When President Muhammadu Buhari told the visiting United States’ Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, that the Government would allow investigations set up by various states to run their full course before taking any action, you have to wonder whether that was a demonstration of the government’s responsibility or insensitivity over gross human rights abuses committed by soldiers and police during the #EndSARS protests, in particular the cold-blooded murders of demonstrators at the Lekki Tollgate on 20 October 2020.
Oblivious of the implications of the Federal Government’s decision to stay action until the states had concluded their analyses, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said: “So many state governments are involved and have given different terms of reference to the probe panels. We at the federal (level) have to wait for the steps taken by the states, and we have to allow the system to work. We can’t impose ideas on them. The Federal Government has to wait for the reaction of the states.”
Adesina’s statement is thoughtless, rash, insensitive, cold-hearted, and uncaring. It shows the Federal Government has abandoned its obligations to citizens. The statement also shows the government does not feel obligated to conduct its own direct investigations into the killings at Lekki Tollgate or to punish those who took the lives of Nigerian citizens.
The idea that the Federal Government would wait for states to conclude investigations before taking action smacks of a cleverly woven plot to deceive and distract the nation’s attention from investigating the callous killings that occurred during national uprisings last year. The government has the primary responsibility to identify all the people who acted violently and unlawfully to end the precious lives of some Nigerian citizens. Horrendous crimes were committed by security officials employed by the Federal Government.
The government’s position is inconceivable, incomprehensible, indefensible, illogical, and a backdoor way of evading its constitutional obligations. Given that a senior minister in the government has contested angrily and shamelessly with no supporting evidence – all made on record and on public television — that no lives were lost during the #EndSARS protests, it is not surprising that Buhari and his government have decided to adopt a ‘wait-and-see” attitude. That approach is condemnable.
The soldiers and police who shot at protesters and committed other odious crimes are undeniably agents of the state, that is, employees of the Federal Government. State governments that are currently investigating the incidents that occurred during the mass protests have no powers under our constitution to discipline or sack soldiers and police who might be found culpable of flagrant human rights abuses.
The Federal Government, therefore, has direct responsibility to lead in investigations to unravel what happened during the #EndSARS protests. There is no question that horrific crimes were committed. Unfortunately, the government has taken a laidback attitude rather than be at the forefront of investigations. At the end of their investigations, the state governments cannot do anything other than to make recommendations to the Federal Government. The recommendations by the states may be accepted or rejected or dumped in the bin until they are fully forgotten.
By allowing state governments to set up panels to look into the #EndSARS demonstrations, Buhari has abandoned his responsibility to show duty of care toward citizens. Human rights and human lives are not the same as animal rights and animal lives.
A Federal Government that is concerned about what happened to its citizens more than a year ago should demonstrate leadership. It should lead by inquiring into how soldiers and police opened fire on unarmed citizens thereby killing dozens and injuring a lot more. An effective and caring government should lead by examples, not by relinquishing its responsibilities. This is the context in which every Nigerian must join international and national human rights activists and organisations to condemn in the strongest terms the Federal Government’s decision to sit on the sidelines to await the outcomes of investigations by state governments.
State governments do not manage or administer matters concerning Nigeria. It is not the state governments that should conduct the investigations, even if the events occurred within the jurisdiction of some states. The Federal Government is headed by an elected president and it is that president who must show leadership by launching investigations into matters as grave as the extrajudicial murders that occurred during the #EndSARS demonstrations.
By all indications, investigations that are led by the states are not likely to be concluded in the coming months. The Lagos State government has already flagged it would await the release of a White Paper by yet another layer of bureaucratic committee/panel that would study the findings of its original panel.
The Federal Government should show greater concern, empathy, and understanding by setting up prompt independent panels to investigate the killings rather than wait for various state governments to finalise their own investigations. The Federal Government has higher authority and should have used that power to show that it was appalled by the reckless killings.
As the Lagos panel recommended, it is important to prosecute and punish soldiers and police officials who participated in the shocking crimes at the Lekki Tollgate. There was absolutely no reason for soldiers and police to fire at unarmed protesters. And when you consider that some of the protesters were waving the national flag that symbolised patriotism, unity, and national identity, you can understand how callous it was for the police and soldiers to shoot at the protesters.
The Federal Government cannot abdicate its responsibility by waiting interminably for all the states to conclude their investigations. What if the investigations do not conclude for another 12 months or more, would Buhari feel comfortable carrying on business-as-usual, as if the lives of youth cut down by trigger-happy soldiers and police officers did not matter to the government?
For the sake of transparency, sensitivity, and concern for the value of human lives, a government that caters to the needs of citizens would have responded robustly and promptly since last year to the human rights abuses that occurred during the #EndSARS protests, including the reckless shootings at Lekki that resulted in the deaths of peaceful protesters. No government that has a responsibility to the citizens would wait for more than a year to clear the jigsaw over the circumstances that led to unnecessary loss of lives.
The entire process is ludicrous. How unresponsive could the Federal Government be? Human lives ended abruptly by soldiers and police deserve greater respect, recognition, appreciation, and priority attention than the Federal Government has been able to show. The longer it takes to conclude the investigations, the longer it would take for the victims and their families to receive justice. So far, there are no compensations for the victims and their families and no penalties for the lawbreakers.
The concept of the rule of law in Nigeria is a joke. Justice delayed, as the saying goes, is justice disallowed.