Exposing the barely-disguised support for religious fundamentalism, a Kano State court has discharged and acquitted five suspects standing trial over the killing of 74-year-old Bridget Agbahime. The judgement that set free the accused persons, who were charged with the gruesome murder, in a Kano market in June, is strange, unjust and provocative.
Constitutionally, Nigeria pretends to be a secular country, one in which the state and religion are distinctly separate. But, in practice, it is not so. It is a country where the law serves little purpose when it comes to religion. This case exemplifies it: Agbahime, a Christian Igbo trader from Imo State, was murdered by Islamic fanatics on trumped-up allegations of blasphemy at the Kofar Wambai Market. Mark Agbahime, a pastor and the widower, narrowly escaped being killed by the mob.
But the shoddy trial confirms the fear that the Kano State Government, on Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s watch, put the suspects on trial to construct the feeling that it was not in support of religious extremism. The acquittal however makes it clear that it was only acting out a script to dampen the outrage over the killing at that time. “The legal advice presented to the court, dated June 24, states that there is no case to answer as the suspects are all innocent and orders the court to discharge all the suspects,” the Kano State prosecution counsel argued. This, of course, made the magistrate’s court to acquit the suspects.
Now, the precious blood of Agbahime is crying out for justice from Ganduje for discontinuing the trial of Dauda Ahmed, Abdulmumeen Mustafa, Zubairu Abubakar, Abdullahi Abubakar and Musa Abdullahi. Is the state supporting murder? If, in the opinion of the KNSG, these are not the murderers, where are the culprits? Does it not care about the repercussion on the unity of the country? Nobody has the right to kill, and the constitution guarantees the right to life; we are worried that Kano State is acting in breach of the Constitution and the law, by treating murder with levity.
Ganduje has to explain to Nigerians why the state filed a no-case submission to favour murder suspects. What is his interest in aborting the trial? What impression is Ganduje creating before the rest of the country, that a Nigerian can be killed in the state for no just cause?
Unfortunately, in Kano – much like in other parts of the core 12 states in the North that have declared Sharia in defiance of the Nigerian Constitution – too often, justice has been honoured in the breach for non-Muslims. Indeed, religious violence and mass killings are standard fare. According to international Non-Governmental Organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Open Doors, thousands of Christians have been persecuted and brutally murdered in Nigeria. Previous examples bear testimony.
In a headline case, Gideon Akaluka, a Southern Christian, was murdered by a mob in Kano in 1994 on the unfounded allegation of desecrating the Koran. Summarily, the police had clamped him in detention for this. His accusers stormed the prison cell, beheaded him and paraded his severed head on Kano streets while law enforcement agencies watched helplessly. Alas, none of his killers was brought to justice. In July, Nigeria witnessed the horrific killing of Eunice Olawale, in Kubwa, Abuja, during an early morning evangelism. Though the Federal Government made some noise, the killers of the 42-year-old woman, who left a husband and seven young children behind, have yet to be brought to justice. This is unnerving.
Allowing fanatics the latitude to kill in the name of religion, as happened during the Miss World beauty pageant riots of 2002 in Kaduna, which claimed over 200 lives, is dangerous. It is awful politics, and poses the fear of Nigeria’s implosion. Similarly, the unbridled mixture of state and religion by Northern governors has spawned the Boko Haram terror that has claimed over 20,000 lives since 2009. Emboldened because they are not prosecuted, religious perverts continue to kill without let. This may be an invitation to chaos. Feeling aggrieved, other ethnic nationalities might be pushed to respond in kind. It is certain Nigeria cannot survive a full-blown religious war. The current fratricidal conflicts in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya and other parts of the Middle East bear this out.
Kano should act decisively to prevent the Agbahime case from causing a further breach of the peace around the country. Already, Ohanaeze youths are calling for a mass protest against this indiscretion. The perpetrators of this killing must, therefore, be put on trial. Only the state has the monopoly of force and should not submit it to hoodlums and non-state actors as Kano is doing. We urge the governor to show leadership by doing justice to this case: it should be re-opened and justice served.
But part of the blame also goes to other state governors and political leaders, who are playing politics with the lives of their citizens in the face of religious extremism. They must rise up strongly against the evil. Rochas Okorocha, the Imo governor, the home state of the Agbahimes, should take up the case with his Kano State colleague, Ganduje, and see that justice is done. The silence of the legislators representing Imo in the National Assembly is an indication that they have relegated their constituents to second-class citizens in Nigeria; there is no superior ethnic nationality. They should fight for justice for Agbahime.
