By Victoria Ohaeri
Press Statement
Press Statement
In
two separate incidents in the last week, about 50 Nigerian youths lost their
lives in the most gruesome and barbaric manner rarely seen elsewhere in the
world. The grisly massacre of 46 polytechnic students in Mubi, Adamawa State,
and the lynching of four students of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT)
in Aluu Community, near Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have highlighted the need
for the Nigerian government to take the constitutional protection of the right
to life, and other inalienable fundamental freedoms, more seriously. Spaces
for Change condemns these two incidents in very strong terms, and calls for
greater protection of the lives of young citizens across the country.
On
Independence Day, 46 students were massacred in Mubi Polytechnic, Adamawa State,
when gunmen wearing military uniforms invaded the students’ off campus hostels
in the town under curfew. Eye witness accounts established that the murdered
and the wounded were clubbed, stabbed or shot to death based on their tribal,
ethnic and religious leanings. Several days after the killings, the victims’
identities remain largely uncovered, just as the local media is replete with
conflicting statistics of the number of casualties and the cause of the
killings. The Mubi massacre occurred just days after parents were forced to
withdraw their wards from the violence-ridden Maiduguri, Borno State, after two
students of the University of Maiduguri were brutally killed by unknown gun
men.
Reminiscent
of the barbarism witnessed in the Stone Age, four students, identified as
Lloyd, Tekena, Ugonna and Chidiaka, aged between18-25, of the University of
Port Harcourt were beaten to death and set ablaze by an irate mob on Sunday
morning, (October 7, 2012) in Aluu, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers
State. Peeved by allegations that the four suspects allegedly stole laptops and
phones, Aluu community leader, Alhaji Hassan Walewa allegedly sanctioned the
cruel acts by the community youths. Video clips of the gruesome killings have
gone viral on the Internet, spurring a nationwide and global outrage, with
majority of the reactions continuing to question Nigeria’s commitment to
protect the human rights of its citizens.
Particularly
objectionable is that both the Aluu and Mubi incidents lasted for several hours
without any rapid response mechanism or intervention by security forces.
Majority of the wounded also died due to the delay in accessing emergency
medical assistance. We are also deeply saddened that these escalating attacks
are happening at a time “security” received the record highest resource
allocation in the 2012 national budget.
As
the Cynthia Osokogu and the video-taped gang-rape of a young girl in Abia State
vividly illustrate, the youth, especially young women have increasingly become
targets of physical, sexual and psychological violence, threatened in their
personal integrity and relationships, and denied means of livelihood, including
access to education, work, housing and adequate health care. Our routine
documentation of the new patterns of violent crimes in Nigeria show that an
increasing number of young people across the country are irrepressibly being
drafted into criminal behavior.
With
more than 35 percent of the population lacking education and employment,
particularly in the rural areas, the dearth of economic opportunities
contributes to the decision of youths to join criminal gangs and cult groups
for temporary economic gain. Senior officials of the Rivers State Government
told Spaces for Change that the State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has
ordered full scale investigation into this Aluu community mob action. Spaces
for Change welcomes the Rivers State government’s arrest of the Aluu community
leader and 12 other persons in connection with the murder of four UNIPORT
students.
We
continue to hope that the arrests will lead to meaningful investigations and
conclusive fair trials that deliver justice to the victims’ families. We use
this medium to ask the Nigerian government and the international community to
recognize these attacks, especially the growing resort to jungle justice as
evidence of rapidly eroding public confidence in the criminal administration of
justice systems in Nigeria. Too many unresolved acts of criminality and
thievery: fuel subsidy corruption, pension scams, oil theft, $3 million “sting
operation”, $16 million power probe discoveries, among many others further
erode the people’s trust in the formal channels for redressing wrongs.
We
wish to reiterate that Nigeria is a democratic country whose constitution
invalidates the taking of another person’s life. We therefore call upon all
responsible institutions, particularly the police and the judiciary to swiftly
identify and prosecute all perpetrators of these unacceptable acts. We
specifically urge them to use these two cases to demonstrate their preparedness
to combat criminality, fight impunity and take its human rights protection
mandate more seriously.
Spaces
for Change appreciates and supports efforts made by
civil society organizations, virtual communities, the Rivers State Government
and the selfless campaigners on the social media for the steps they are taking
to ensure that such unacceptable acts are publicized and not repeated.
Established
in May 2011, Spaces for Change (S4C) is a non-profit, human rights organization
working to infuse human rights into social and economic decision-making
processes and platforms in Nigeria. Using the human rights framework and
youth-centered strategies, the organization creates spaces for the
often-excluded young people, marginalized groups and communities to become
active participants in public decision making, and strong advocates of social
and economic justice.
Victoria
Ohaeri is Executive Director, SPACES FOR CHANGE.
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