Between the hunt for Boko Haram and respect for people’s rights

Less than twelve hours before that incident, our convoy of cars were stopped and diverted by Rambo-styled policemen and soldiers, charged with enforcing the dusk to dawn curfew in Maiduguri and handed out extra-judicial punishment on people well outside Borno’s borders. It is shameful, that the police, which could not gather intelligence to prevent the […]

Less than twelve hours before that incident, our convoy of cars were stopped and diverted by Rambo-styled policemen and soldiers, charged with enforcing the dusk to dawn curfew in Maiduguri and handed out extra-judicial punishment on people well outside Borno’s borders. It is shameful, that the police, which could not gather intelligence to prevent the crisis well after the Daily Trust had uncovered the ways of life of the sect could be so gung-ho in their dealings with law abiding citizens whose cooperation were needed to flush out the sect leaders and their followers. It is shameful that the police had the temerity to detain the Daily Trust journalist who wrote the expose rather than award him a medal of honour. Its excuses were equally laughable ranging from his decision to interview the leader of the sect to saying he was detained for his own protection; or the conjecture that he must be sympathetic to the sect and its leaders.

That reporter could, in retrospect be accused by his employers of not reporting the aggrandisement of Ali Modu Sheriff who has deified himself in Borno with posters in every stretch and corner instead of providing the social amenities hugely needed by his citizenry. It is entirely ridiculous, anti-human and an affront on journalism. The police did not convince anyone, especially the management of Daily Trust that the reporter’s life was in danger and that he had appealed for protection. Since when did the police care about people’s safety and security to do preventive detention anyway? It would remain plausible then that the reporter in question was detained for doing his job better than the police could ever do. I hope that the poor reporter is set free alive and that the management of his paper would sue the lame duck police, for this gross violation of human and professional rights. It is shameful that no media house campaigned for his release.

Those who may not have the privilege of suing the police are those who were ‘caught’ in the curfew and either summarily ‘executed’ by the so-called security agencies or heavily brutalised. Like the people caught in a little village some 65 kilometres outside Maiduguri on the night of July 28, by a group of soldiers and policemen and blatantly flogged all through the night for flouting breaking the so-called curfew. This horrible sight was done commando style and leaves a lot of questions unanswered – questions like whether the Nigerian security apparatchik would ever get to appreciate the fact that they live on the patriotism of the civilian populace and should protect the innocent at all costs.

In crisis situations, such as the one just witnessed in Maiduguri and neighbouring states, the battle is not just to fight against militants, but to win the hearts and minds of the people. The security forces need to curry the favour and cooperation of the civilian population in their fight against insurrection. They cannot do that by force, but by being humane. If the population feel as they do that the security forces are brutal against them; do not respect their fundamental rights as citizens; they will not provide the information needed for them to do their job successfully.

It is shameful for any nation to involve the army in civil matters. The military are not cut for riot control – they are trained to defend the nation against external aggression. They virtually live on the edge, seeking action, the kind of action that makes war-zones a lawless jungle. It is very shameful in today’s world to have the army involved in civil strives. This is why there must be a full-scale enquiry into the joint operation that led to the killing of Mohammed Haruna and so many of his alleged sect members. We need to be sure that those killed were truly sect members and not citizens caught in the line of fire or deliberately mauled down by trigger-happy cops. We need to assure Nigerians that even in crisis situations, their security agents would respect their fundamental human rights. We need to know the lessons the police have learnt from this whole operation to avert its re-occurrence.