Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Northern, N/Delta Elders Want NASS Invaders Prosecuted
Posted by Admin | 6 years ago | 2,001 times
Nigerian Leaders and Elders Forum has rejected the probe panel headed by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, into the invasion of the National Assembly by masked operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) last week, saying the IGP is not qualified to investigate such a report given his antecedents.
They demand that planners and perpetrators of the invasion should be investigated, tried and punished.
The group, which comprises leaders of Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere; Igbo apex group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo; Middle Belt; Northern elders and Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), also said it is still in shock over the invasion which has led to the sack of Lawal Daura, the Director- General of DSS.
In a statement signed by Dr. Junaid Mohammed, for the northern elders; Prof. Chigozie Ogbu, for Ohanaeze Ndigbo; Dr. Isuwa Dogo, for Middle Belt; Mr. Yinka Odumakin for Afenifere and Senator Bassey Henshaw for PANDEF, the elders while appreciating Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for his decisive action in firing Daura also demanded a judicial probe into the incident.
Part of the statement reads, “Nigerian Leaders and Elders Forum, comprising Afenifere, Northern Elders Forum; Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and Middle Belt Forum, is in shock over the coup staged at the National Assembly on Tuesday 7th August 2018 when hooded DSS men shut down the complex and prevented lawmakers from gaining access for several hours. As mostly elder statesmen of this land, we must express our shock, and we must stand forth to resist any attempts by anybody to destroy this country.
“The gang invasion of the legislative arm of Nigerian government, the arm of government that constitutes the essence of democratic rule, exposed Nigeria to the whole world as a crude entity where political misfits ride roughshod over decency and all moral pillars have collapsed.
“We commend the lawmakers who stood firm to foil the coup with the active support of the civil society and the mass media who demonstrated very firmly that they were scandalised by the crude assault.
“We equally appreciate the international community, particularly the European Union (EU) and the USA for not putting their arms behind their backs when darkness fully descended over Nigeria and evil was on top momentarily.
“We must appreciate the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, who showed indignation at the barbaric act by firing the former Director General of the DSS, Mr. Lawal Daura.
“However, we consider the dismissal of Daura as only a token in the circumstance. High treason was committed, and therefore the matter cannot and should not end with merely firing a public official. We demand that the planners and perpetrators of the invasion and sealing of the National Assembly premises be investigated, tried and punished.
“We also reject any attempt to make the Inspector General of Police to investigate the crime. We have perused the wishy-washy interim report submitted to the Acting President by the IGP and the only thing we saw in it was the puerile deduction that there were political figures who colluded with Daura to carry out the crime.
“We cannot accept any probe by the IGP as he himself should long have been fired if this were a government that places any value on the rule of law.”
The elders said given the enormity of this crime, “we demand a judicial panel of inquiry to be headed by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court with proven integrity to investigate this coup”.
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