WE WANT JUSTICE FOR THE UNIPORT 4.
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WE WANT JUSTICE FOR THE UNIPORT 4
“I want justice to prevail because the children were innocent. The community had no right to do what they did. I am appealing to government and human right bodies to stand firmly behind families of the children to fight for justice.” This statement is attributed to the father of Lloyd Michael.Michael is one of the four students at the University of Port-Harcourt (UNIPORT) whose life was brutally cut shot at Omuokiri-Aluu community on Friday, 5 October 2012. His crime, as reported in Vanguad Newspaper October 13 2012 was alleged theft of computers and mobile phones.
Not only do we want justice for Michael, we want justice for all four (UNIPORT 4). The other three students murdered were; Tekena Elkanah, Ugonna Obuzor, and Chidiaka Biringa. It seems as though, we have lost our humanity and turned our institutions of learning into a ‘killing field’. These gruesome killings and disregard for the sanctity of human life set a dangerous precedent that must be stopped before Nigeria becomes, as one writer, Bayo Oluwasanmi, puts it, ‘home for abandoned monster of cruelty.’ Not only will it become such as aforementioned, it has the potential to become ‘home for the material for all the evils in the world’.
Everyone’s right to life is protected by law. No person shall be deprived of his/her life intentionally, except in the execution of a sentence from a court following a conviction provided by law. The human rights are naturally accruable to every person by virtue of his/her existence as a human being.
Those who think that Nigeria has no law will be surprised to note that the Nigerian Constitution, under Chapter IV, enumerates, among other fundamental rights; right to life, right to dignity of human persons, right to a fair hearing etc. The Government of Nigeria, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, should uphold the highest standards in the field of human rights.
Respect for human rights is necessary for the rule of law, which requires that government must be subjected to an enduring legal duties. Such legal duties include respect for human rights and any government which is not subject to such legal duties quickly becomes despotic.
The incessant extra judicial killings in Nigeria attest to the fact that the protection of human rights has been ignored or sidelined. This culminates in individuals and groups taking the law into their own hands. The Nigerian authorities must take decisive action to tackle the systemic and widespread killing of innocent Nigerians. It seems to me that authorities have effectively turned a blind eye to the killing epidemic. A government that fails to uphold human rights should have no claim on the loyalty or obedience of the people within its jurisdiction.
Extra judicial killings are prohibited by the Nigerian Constitution and various international laws that Nigeria has ratified. Where any person’s life is unlawfully taken, it is extra judicial killing and a breach of the person’s right to life (section 33; basic rights of all Nigerians under Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria). The law provides that the culprit must be prosecuted while the surviving victims are entitled to an apology and compensation. The National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria (NHRC) deals with violation of human rights in Nigeria. It helps to ensure prosecution of offenders through the Attorney General and the Inspector General of police.
Right to fair hearing which was denied to the UNIPORT 4 is a breach of their right under section 36. This section provides that in ‘the determination of any Nigerian’s civil rights and obligations against any person, government or authority, he/she is entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court established by law and constituted in a manner to secure its independence and impartiality’. In addition, any person charged with a criminal offence is presumed innocent until guilt is proven.
There is a clear violation of the UNIPORT 4’s right to life under s.33 and right to a fair hearing under s.36, Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Nigerian authorities should, therefore, be held to account for the failure to take immediate and necessary steps to stop the abuse of their human rights. The demand for justice for their gruesome murder is a just and noble one.
The standard of proof for any criminal offence is ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. This means that before a conviction is sought, the jurors must be sure beyond the ordinary reasonable doubt one would have given any situation. There are two versions of criminal allegations put forward against the UNIPORT 4 in the public domain. The first was that the owner of the laptops and mobile phones they were trying to steal caught them and screamed “Thieves! Thieves!” The scream attracted the village vigilantes who carried out a citizen’s arrest and the subsequent extra judicial killings. The second version was a case of debt collection. According to reports, the four went to Aluu village to collect an outstanding debt. The debtor refused to pay culminating in protracted argument and subsequent fracas. The attempt to seize the debtor’s goods i.e. laptops and mobile phones prompted the accusation of theft. This later version is more plausible and more likely scenario. The unfortunate incidence took place at a time Aluu community was on edge having suffered from spates of armed-robberies. The four seem to have been made scapegoat and executed by the village vigilantes as soon as they were proclaimed thieves and having gained the support of their village head. There is no need to run for dear life, if they felt, they had done nothing wrong. As people say, ‘it is only a guilty conscience that fears accusation’.
The UNIPORT 4 deserves justice. Aluu village vigilantes would have to explain to the public how they entrapped the four young men and murdered them in cold blood. What have they done? Even if they were involved in any kind of robbery, do they deserve the brutality and terror unleashed on them? Does the punishment fit the crime? What about their rights to fair hearing and innocent until proven guilty?
We should all do whatever we can to achieve justice for them. We must not allow those behind this to go unpunished as failure would make our students more vulnerable to brutal attacks from the likes of Aluu vigilante group. Justice must be done or, at last, be seen to be done. Nothing less will be good enough.
We noted from the Vanguard report that the parents of the slain four has expressed a lack of confidence in the ability of the Rivers State Police Command to investigate the matter. If so, the families should go public using social network media. They should set up an online petition to the NHRC, JUSTICE for UNIPORT 4 Face book page and twitter handles. These would help raise the profile of the case and attract the attention of both national and international civil right organisations and hopefully garner financial and moral support they need to achieve justice for the UNIPORT 4.
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