Tuesday- 3rd August, 2021: Human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, has reacted to the arrest order by the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), to Mr Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Nigeria.
According to Falana, the order was as a result a failed system of government.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who made the comment in a telephone interview with AIT, decried the level of social and political decay in the country which, according to him, is made evident in the allegation against Kyari.
The FBI has indicted the Deputy Commissioner of Police on graft-related charges in relation to Ramon Abbas (aka “Hushpuppi”), who is facing trial for fraud in the US. Mr Falana has called for the rules of extradition to be followed.
‘To put an end and close this ugly chapter, the investigation must go beyond the indictment by the FBI, the matter must be investigated locally, and Kyari shall not just be handed to America, we operate under the rule of law whether the government likes it or not, there is an extradition act in place which requires that countries like the United States of America with which Nigeria has entered into treaties, so there are procedures to be followed if you want a criminal suspect either here or in America be face court trial. In the case of Nigeria-America, a treaty was entered in 1935 under the British colonial regime, but between then and now, dozens of citizens have been extradited from Nigeria, some were adopted and thrown to the United States, but not a single suspect [that is an] American citizen has been brought for trial in Nigeria,’ he said.
He recalled with sadness how public office holders including senior police officers and Department of State Security (DSS) had violated courts orders and judicial panels of inquiry on different occasions in matters of critical concern. He called on the Attorney GeneralMinister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, to follow and process an extradition request from the United States, saying the Special Investigative Panel set up the Inspection General of Police on the matter under review should do a thorough job.
On separatist agitations, the learned luminary declared that he is against the balkanisation of Nigeria, howbeit, Article 20 (1) of African Chatter on Human & People’s Rights which guarantees the right of self-determination of a people.
He accused the Federal Government of being the cause of agitations for separate republics by Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho having failed to ensure equity, fairness and justice for all citizens. He added that the Federal Government itself has displayed some separatist tendencies through its actions and policies in recent times.
‘Members of the ruling class are making separatist demands every day. When the federal government treats a set of people with kid gloves and others with iron and fist, what do you expect? When you introduce “Divide and Rule” tactics and negotiate with terrorists but condemn young people asking for a separate nation, are you not the cause? You insist that the next president must come from a particular region, you ordered the AGF to look for grazing routes across the entire country so that you can move cattle from the north to the South, are these not separatists demands and agenda?
‘How can the government make moves to occupy the 36 States in the name of feeding cattle? We fought the civil war in this country, now tell me, how many Institutions or colleges were students are being taught about the civil war and its effects? Nobody was taught the crisis of 1966 that snowballed into the civil war in 1967. So it’s not unusual for young people to seek separate nations, but I expect the federal government to nib these in the bud by ensuring that everyone has confidence in the corporate existence of Nigeria.
‘In so far as we must respect Article 20 (1) of African Chatter on Human and People’s Rights (AFCHPR,) we must also look into Article 21 of the same charter which provides that the national resources of a country shall be exploited in the “collective interest” of the people, and in no way, on no ground shall the people be denied of their commonwealth.’
He continued: ‘Article 21 of AFCHPR also provides that local and foreign exploiters shall not be allowed to corner the resources of the country. More so, Article 13 of AFCHPR provides that every individual shall participate directly or indirectly in the governance of his country if the government of a country does not respect these rights, rights of resource control and rights to participate in the governance of your country, and a people decide to break away from the country, there and then the government is expected to come in (not with force) to know where it (government) has failed to respect its obligations. This is what is expected of a responsible government because section 16 of the 1999 Constitution provides that the resources of the country shall be harnessed by the government and distributed to promote the happiness of the people. It says the resources of the country shall not be handed over to a few people or group, but where the resources are given to very few and they become instant billionaires, while the part of the country where these resources are exploited, the environment remain poor and degrading- you provoke young people to pick arms as it happened in the case of Niger Delta.
‘So when you push Young people into poverty, unemployment and they become embittered, frustrated and you still conspicuously exclude them from the scheme of things, they question your actions and inactions towards them, what the government could have done is to sit with them and convince them that the country belongs to all the people. That sense of belonging is what we all need. So they have the Right to demand for a separate republic not with Violence and nobody should use force against them (Separatists agitators) however they must recognise the rights of others who still want to remain Nigerians, every violent act has a consequence,’ he affirmed.
