‘Government not sincere about violence-free 2015 polls’

Usman Joel, Lokoja-based legal practitioner in Kogi State, spoke to JOHN AKUBO on rising violence and attacks ahead of the general elections next month.

Violence and its effect on 2015 elections

ACTUALLY, there are fears over the forthcoming elections and they are not unfounded because of the happenings in recent times. 

  People are afraid that‎ there may be problem during or after the elections. As a result, people have been moving in droves from parts of the country to their own areas. 

  So many indigenes of Kogi State have been moving from the northern parts of the country. Some are even afraid that a civil war will break out or that the country will break into pieces. 

  The fear is that there is likely to be crisis whoever wins the presidential election out of the two strong contenders — General Muhammadu Buhari or President Goodluck Jonathan — based on the utterances of some persons from their various zones — the North and the South-South. 

  For instance, (Alhaji Mujaheed) Dokubo-Asari has threatened repeatedly that if President Jonathan were not re-elected, that they would cause problems; there would be war; they would burst the oil pipelines.  

  Unfortunately, the PDP governorship aspirant for Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, expressed that same fear: that if Jonathan were not re-elected, the Niger Delta boys would burst the oil pipelines. 

  In the North, they have made up their minds as to whom they want and they are also promising fire and brimstone if the election is rigged. 

  The APC campaign director-general, Governor Chibuike Amaechi, has also said that if the elections were deemed rigged against their candidates, they would form a parallel government. 

  All these statements spell doom and that is why there is apprehension.

Signs of untoward happenings

  The fears are ‎not unfounded due to the attacks preceding the elections. The first attack was when the APC flagged off its campaign in Port Harcourt, Rivers State; PDP supporters allegedly attacked them on their way from various local government areas. 

  Thereafter, there was another attack on the APC secretariat in Okrika, which was bombed. 

  Also in Jos Plateau State, some hoodlums attacked and burnt down the Jonathan campaign buses. The Police station, where the suspects were detained, was burnt down.   

  We also heard of the attacks in Gombe State. The APC governorship candidate was on his way to a local government for campaign and some PDP supporters blocked the road and this sparked-off crisis.

  Some days ago, we read that the former governor of Gombe State was about to be arrested and there is a lot of tension in the state. 

  We are aware that on December 31, 2014, the President and some PDP stalwarts ‎were to go to Kano for campaign and they could not get drivers to drive the buses. This also goes to show that the fears are not unfounded.

On utterances of some persons that heat up the polity

  People that are supposed to be arrested or put behind bars for their utterances have not been arrested or invited for questioning. 

  I cannot imagine — and it is unthinkable to see that Dokubo-Asari can make utterances of very volatile capacity and continue to make them and yet, nothing happens to him. 

  The other day, the Minister of Police Affairs threatened that they would arrest whoever, no matter how highly placed that made utterances that could engender crises. 

  I don’t know if the threat is directed at a particular political party. If not, Jimi Agbaje and Dokubo-Asari should have been invited (by security agencies) because they may know certain things that we do not know. 

  So, the fears are not unfounded but the truth remains that they can be handled if there is sincerity of purpose on the part of the government. 

  As we are talking, nobody had been fingered or arrested as a result of the attack on the APC members in Rivers State. 

  I am not also aware that suspects linked to the attack of the APC governorship candidate had been arrested. We heard some APC members had been arrested but what of the PDP members that blocked his road (way)?

  It all boils down to government taking its responsibility seriously and not shying away from doing what is right. They should match their words with actions by doing the needful.

On sincerity of the presidential candidates to the pact for violence-free campaigns

  These things (violent attacks) do not show they are sincere because up to this moment, the attacks are rising and nothing seems to be done about them. 

  To allay these fears, the government saddled with the responsibility of saving life and property should go beyond mere lip service, and match it with action.

On fear by the opposition that the security agencies and NOA are doing the bidding of the PDP

  Yes, the fears of the opposition that the National Orientation Agency is the media arm of the PDP was confirmed when the Director General, Mr. Mike Omeri, was appointed as one of the members of the PDP campaign team. 

  What other evidence or proof do you need to show that the government agencies are actually working for the President; I mean for PDP when the Director General ‎(of NOA) is a member of the campaign team? 

  So far, the actions and inactions of the Department of State Security (DSS) leave much to be desired because most of their reports are tended towards discrediting the opposition party. 

  For example, I thought that by now there should be concrete report and explanation or they would be able to unravel what exactly happened on the day General Buhari went to flag-off his presidential campaign in Port Harcourt. Who were the people behind it? 

  Even if they cannot arrest the individuals, some party members in the area could be invited to throw more light on the issues. 

  The intelligence works seem to be tilted against the opposition and in favour of the PDP. So, those allegations are being confirmed on daily basis. 

  It was a surprise that it took the Department of State Security about four weeks to tell us what they discovered at the APC secretariat in Lagos, which is most unfortunate. 

  It is clear that some government agencies have been coopted to work for the success of the PDP in the forthcoming elections. 

  Which other evidence do you need, with Mike Omeri becoming a member of the presidential campaign team?

On unabated violence in the Northeast, vis-a-vis discussion of possible non-election in the region

  I think from the body language of the INEC, it is not likely that elections will hold in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States because the condition INEC has given is that it is only when the security operatives are able to assure the lives of its staff, both ad-hoc and permanent before it would be able to go to those areas. (INEC has said elections would hold there).

  It has been observed that the (Boko Haram) attacks have been on the increase, and the reports of the U.S. said the rise was as a result of the forthcoming elections. 

  But unfortunately, the government of the day is not doing so much to assure the people from the Northeast that their interest is being protected.  

  For instance, we were told that many lives were lost in the Baga incidence. Though the Nigerian security agencies informed us that just about 150 people died, we were informed that over 2,000 people died. 

  Government has not come out to condemn it or do anything reasonable to show capacity to contain the insurgency, especially when soldiers and civilians were kidnapped.