President Goodluck Jonathan must rise above partisanship and take necessary steps to guarantee security, and restore the rule of law.
The upsurge in violent crimes and insecurity in recent times as political activities towards the 2015 elections intensify is quite worrisome. Such crimes include kidnapping, armed robbery, assassination, besides the ubiquitous insurgency by the Boko Haram sect which has devastated the north eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa leading to loss of thousands of lives and property as well as displacement of millions of citizens. On Saturday, October 11, 2014, the immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Okey Wali was kidnapped by unknown men at about 9 p.m.
On Tuesday, October 7, 2014, unidentified armed hoodlums had brutally attacked a member of the Edo State House of Assembly representing Estako West, Hon. Rasaq Momoh, of the PDP, leaving him in a comma and in a pool of his own blood. On Saturday, October 11 in the morning, thugs suspected to be supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), attacked the State House of Assembly Legislators’ Quarters and destroyed 36 cars belonging to members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) parked in the complex. The hoodlums also shot at doors and windows of seven houses occupied by APC members, destroying properties worth millions of naira in a needless orgy of violence. According to the report, during the attack, the lone security man at the gate of the quarters was tied up to facilitate their entry as the policemen attached to the place had been withdrawn earlier in the week “on orders from above.”
The hallowed temple of justice has not been spared in the orgy of lawlessness across the land. On Monday, 22nd September, 2014, during the hearing of the case on the eligibility of the Governor, Ayo Fayose to stand for the June 21 Governorship Election, before Justice Segun Ogunyemi, supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)had allegedly besieged the court premises causing mayhem and forcing the judge to escape for his safety. Matters got to a head on Thursday, 25th September, 2014 in the court premises Ado-Ekiti as PDP supporters allegedly attacked Justice J. O. Adeyeye of High Court No. 3., beat him up and tore his suit into shreds.
On Friday, October 10, 2014 at Effurun, near Warri, armed robbers shot and killed Franca Oneya, daughter of rtd. Brigadier-General Dominic Oneya, former Military Administrator of Kano and Plateau States respectively, as she left a bank in her car. Also, a bullion van conveying money to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was attacked and looted by armed robbers in Asaba, Delta State on Tuesday, October, 14, 2014, killing Nollywood actor, Clem Onyeka in the shooting by the robbers. And from Yenagoa, Bayelsa State came the report that on Friday, October 10, gunmen killed the Executive Secretary of the Bayelsa State Independent Electoral Commission (BYSIEC), Mr. Simon Akpen. The gunmen apparently on assassination mission, escaped from the scene without collecting any item from the victim.
A common strand in all these cases is that, sadly, the perpetrators have not been made to face the wrath of the law; thereby raising concerns why the Federal Government appears unable to ensure the security of lives and property which is its constitutional responsibility. The country must not be allowed to degenerate into a Hobesian State where life is not only insecure but also brutish and short. Frankly, the escalating insecurity in the country if not contained now is capable of wrecking maximum damage on the nation’s economy, democracy and the society at large. That is why President Goodluck Jonathan must rise above partisanship and take necessary steps to guarantee security, and restore the rule of law. The Inspector- General of Police, Suleiman Abba needs to roll up his sleeves and deliver a proactive and efficient police more intent on preventing crime and bringing criminals to book so that Nigerians can work and walk in safety, and go to bed with both eyes closed. We call on all political parties, as politicking intensifies towards the 2015 elections, to rein in their members and wean them from violence to embrace the tenets of democracy, especially, the rule of law.
