In furtherance to our letter submitted to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on April 23rd, 2018, we emphatically and unequivocally call for the declaration of Nigeria as a terror state with the sanction of the Nigerian government and related implicated politicians and traditional leaders. Travel restrictions, account freezes and other instruments of punishment must be urgently meted out on implicated state officials and involved private personalities
[Ref: April 23rd, 2018 Letter to UN: http://ends.ng/dr-brimah-drags-buhari-to-un-over-nationwide-killings-declares-global-protests-over-insecurity/]
President Buhari
The United Nations was founded with a role to protect the lives of world citizens without discrimination. The distinguished organization has an obligation which we believe it cannot and must not shy from any longer in attending — without partiality — to issues which constitute crimes against humanity and the perpetration of terror by the state on its citizenry and citizens of neighboring nations and the world at large.
Nigeria’s rulers in collaboration with its political elite class have continuously without pause over the last 30 years, directly perpetrated acts of terror on the citizens of Nigeria and also supported groups and individuals involved in mass terror, massacres and genocides on various populations within and outside Nigeria.
Only the lives of the wealthy and those in power have value in Nigeria. The sanctity of the life of the poor, weak and minorities must be enshrined.
Cases of Government Terror
We would like to call the attention of the United Nations to a selection of cases of crimes against humanity, acts of genocide and frank terror by the Nigerian government over the years that have been left unaddressed.
Sierra Leone 1998-1999: The United Nations is aware of the frank terror the Nigerian army is accused of perpetrating on the people of Sierra Leone it was supposed to protect under its ECOMOG operations between 1998 and 1999.
The “Peace Killers” as Nigerian troops have been captioned in an Aljazeera documentary on the re-opening of the cases of crimes against humanity Nigeria stands accused of, who left behind sorrow, tears, broken limbs and blood in Sierra Leone, have never been held to account and have been emboldened to continue to transmit barbarity as an official policy of the Nigerian army through the years.
1999 Odi Massacre: In 1999, Nigeria’s leadership under then president Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar were accused in the massacre of as many as 2500 innocent and unarmed Ijaw minority citizens during the Odi massacre. This massacre was a focal point in the establishment of militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
Comment: No sanctions or repudiation has ever been issued by the United Nations for these acts of state terror, thus encouraging repeats and a state of anarchy in Nigeria.
2001 Zaki Biam Massacre: Again, under the leadership of former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice Atiku Abubakar, in 2001 as many as 1000 innocent civilians were killed in Zaki Biam and proximal villages in Benue state.
[Ref: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/30/world/nigeria-army-said-to-massacre-hundreds-of-civilians.html]
Comment: Again, no sanctions or repudiation has ever been issued by the United Nations for these acts of state terror, thus encouraging repeats and a state of anarchy in Nigeria.
The accused continue to live large and free in Nigeria, playing major roles in policy determination and encouraging repeat acts of terror by successive government in Nigeria. So far escaping damnation of the UN and International Criminal Courts, even daring to contest for re-election to lead Nigeria. Case of note: Atiku Abubakar, currently contesting for the presidency. The far-reaching deadly implications of the failure of the United Nations to properly address acts of state terror become quickly apparent.
2013 Baga Massacre: Under the Goodluck Jonathan / Namadina Sambo administration, in 2013 Nigerian soldiers were accused of going wild and killing hundreds of citizens while torching over 2000 homes in retaliation for the killing of a soldier.
[Ref: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/world/africa/outcry-over-military-tactics-after-massacre-in-nigeria.html]
Comment: Again, no sanctions or repudiation has ever been issued by the United Nations for these acts of state terror, thus encouraging repeats and a state of anarchy in Nigeria.
2015 Zaria Massacre: Under the current ex-General Muhammadu Buhari / Pastor Yemi Osinbajo regime, at least 1000 unarmed minority shia Muslims were summarily executed when the Nigerian military, provoked by a youth protest, went on a rampage across at least 5 locations in Kaduna in search of shia Muslims. The state governor Nasir El-Rufai confessed to secretly burying at least 350 of the victims in a mass grave in the middle of the night. Many were buried while still alive.
[Ref: http://saharareporters.com/2016/04/21/nigerian-military-covered-zaria-massacre-dug-mass-graves-and-burned-shiite-members-alive ; https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/201615-kaduna-govt-says-347-shiites-killed-by-nigerian-troops-given-secret-mass-burial.html]
Comment: Again, no sanctions or repudiation has ever been issued by the United Nations for these acts of state terror, thus encouraging repeats and a state of anarchy in Nigeria.
2016 Onitsha Massacre: Under the current ex-General Muhammadu Buhari / Pastor Yemi Osinbajo regime over 100 Igbo minority youth were massacred in an act of terror by the Nigerian government who unleashed excessive force, shooting at sight to disperse them from a peaceful pro-Biafra prayer gathering.
