the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu to direct the Federal
capital Territory commissioner of the Nigeria Police and other relevant
security agencies to ensure the immediate arrest and prosecution of
attackers of one of DAILY POST Deputy Editors, Comrade Ameh Godwin.
In a statement signed by its Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the
prominent civil rights group lamented the frequent attacks on
journalists in the country, especially by politicians, adding that with
the current situation where journalists are being harassed, attacked and
beaten, a sane and civilized society would be difficult to attain.
HURIWA said that the media practitioners are playing strategic national
role as the national conscience which is provided for in section 22 of
the Nigerian consritution just as the Rights group said that on no
account should a media practitioner be subjected to dehumanizing
treatment and physical or psychological torture for carrying out their
professional duties. HURIWA said that there are legal avenues for
redress should any politician feel that he or she has been defamed by
any media reports. “Nobody must be licenced to resort to self help
measures because in Nigeria which is a constitutional DEMOCRACY we do
not practice the principle of MIGHT IS RIGHT but we practice the
PRINCIPLE OF RULE OF LAW”.
According to HURIWA, ” It has been brought to our knowledge that a Local
Government Chairmanship candidate on the platform of the People’s
Democratic Party and an ex-Caretaker chairman of Ogbadibo LGA, Prince
Onuh, his brother, Frank Onuh and many other suspected political thugs
had allegedly attacked one of DAILY POST Deputy Editors in an attempt to
allegedly murder him in Area 8, Abuja.
“We call on the Nigeria police to immediately arrest the suspects and
all those involved in this alleged premeditated attack without any
further delay even as there is the urgent need for the National Human
Rights commission (NHRC) and the hierarchies of the two dominant
political parties in Nigeria viz Peoples Democratic party and the All
Progressives Congress to consistently and continually give extensive
capacity building trainings on good governance standards and human
rights to all their members and especially to the aspirants to key
political offices in Nigeria so the respect of the fundamental human
rights of all citizens as enshrined in chapter 4 of the Nigerian
Constitution; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR);
International Covenants on civil and political rights; African charter
on Peoples and human rights and all other global human rights laws are
mainstreamed in the policy making processes and implementation of all
policies in Nigeria”.
“We also call on the relevant security agencies to carry out discrete
investigation on the matter and check and recheck the character of the
suspects to determine whether we should have such people in our
government, especially at the grassroots where he is supposed to be the
Chief Security Officer of a Local Government assuming the allegations
are anything to go by”.
“We in the Organized Human Rights Community in Nigeria hereby call on
the Benue State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Benue State
Governor to investigate this matter and review the character of their
candidates in the Local government election which we gathered will hold
soon in the State.”
HURIWA further warned that should the investigators determine the extent
of their culpability in this alleged dastardly crime of physical
violence on a JOURNALIST then Prince Onuh and his alleged political
cohorts should be held responsible should any other thing happens to
other journalists and groups who in the wake of the zoning controversy
in the State dropped their individual opinions on zoning.”
It said, ” Again, we warn that should anything happen to any other
journalist or individuals from Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue
State, the PDP as a political party in power in Benue State should be
held responsible just as we urge the Police to ascertain and verify the
allegations that the fellow being accused of attacking the Deputy editor
is alleged to have vowed to go after many others.”
HURIWA consequently warned political parties and State governors to put
mechanisms in place to verify the backgrounds and temperaments of their
aspirants and to ensure that they repose their trust and confer their
prestigious tickets to only trustworthy party faithful who must possess
the virtues of responsibility; competence and goal driven
characteristics so they can take charge of the grassroots as against
having alleged questionable characters and thugs as council chairmen.
The Local government level according to section 7(1) of the Nigerian
constitution is the birth place of democracy because the leaders of that
tier of government must be democratically chosen by the people in a
free, fair and transparent electoral process.
We cannot afford to have leaders who are not open to criticism, checks
and probes at the grassroots. We cannot afford to have leaders who feel
that only violence can give them immediate victory. We need to sanitize
the polity by eliminating completely ‘bad eggs’ in politics,” HURIWA
said.