By Danjuma Lamido
“Soyinka Condemns Call To End BBOG Activities” was the
major headline on both social and regular media by Friday, September 9th,
2015.
I didn’t believe Prof. Wole Soyinka said that because the
same Wole Soyinka during one of his visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja said
he doesn’t like having interview with Nigeria Press as they misrepresent him, yet
Prof. Wole Soyinka has reacted to the issue of BBOG and the Nigeria Police
“ban” reported by Nigeria Press even without confirming the authenticity of the
source.
I agreed with the Nobel laureate that the BBOG campaigners are
campaigning for the rescue of the missing Chibok girls and merely expressing
their democratic rights but the Nobel laureate forget to take note that the
BBOG activities constituted public nuisance by not mindful of freedom
of movement of other persons enshrined in chapter 4, section 41 of the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
To set the record straight for Prof Wole Soyinka and
others, here is the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris statement on Wednesday
during a courtesy visit by the executives of the National Council of Women
Societies (NCWS) at the Force Headquarters in Abuja was “However, the activities of the Bring Back Our Girls Group in Abuja,
the nation’s capital recently, is becoming worrisome and a threat to public
peace and order.
The Bring
Back Our Girls protagonists must understand that in the exercise of their
rights, they must not trample on other peoples’ rights through
over-dramatisation of emotions, self-serving propaganda and disrespect of
public (office) holders.
The police
will not sit on the fence and watch such a scenario unfold. The rights of law-abiding
citizens must be protected within the context of the law. Enough is enough. We
however ask that they tread with caution and that their grievances be channeled
within the ambit of the law.
I watched
them on Television saying they were enforcing their rights. Every citizen of
this country has rights and we believe that where your right ends, the rights
of others begin and we should try to conduct ourselves in such a way that
everybody in the process of enforcing right, do not encroach on the rights of
others.
I believe
that blocking the highway or stopping traffic and over dramatization of
emotion, trying to confront and provoke policemen, I don’t think that is part
of enforcement of rights because even the policemen have rights and they are
doing it lawfully.
The essence
of procession is to bring the attention of the society or the government to
your plight and I think the demonstration has been going on for too long. We
believe and advice that it is time for them to maintain some level of control so
that people of Abuja can live in peace and tranquility.
We however
ask that they tread with caution and that their grievances be channeled within
the ambit of the law,” he said.
The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris never
made mention of “BAN” from his statement rather, what he said is that “We however ask that they tread with caution
and that their grievances be channeled within the ambit of the law”.
Oby Ezekwesili claimed that their march was fallout of
the government’s failure to take action on the video of Chibok girls released by
their abductors on August 14. I want to ask Mrs. Ezekwesili if the BBOG has
ever protested against the killings of the Nigeria Military who fell into the
death trap of the Boko Haram in the process of rescuing the Chibok girls and
other captive that might be in the camp of the Boko Haram?
I am aware that the co-convener of the Group, Aisha
Yesufu, urged the Federal Government to seek help from the international
community to rescue of the girls. The US Secretary of State, John Kerry was in
Nigeria recently and he openly gave the support of the US Government not only
to rescue the girls but to end Boko Haram activities in Nigeria and her neighbouring
countries.
I am happy that the parents of the Chibok girls has
disassociated themselves from the Bring Back Our Girls Group as it is glaring
that the group has derailed in her objectives to bring back the girls.
My candid advice to Prof. Wole Soyinka is to verify
information before reaction. He has access to the IGP and those concerned. A
text message to the IGP would have saved him the embarrassment he is faced with
now.
To the Bring Back Our Girls Group, my advice is that
they support the military as well as those in the IDP camps as Chibok Girls are
not the only people affected by the Boko Haram insurgencies.
Military operations and tactics are not for public
consumption and I must commend the military for a job well done since the
inception of the Buhari administration.
Danjuma Lamido wrote in from Jigawa State. He can be
reached via https://www.facebook.com/danjuma.lamido?fref=ts
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