20th J
PRESS RELEASE:
ADVICE ON
NEUTRALITY TO SECURITY AGENTS : MAKINDE LACKS SINCERITY – MURIC
The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has advised the Nigerian security
agencies to remain professional and neutral in the coming elections. The
governor gave the advice at the grand finale of the 2023 Armed Forces
Remembrance Day held at the Remembrance Arcade, Government House, Agodi,
Ibadan.
But an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern
(MURIC), has accused the governor of being insincere with the advice. In a
statement issued on Friday, 20th January, 2023, the director of
MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, accused the governor of using men of the Oyo
State arm of the Department of Security Services (DSS) to harass him.
The statement reads :
“The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has advised the Nigerian security
agencies to remain professional and neutral in the coming elections. The
governor gave the advice at the grand finale of the 2023 Armed Forces
Remembrance Day held at the Remembrance Arcade, Government House, Agodi, Ibadan,
on Monday, 16th January, 2023 (https://leadership.ng/2023-polls-makinde-urges-security-agencies-to-be-neutral/).
“It is ironical that the same governor who
sent the Oyo State branch of the Department of State Services (DSS) after the
director of MURIC for criticizing him is admonishing the security agencies to
be neutral during the coming elections. Wonders will never end.
“We take Makinde’s advice with a pinch of salt. This is not the
time to take the message and ignore the messenger. The message originated from
a most improper source. Makinde does not walk his talk.
“MURIC issued a statement on Monday, 12th December,
2022 in which we criticized Makinde for condoning the repression of Muslim
students in Oyo State schools and for doing nothing while Allah-given
fundamental human rights of Muslim students and teachers were being encroached
upon.
“Somebody who claimed to be calling from the office of Oyo State
DSS called the director of MURIC three days later on Thursday, 15th December,
2022 and asked him to report at the DSS Ibadan office for interrogation. It was
not difficult to tie the invitation to our criticism of Makinde.
“Of course, MURIC’s director has not honoured the invitation
because it was nebulous and informal. Anybody could have made that call and it
is dangerous particularly in present day Nigeria where people are being
kidnapped daily. A public figure should not just move around carelessly in such
circumstance.
“MURIC has also continued its day-to-day activities as if nothing
has happened. This is in compliance with the advice of Harriet Tubman
to activists, ‘If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the
woods, keep going. If there's shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop.
Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.’
“The Ogun State branch of MURIC immediately issued a statement
asking Oyo State DSS to send a written invitation if indeed that phone call
actually came from its office. There has been no response since then. The
statement from Ogun branch was quickly followed by those of Osun, Oyo and Abuja
branches.
“The Concerned Yoruba Muslim Scholars (CONYOM) crowned the edifice
with a warning given at a press conference held at Oja Oba Central Mosque,
Ibadan. CONYOM expressed absolute solidarity with the director of MURIC.
“Makinde’s attempt to use the DSS of his state to intimidate MURIC
makes it difficult for us to believe that he is being sincere with his advice
on the need for the security agencies to be neutral. Makinde’s statement must
be interrogated.
“Will powerful people like Makinde allow
security agents to be neutral even if they want to? The DSS invitation to the
director of MURIC is a case in point. There was an obvious attempt to intimidate
a human rights group for criticizing Governor Makinde.
“What warranted the invitation? There has been no threat issued by
MURIC against Makinde. The group had not organized a public protest in Oyo
State. Neither was it planning one. Why was the leader invited by DSS to come
all the way from Lagos to Ibadan?
“We remind the governor that Nigeria
is a democracy and Oyo State has not been proclaimed a military enclave headed
by a ‘Field Marshal’ Seyi Makinde. Oyo State government is not a military
regime and Seyi Makinde is not a military governor. He should know his limits
in a democratic setting.
“Besides, freedom of speech
is guaranteed in Section 39(i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria which says, ‘Every person shall be entitled to freedom of
expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas
and information without interference’.
“We understand the issues at stake here. The director of MURIC had
to be invited because the governor wanted him incapacitated or held
incommunicado particularly for the election period which is critical to a governor
seeking a second term. The governor may have the DSS boss transferred if he
refused to play ball.
“Without sounding immodest, what they failed to take into
consideration is the fact that they were dealing with a human rights group that
knows its onions. The director of MURIC was a member of the Campaign for
Democracy (CD) which confronted the military dictators for the actualization of
June 12, 1993 presidential election. He was trained by the late Dr. Beko
Ransome Kuti, the legendary human rights activist, from 1993 to 1999.
“Governor Makinde cannot be trusted on
security matters. He is ready to flex muscles unnecessarily and illegally. He
will abuse the power given to him by the good people of Oyo State at the drop
of a hat. He will embarrass the security agencies by making irrational requests
and ordering arbitrary arrests.
“Makinde is yet to comment
on our allegation that he sent the DSS Oyo branch after our director. No
affirmation, no denial. Silence, absolute silence. It is the style of totalitarian
dictators. What if Makinde is in control of Nigeria as a whole? What if he is
given absolute power which is bound to corrupt him absolutely?
“’Man,
proud man’, says William Shakespeare in Measure For Measure, ‘Dress'd in a
little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd—His glassy
essence—like an angry ape, Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, As
makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh
mortal.’
“MURIC understands the position of the DSS, Oyo State branch. The
DSS is a highly professional and disciplined security agency and men of Oyo
State branch are also men of honour.
“But the situation in which they found themselves can be likened to
that of the ‘emese’ (i.e. palace messenger) whom the king himself sent on an
errand but whose path was blocked by Odo Oba (a big river near Iwo, Osun State).
He could neither jump into the river nor refuse to deliver the king’s message.
He is faced by a monumental dilemma. To go forward or to go back? That is the
question.
“We have nothing against any security agency in Nigeria, including the
DSS, particularly, the Oyo State branch. We know their worth and we know they have
sacrificed a lot, including their personnels’ lives. It is influential people
like Makinde who wish to compromise them for personal gains.
“To this end, we have instructed our lawyer to withdraw the case
for the enforcement of our director’s fundamental human rights which was filed at
the High Court, Ibadan, by the Oyo State chapter of MURIC against the DSS Oyo
State branch about three weeks ago. It was a mere pre-emptive measure.
“We advise security agents to handle
instructions from state actors with wisdom and a high sense of patriotism. They
should place Nigeria above any individual no matter how highly placed. It is
high time they realized that there are ‘unlawful orders’ just as there are ‘lawful
instructions’. Our golden advice to the security agencies is this: Do not allow
any government official to use you for illegal actions. This is an advice
Governor Seyi Makinde will not give you”
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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