Major Al-Mustapha: Why amnesty should be even-handed
Prominent Nigerians, including retired Supreme Court Justice, Mr. Chukwudifu Oputa, former aviation minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, OPC factional leader, Dr. Frederick Faseun and former Niger Delta militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, have all expressed concern over the indefensible length of time the suspects have been kept in detention. Speaking in an interview with a weekly […]
Prominent Nigerians, including retired Supreme Court Justice, Mr. Chukwudifu Oputa, former aviation minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, OPC factional leader, Dr. Frederick Faseun and former Niger Delta militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, have all expressed concern over the indefensible length of time the suspects have been kept in detention.
Speaking in an interview with a weekly newspaper, Justice Oputa said he is “baffled” by Al-Mustapha’s prolonged detention and that “even if he committed the offence, has he not purged himself of this offence?” he asked. The retired Supreme Court Justice also wonders: “Even if he killed the man, he does not have 12 years as sentence?” According to Justice Oputa, “Somebody should do something about it because this is scandalous on the image of our judiciary.”
Earlier, in a widely published opinion in several newspapers, the former aviation minister, Femi Fani Kayode, who is also a lawyer, maintained that keeping anybody in detention for 12 years without positively proving a case against him defeats the essence of justice. According to him, keeping a man in captivity and throwing the keys away indefinitely flies in the face of civilized values and decent standards of democratic practice.
In their own case, former militant leaders and agitators, Dr. Fredrick Faseun and Alhaji Asari Dokubo, who were themselves beneficiaries of State pardon, argued that a nation can only progress to civilized standards if it thrives on the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. For example, the OPC factional leader even went to the extent of publishing newspaper adverts to make a passionate appeal for the release of Al-Mustapha, the former Zamfara State military administrator, Col. Jibrin Bala Yakubu, former Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. James Danbaba and the former Head of the Mobile Police in the presidential villa under Abacha, Mohammed Rabo Lawal.
Nigerians can no longer treat Al-Mustapha’s case with apathy regardless of which section of Nigeria he comes from. As civilization penetrates our souls, a people become more united by common humanity. It is a language that transcends ethnic, tribal, regional and religious sentiments. The most vocal critics of the plight of Al-Mustapha and others are mainly Southerners. Therefore, the issue of Justice has nothing to do with our ethnic sentiments. Amnesty will be incomplete when it is perceived to be one-sided or discriminatory. Major Al-Mustapha and fellow suspects have suffered enough and their indefinite detention is rapidly pricking the conscience of the nation.
When the late President Yar’adua granted amnesty to former militants in the Niger Delta, northerners joined other Nigerians to welcome the gesture as the necessary sacrifice for unity. And since then, relative peace has returned to the Niger Delta and we are all happy with the outcome. No society can thrive on ferocious vengeance. In fact, what is the gain in celebrating the suffering of others simply because we are not the direct victims? As Mahatma Gandhi brilliantly observed, “an eye for an eye will make the world go blind.”
The OPC leader were previously charged with the killing of police officers and innocent people by the former Obasanjo administration and when they were eventually released by the government, Nigeria didn’t collapse or lose anything. If Nigeria would not lose anything by the freedom of Niger Delta former militants, it is hard to see how the pardon of Al-Mustapha and others would harm Nigeria. It is the height of folly to play to the gallery with the fate of people who have suffered longer than necessary.
The testimonies by the star witness in the trial, Mr. Barnabas Mshelia (a.k.a. Sergeant Rogers), have so far discredited the entire case. At one point, he told the court of how two former Ministers of Justice (including the late Bola Ige) and the former Lagos State Attorney General, visited him in prison and solicited his cooperation to implicate the suspects in return for material rewards. Two of the officials he accused are Chief Kanu Agabi and Professor Femi Osibanjo, who have so far not denied or contradicted Sergeant Rogers. Since then, the case has lost any modicum of credibility. President Goodluck Jonathan can make a difference by making himself a unifying figure by redressing the lopsided application of amnesty by the federal government. It takes statesmanship and a strong heart to forgive perceived enemies and northerners are looking forward to the President’s intervention in this matter.
Razaq writes from 21, Sulu Gambari Road, Ilorin Kwara State.e-mail: [email protected]