The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has said the
declaration by the Nigerian military that the Indigenous People of Biafra is a
terrorist organisation is unconstitutional.
He also said the ban placed on the group’s activities by the
South-East governors did not follow due process.
However, the Chief
Whip, House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has condemned Saraki,
saying the Senate President’s declaration was “a mere political statement” that
portrayed the nation’s Number Three citizen as “a controversial leader.”
In a statement on Monday, Saraki said the National Assembly
would investigate the crisis in the South-East.
However, Saraki
commended the military for maintaining the peace in the South-East but
added that their declaration of the group as a terrorist organisation was
unconstitutional.
He said, “I also wish to state that the announcement of the
proscription of the group known as the Indigenous People of Biafra by the
governors of the South-East states and the categorisation of the group as a
‘terrorist organisation’ by the Nigerian military are unconstitutional and do
not follow due process.”
“Our laws make clear provisions for taking such actions and
without the due process being followed, such declaration cannot have effect. I
am sure the President will do the needful by initiating the right process.
“This will go a long way in demonstrating to the world at large
that we are a country that operates by laid down process under every
circumstance. So, those who have been hammering on this point should maintain
their cool.”
But Ado-Doguwa when
asked to react to Saraki’s pro-IPOB’s position said, “I am sure the Senate
President was only expressing his personal opinion, which I further believe was
not a good one in the given circumstances.
The Nigerian Armed forces in my opinion are doing their best
professionally and in the best interest of a united Nigeria. Even the
south-eastern state governors have declared the activities of Kanu’s IPOB as
illegal and therefore proscribed. He (Senate President) can’t cry more than the
bereaved.
“For me, the recent comment made by the Senate President on
this matter was a mere political statement that would only portray him as a
controversial leader. Considering the attacks meted out to innocent Nigerians
by the IPOB group in the South-East and indeed the nationalistic conduct of the
northern governors and the prompt action they took to stop possible reprisals
in the North, the Senate President’s statement was to say the least
unnecessary.”
Also, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, in an
apparent reaction to Saraki’s position insisted that the declaration of IPOB as
a terrorist organisation was done in accordance with the nation’s constitution.
Buratai said this at the Nkwegu Military Cantonment
Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, on Monday while inaugurating the
“Operation Python Dance11” exercise for the South-East geopolitical zone.
He said, “What the Defence Headquarters said was to make a
pronouncement, it was not a declaration, but this has given room for the right
step to be taken. I think the government is doing the right thing, it is not
that we overstepped our bounds, we are still within the limits of the law.
“What the military said was to set the ball rolling and to
bring to the awareness of the public that this is what this organisation is
about. I am happy that the government has done the right thing rightly.”
Members of the Senate who spoke to The PUNCH in separate
telephone interviews on Monday hailed the military operation in the South-East
and categorisation of IPOB as a terrorist group.
Lawmaker representing Plateau South Senatorial District, Senator
Jeremiah Useni, who is a retired Lieutenant General, backed the Operation
Python Dance 11, alleging that IPOB members were terrorists.
When asked of his view on the military deployment and
tagging of IPOB as terrorist group, he said, “They are terrorists. They should
not criticise the military, they are terrorists; they are killing people and
the government should deal with them.”
Also, lawmaker representing Kaduna Central, Senator Shehu
Sani, said he was in support of those who opposed Saraki in the House of
Representatives.
When told that some members of the lower chamber of the
National Assembly were opposed to Saraki’s position on the matter, Sani said,
“I am allying with those in the House of Representatives.”
But a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association,
Chief Onueze Okocha (SAN), said no one except the court had the power to
declare any organisation unlawful, adding that the nation’s constitution did
not deal with the matter.
Also, a human rights advocacy group, Access to Justice,
faulted the Nigerian Army’s declaration of IPOB as a terrorist group,
contending that the army had no power to make the declaration.
In a statement on Monday by its Deputy Director, Dr. Adenike
Aiyedun, A2J said, “The Nigerian military, however, does not have the right to
declare any group a terrorist organisation and doing so usurps the powers and
responsibility of political branches of government. These ones alone can make
such a declaration.”
PUNCH
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