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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