestionably on our troops who delight in firing shots at human targets. It is sad that in this day in Nigeria, life has completely lost its sanctity.