21st March, 2023
PRESS
RELEASE:
ALLOW POLICE TO DO ITS JOB: MURIC TELLS NHRC
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has advised
the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to allow law enforcement agents to
complete their investigations into election incidents in Lagos State and other
parts of the country.
The Islamic human rights group gave the advice
in a statement issued on Tuesday 21st March, 2023 by its Executive
Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
It will be recalled that the NHRC on Sunday
said it would invite the Chairman of the Lagos State Parks
Management Committee, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo over the
alleged threat he issued against the Igbo.
MURIC’s full statement reads :
“The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said
on Sunday that it would invite the Chairman of the Lagos State
Parks Management Committee, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo
over the alleged threat he issued against the Igbo (https://tribuneonlineng.com/election-nhrc-to-invite-mc-oluomo-kogi-gov-over-alleged-hate-speeches/).
“NHRC
should not dissipate its energy on this matter at all. In the first place, it
will amount to duplication of efforts because the Nigeria Police is already investigating
it (https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/03/18/police-investigating-mc-oluomos-alleged-threat-against-igbos-says-commissioner/). NHRC will end up wasting resources if it opens
another investigation into the same matter. Nigerian agencies should learn how
to synergise on matters like this. They are confusing the populace. NHRC should
spare us the headache.
“Secondly, the police appears more suitable for
this kind of investigation. Afterall it is a threat to use force. Oluomo
himself has denied it. He said it was not targeted at the Igbo in Lagos but an ordinary
joke cracked with Mama Chukwudi, his friendly Igbo neighbour. Therefore it is
only a law enforcement agency that has the training as well as the human and
material capacity to handle such a matter.
“Thirdly, it is an ill-conceived idea that it
is a human rights issue. It is certainly not. Lagos indigenes and the rest of
the Yoruba people view it as an existential threat. They see it as a struggle
for survival. In our opinion, any human rights consideration which fails to recognise the
rights of the aborigines of a particular place is a total failure, a sham and a
mirage.
“In the fourth place, NHRC should not allow itself to be seen as
collaborating with those who are perceived by Lagos indigenes in particular and
the Yoruba in general as people on a mission to invade and conquer Lagos. It is
a very sensitive issue about which the indigenes feel very strongly and very bitter.
“The fifth reason for
which NHRC needs to soft-pedal on this is that the issue calls more for diplomacy
than it does for enforcement of rights. If NHRC insists on inviting Oluomo, it must
invite those who said Lagos is no man’s land. Not only that, NHRC must invite
those who claim in tweets and other social media sources that their target is
to invade and conquer Lagos and the rest of Yorubaland before and during the
2023 general elections. Oluomo is just a party, NHRC cannot afford to be
selective.
“The sixth
reason lies in the fact that NHRC appears to be in a hurry on the Lagos issue. Such
speed and manifestation of anxiety is capable of being interpreted as vested
interest in the matter because it affects the Igbo.
“To cap the
edifice, if the truth must be told, Chief Anthony Okechuckwu Ojukwu as the Executive
Secretary of the Commission is not in the best position to mediate in a matter
of serious ethnic concern between the Igbo, the Yoruba in general and Lagos
indigenes in particular. Silence from NHRC would not only have been golden in
such an issue but also the only wise thing to do. We therefore advise NHRC to
allow the police to do its job.”
#LagosDeservesPeace
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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