[Aljazeera ref: https://youtu.be/H3ebTXgwxKI]
[Ref: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/investigationspecial-reports/205176-special-report-onitsha-massacre-pro-biafra-supporters-coordinated-sss-operative.html]
Comment: Again, no sanctions or repudiation has ever been issued by the United Nations for these acts of state terror, thus encouraging repeats and a state of anarchy in Nigeria.
Government Acts Supporting and Encouraging Terror
Former Kaduna state governor Makarfi is alleged to have implicated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former National Security Adviser, Aliyu Mohammed Gusau as well as a prominent foreign sponsored salafi/wahhabi group operating in Nigeria’s north, the Izala (now renamed JIBWIS) group, in sponsoring and perpetrating deadly riots and terror leading to over 5000 deaths during the “Ms World” and “Shariah” riots of 2002. Neither the accuser nor the accused have been held to account.
[Ref: https://newsrescue.one/bombshell-us-wikileaks-cables-atiku-gusau-izala-behind-radical-terror-in-kaduna-benue-katsina-others-gov-makarfi/]
In 2016 Kaduna state governor Nasir el-Rufai confessed to directly seeking and financing accused Fulani terrorists who had been involved in acts of terror across Nigeria. By his confession, the governor paid these terrorists even outside Nigeria’s borders.
[Ref: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/weve-paid-fulani-stop-killings-southern-kaduna-el-rufai/ ]
The leadership of ex-General Muhammadu Buhari/Pastor Yemi Osinbajo has been accused of negotiating with terrorists, freeing deadly terrorists with blood and rape on their hands and sponsoring Boko Haram terror group with massive emoluments as your (UN) report has detailed.
[http://saharareporters.com/2018/08/16/lai-mohammed-lied-%E2%80%94-un-report-reveals-fg-made-%E2%80%98large-ransom-payment%E2%80%99-boko-haram-dapchi]
Treasury Looting: Economic Terror: Looting of the Nigerian treasury by the same implicated individuals is economic terror and creates an impoverished environment which breeds terror. Illicitly siphoned funds are also used to finance terror.
Millions of dollars have been found stashed in homes in Nigeria and the officials responsible for looting the funds are never locked up. There is never a proper investigation on what the funds have been used for. Recently a state house official, Babachir Lawal, was sacked after intense public outcry, for looting millions meant for Boko Haram victims. The official enjoys impunity till date, safe from jail. This is economic terror and gross violation of the fabric of the Nigerian society. Nigerians have nowhere to turn for justice and safety.
Looted funds are used for politics by the ruling and major opposition parties to rig elections and continue to keep the same individuals in power who will never punish past politicians and elite accused of terror and crimes against humanity.
Frank Terror: Police Has Been Privatised: Nigeria’s police has been privatised, thus leaving no security for the masses with the army dispatched in stead, further worsening the situation. Nigeria’s police chief himself confessed that 80% of the police force have been assigned to protect the wealthy. This in itself is frank terror. The usurp of the police to protect only the wealthy is a major contributor to the spate of incessant massacres in the nation and the uncontrollable spread of terror to neighboring nations. We have protested for the redeployment of the police to protect the populace, but the government scoffs at the poor masses.
[Ref 1: http://saharareporters.com/2018/02/08/80-percent-our-policemen-are-deployed-protect-politicians-and-vips-says-nigeria-police
Ref 2: Cabal Must Go Protest for police redeployment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBiMCqU4ipU ]
Comment: The UN is urged to sanction security chiefs who have been exposed to have amassed wealth and properties within the country and abroad.
UN Action
By its continuous recklessness and reckless negligence, the Nigerian government and its partners in and around the ruling and main opposition party, have made terror a part of life in Nigeria. This is why Nigeria is the most terrorized nation on earth today. Secret mass burials are the order of the day and these happen almost weekly across many states, coordinated by thee presidency and state governors, to cover up the numbers being killed by the state and its actions.
Boko Haram terror festers and continues to affect Nigeria’s neighbors in the north.
Fulani herder terror continues to consume thousands of lives in Nigeria under immunity of successive administrations till date. The owners of the cattle are said to be untouchable political elite with patrons at all levels of government. Cows are more sacred in Nigeria than humans.
High sea terror continues to emanate from Nigeria’s coast across the entire region.
The Nigerian government does not obey the law which is in itself another variant of terror. Where there is no law, there is no state. Where there is no state, there is anarchy.
Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 55 of the UN Charter, demand “universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.” Nigerians are denied their fundamental rights and subjected to torture and death in the hands of the too-long globally tolerated terror state leadership.
The United Nations is committed to protecting the lives of individuals and combatting state terror according to Article 39, 41 and 42 of the Charter of the United Nations.
Resolutions 46/51 and 49/60 on state involvement in terror must be brought down hard on Nigerian rulers once and for all to take Nigeria out of the prehistoric barbaric era and into modernity.
Nigerians are increasingly being pushed to inalienable, God-ordained resort to self-help in the absence of a government and under state sanctioned and perpetrated terror. A state of anarchy is developing in the heart of Africa. This cannot be good for the world. We demand action and demand it now.
Dr. Perry Brimah: @CabalMustGo; @EveryNigerian
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