NIGERIAN CONSULTATIVE FORUM INTERNATIONAL

PRESS STATEMENT: THE JUDICIAL PANEL ON THE BENUE KILLINGS

Please, allow us to use your valuable medium to express our commendation to the Federal Government on the establishment of the Judicial Panel to investigate the Benue killings. It calls for the rest of us to take courage. We call on all men and women of goodwill to focus on this Panel and give their own views on what it should address; how it should address it and what the Federal Government should do to make this confidence-building campaign worth the effort.

Coming on the back of the Oputa Panel, the opportunity must not be denied our nation to be reassured of the capacity of the Federal Government, through this Panel, to address these kinds of problems, which, needless to say, has brought our country to its knees. Nigeria needs a massive dose of Resuscitation Quinine. Panels like these must address the people’s fears and reassure them. It must be given all the powers it needs to meet our aspirations.

POWERS:

1) The independence of the Panel must be guaranteed at the beginning and must be backed by law, validated by the National Assembly. It must act only with such a law behind it. 2) The Panel’s sittings, its Terms of Reference and empowerment provisions must be made public. Powers to compel appearance must be stated without equivocation and selectiveness. The Panel must have powers to invite any person(s), within or outside Nigeria to appear before it. 3) It must either have powers to prosecute or powers to recommend for prosecution. 4) Its main purpose must be to investigate the role of the Army High Command and the detachment(s) that went into those villages to commit the genocide. It is expected that the Panel must have powers to compel to appear before it all Armed Forces personnel, retired or serving, it feels will help in this work.

The Abuja Meeting:

The Panel came on the back of a meeting between a group that includes the President, the Minister of Defence, T.Y. Danjuma, Lt General Malu, a personal victim and a representative of the Tiv people within the Army hierarchy (even though he’s recently retired). He was Chief of Army Staff at the time of Odi. Now, he’s lost people in this conflict, quite apart from damage to property. He’s convinced this was militarily planned. He should know. It is also instructive that there were ‘Observers’ from Kano, Kaduna amongst others present at the meeting. Malu himself has said he was there to represent his people. All this must be encouraged. But it cannot replace the need for genuine national discussion. While people have called from National Conference to Sovereign National Conference, the basic need to talk stands out like a sore thumb. Our polity yells for a time out. Sooner, rather than later, it must be granted.

However, in the meantime, opportunities, like those now presented by the Benue killings (that is, taking the positives, if we may say so) are legion. The Panel must be the Administration’s guiding star. People must be made to believe that we have returned to the Rule of Law, where the guilty will be punished and the victims compensated and for the rest of society to use that as a springboard for redirection. The Minister of Information, Jerry Gana, has said there wasn’t any direct discussion of compensation with Gen Malu. But, may we restate that the victims, Malu inclusive (and in spite of his Odi track record), must all be compensated adequately.

Again, talking about confidence-building measures, we are told that the Governors of Taraba and Benue have been given the task of further doing this amongst their people. That is very welcome. But, may we again add that this is a national crisis; Benue and Taraba, Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Aba, etc are few places within the Federation. But it’s a conflagration already and we must douse it now. A concerted national action is the answer, not some piecemeal set pieces. It is hoped that the latter meeting of the President with the Governors made this clear.

We note the discussions on Section 42 of the Constitution and welcome the Federal Government’s intention to invoke such provisions pursuant to genuine national citizenship. It’s long overdue. Our argument has always been that this section holds the key to the union between peoples and state. We are all here to stay, no one is going to run away or back down, whatever that means. Let the agents of destruction try their best; we’d be taking them down. As a people, Nigerians are some of the most resilient species that walk the earth. Why can’t we have some peace? The earlier the Federal Government starts acting, the better. These are great beginnings.

We also note that as we speak, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, is commencing a four-day tour of the areas involved. It is important that the House sends in a high-powered investigative team and to institute proceedings within the National Assembly to address the issue. It is our hope that the National Assembly shall play a critical role in returning justice to the people. It is time to pay back on the investment the people have made on them.

On our part, we shall be joining a host of other well-meaning people and organisations worldwide to mobilize international public presence at that Panel. We want the world to see everything that goes on there. If justice is to be done, it must be seen as being done by all stakeholders. Both government and the citizens have a lot to gain from well-articulated confidence-building measures, the most important of which is to make its sittings public.

Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen, and God bless.

K. C. Emetulu S. Eyitayo (For and on behalf of Nigerian Consultative Forum International)

December 2001