The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has
dismissed the position of the military hierarchy as offensive double standards
after the Defence Headquarters stated that it chose not to go after former
Niger Delta militant warlord, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, to avoid being accused of
acting “undemocratically.”
HURIWA criticized the military’s double standard, stating it
“stinks and diminishes the status of the armed forces of Nigeria.”
“It is such a pathetic sight to behold the Defence
Headquarters talking back on Asari-Dokubo instead of enforcing the law by
investigating, arresting, and prosecuting him, even if not for his most recent
threat, but for his previous outings in which he was seen on videos brandishing
military-grade assault rifles,” the association said in a statement signed by
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.
“Is the Defence Headquarters feigning ignorance of all these
videos of Asari-Dokubo?”
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward
Buba, spoke in Abuja on Thursday while responding to a recent report about
Asari-Dokubo’s alleged threat to shoot down a military helicopter that had
reportedly hovered around his residence.
Addressing journalists, the DHQ spokesman described
Asari-Dokubo’s threat as laughable, challenging him to confront soldiers on the
battlefield if he was bold enough.
Buba said, “Now, the comment by an individual that he can
shoot down military helicopters is laughable. And I am about to laugh at that.
We are in a democracy, and we are professionals. Of course, we cannot just,
based on somebody’s comments, begin to take certain actions. They would accuse
the military of being undemocratic.
“The military is not the only security force or department
in the country. There are other security agencies that have a constitutional
role to play in handling such issues.
“I tell you that he doesn’t have that capability, but I will
allow the security forces responsible for such matters to take it up. As for
us, come to the battlefield, and we’ll take you out. He should come to the
battlefield and see whether we can react or not.”
HURIWA said the statement from the Defence Headquarters has
made a joke of the strategic place of the country’s military, especially when
it has officially become clear that certain persons from some political
persuasions are treated as sacred cows, whereas others, especially those from
the Igbo-speaking South East of Nigeria, are treated as outlaws and punished
decisively with a sledgehammer.
The group noted that this policy of discrimination is
unconstitutional and illegal.
HURIWA condemned the failure of the Defence Headquarters to
arrest Asari-Dokubo, who had previously disclosed that he runs a private army,
which he claimed to have deployed in some parts of Nigeria, including the South
East. The same former Niger Delta militant warlord openly displayed several
military-grade weapons in a viral video in which he threatened to kill Igbos,
yet months after HURIWA called for his arrest, nothing has happened.
The group recalled that during Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration, the Army invaded the private home of the long-detained leader
of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who was then at
home after he was granted bail by Justice Binta Murtala Nyako of the Federal
High Court.
It noted that even when Kanu posed no significant national
security risk and was actually in his parents’ home, the military struck,
attempting to either kill or re-arrest him.
The rights group then wondered why the Defence Headquarters
is now speaking from both sides of its mouth in the current face-off with
Asari-Dokubo, to the shameful extent that the military’s statement, asking
Asari-Dokubo to meet the Army on the battlefield to be neutralized, exposed the
current administration as tolerating impunity and lawlessness. This public
comedy is puerile, laughable, but despicable.
“It is shocking that the Defence Headquarters is now hiding
under democracy to permit lawlessness only because Asari-Dokubo is a friend of
the current president, whom he visited in Aso Rock soon after the current
president was inaugurated, and addressed a press conference where he made
scandalous revelations, including the claim that his private army worked as a
consultant for the federal government on the permission of the immediate past
president.
“Few days back, the same Asari-Dokubo openly threatened to
shoot down a military jet allegedly hovering around his massive mansion. But
instead of the Defence Headquarters taking him in for interrogation and
possible prosecution, they started speaking from both sides of their mouths in
a show of shame and in a clear demonstration of double standards.”
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