HURIWA Accuses Malami of Double Standard on Quit Notice to Igbo

• Rejects plan to revoke Nnamdi Kanu’s bail

By Ejiofor Alike

A pro-democracy and non-governmental organisation, Human Rights  Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has faulted the explanation offered by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, for failing to arrest the Arewa youths who served a quit notice on Igbo in northern states to leave by October 1, 2017.  

HURIWA has also condemned Malami for ignoring the call by the United Nations to arrest the Arewa youths and rushing back to the Federal High Court to seek the revocation of the bail granted the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IBOP), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who had spent two years in prison before being granted very stringent bail.

“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians to reject the illegal and biased decision of the AGF to launch a manhunt against IPOB even when he completely refused to do his job in the public interest. What is the agenda of the AGF, if we may ask? As Aristotle would say, law is order, and good law is good order. The AGF in the person of Abubakar Malami must not be allowed to dance around and refuse deliberately to enforce the provisions of the constitution equitably, transparently and openly without exhibiting the mundane attitudes of a biased Northern irredentist,” the group said.

The rights group said the reported excuse of security reasons offered by the chief law officer of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for not arresting the northern youth whose illegal anti- Igbo quit notice precipitated a pro-genocidal anti-Igbo song in Hausa language, has exposed the current administration as that which is systematically executing a pro-North agenda as against the national security interest of Nigeria.

HURIWA also threw its weight behind   the recent criticism of  Malami  made by Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which rightly tasked the minister to abide by his oath of office and stop pandering to the whims and caprices of the northern regional interest as against national security interest of Nigeria.

HURIWA said: “We hereby affirm our total support to the clamour around the World including the United Nations on the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to arrest and prosecute the members of the Arewa youth coalition for issuing threats against a section of Nigerians living in the 19 Northern States beore October 1, 2017”.

“We are shocked and disappointed with current holder of the office of the AGF who rather than engage in meticulous introspection with a view to correcting his ethical and constitutional missteps has dug deeper and further into deliberate error and  calculated attempts to undermine the sanctity of the Nigerian Constitution and has unfortunately embarked on wholly thoughtless verbal defence of the treasonable and criminal conducts of the northern youth and  the serial diatribes which were spewed out by the characters that masquerade around as northern elders. We condemn these northern elders whose support overtly or covertly for the atrocious quit notice of their youth remains a potent threat to national unity and security,” HURIWA explained.

The rights group also expressed consternation that President Buhari upon his return from over 100 days medical tourism in UK has decided to lunch an unnecessary manhunt and to ask the armed forces to crush the unarmed and totally peaceful campaigners of self determination of the South-east of Nigeria known as IPOB but has failed to order the arrest and prosecution of the Arewa youth coalition members who threatened national security by their widely reported anti-Igbo quit notice.

“Our deepest worry and consternation at the entrenched biasness of the current holder of the high office of the AGF is hinged on the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from a rational analysis of his unconstitutional attempts to offer reasons for his failure to order the prosecution of members of Arewa youth coalition but has instead rushed back to the Federal High Court to seek the revocation of the bail granted Kanu who had spent two years in prison before being granted very stringent bail,” the group said.

“The logical interpretation to be drawn from the ill-intentioned and illegal defence of the atrocious actions of Arewa youth as disclosed in a recent media conference launched by Malami is that he has reduced the larger office of the president of Nigeria to that of a regional warlord of Hausa/Fulani Muslim north,”

 

Related Articles