OPAN Demands IMMEDIATE Release of Peoples Gazette's Journalists, Condemns Police for Raiding News Website's Office
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
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Cornelius Hamelberg
In Sierra Leone, there was the famous case of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah vs Paul Kamara : This was after Paul Kamara had been awarded the Civil Courage Prize - in 2001
All that Paul had said (written) was that Pa Kabbah had “a house” in Guinea Conakry - where he had fled to safety by helicopter, ousted by Johnny Paul Koroma. Pa Kabbah was in exile in Guinea Conakry for ten long months, Pa Kabbah was furious about the report that he had “a house” in Conakry and took Paul Kamara to Court, eventually won his case that imputing the house to him, Paull was implying that he was corrupt and was thereby undermining his Presidential authority, making himself a nuisance and posing a threat to national security. Paul spent the first ten months of his prison sentence in the solitary confinement cell that had previously been the residence of Foday Sankoh, the RUF leader. Wasn't that psychological torture?
Fact is, with the Court on your side (hardly any separation of powers) most presidents can do as they please. Lock you up , if need be. Legally.
Nigeria, 2022: So, a newspaper article gives details about some cash and luxury items found at Burtai’s residence, the newspaper’s offices are raided, armed police forcing their way into the newspaper's premises, guns blazing and arresting the newspaper's editor and six members of the newspaper’s staff.
This kind of primitive, high-handed behaviour does not enhance the image of Nigeria either at home or abroad.
The name Tukur Buratai rings a bell - like this bell in Anthem For Doomed Youth - “What passing bells for those who die as cattle`? He may have forgotten, even repented, but Nigeria and the world of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International remember Buratai´’s mishandling of the Shia.
It’s the same Buratai that was babbling his own incomprehensible version of the Lekki Massacre that was perpetrated by the minions in his military machine. Who knows, maybe because he graduated from the University of Maiduguri which is at the epi-centre of Boko Haram Operations, we have yet to hear of any massacre of Boko Haram Jihadist’s perpetrated by by Buratai’s military.
Nigerian Law : Libel and Slander . The simple procedure is exactly what’s demanded by OPAN :
“If retired General Buratai feels he was defamed by the report, the lawful and correct approach would be to sue the news outfit for libel in a court of law. The days of using state security agencies to harass and intimidate the press and journalists are over. This desecration of people’s rights cannot be tolerated in a democracy any longer."
In a democracy the sanctity of any public figure is protected by libel laws. Surely, even Nigeria’s highest diplomat to the Republic of Benin knows that this is fundamental and part of the rule of law. - and that if five hundred Nigerian newspapers and cyber blogs were to carry the same story, it should not result in the military police, gun blazing, arresting everybody because Buratai or the police chief thinks it’s blasphemy or heresy and therefore passed a fatwa against anybody telling any uncomfortable truths or lies about the looting of Nigerians’ collective patrimony and the spiritual wickedness of some of those in “ high” places…
So, where are the Naija satirists?
Remember Picasso : “Art is a lie etc. I was tempted to add “ and so are some of the holy books, just stories
( “tory" )