Report by SHINDONG BALA; Editing by BASIRAT MEMUDU
Participants at an NGO, House of Justice-HOJ annual summit involving retired Army Generals and Legal luminaries have called on government to go after financiers of insecurity in the country and ensure the protection of civilian informants to security agents in order to completely cripple terrorist’s activities in Nigeria.
The call is contained in a communiqué after a summit and Golden Ball Banquet of the NGO with the theme; Security Justice and National Orientation held in Kaduna.
The communique asserts that the Government and security agencies are aware of some of the persons sponsoring terrorism through intelligence gathering and reports but there has not been concerted efforts to deal with the lifeblood of insecurity especially financiers of insecurity.
The communiqué which was signed by the Chief Executive Officer House Of Justice, Barrister Gloria Ballason and Luka Ashafa Odita, Lecturer, Criminology & Security Studies Kaduna State University emphasized the need for cooperation by Nigeria and neighboring countries in strategically resolving insecurity stating that the recruitment process for security agents should be transparent and based on merit.
It states that absence of justice for victims make some of them to transit into combatants and it criticizes the policy of rehabilitation, recovery and reintegration programmes for offenders by government while abandoning the victims in internally displaced persons camps which are sometimes re-attacked by the terrorists.
The communiqué which also touched on electoral matters says Nigeria has repeatedly failed to hold electoral offenders to account as Electoral crimes are rarely punished according to Law leading to unresolved electoral disputes and making some African countries to mirror Nigeria electoral empire as a failing system.
“The justice system in Nigeria and Africa should dispense justice according to law. The National Judicial Council and citizens shall hold the judiciary to account. Judicial appointments should be apolitical and shall not devolve by ‘inheritance’ family or filial ties or through any primordial sentiments Nigerian justice system is yet to be systematic.
“There is need for justice delivery reforms, improved accountability and court efficiency. There is the growing perception that justice in Nigeria especially during elections is transactional. These perceptions have sometimes been substantiated by the experiences of electoral court users.
“There are concerns about the diminishing authority and respect for the justice sector due to the capture of the judiciary by family dynasties, politicization of appointments and the profiling of the Judiciary as corrupt.”.
It therefore tasks the National Orientation Agency and the Ministry of Information to set an agenda for positive outlook for the country and ensure that children are not inundated with negative narratives so as to shape their interaction and outlook on the country.
Some of the notable participants at the summit include: General Martin Luther Agwai (Rtd), Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Professor Chris Kwaja, Honorable Sarah Reng Ochekpe, Group Captain Sadeeq Garba Shehu Rtd, Dr. Mike Omeri, Mr. Chima Christian, Barrister Audu Adamu Maikori, Barrister Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, SAN, and Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Muhammad Rabiu represented by ACP Badamasi Musa.
