BOKO HARAM AND GENOCIDAL TREATMENTS BY FASEYIKU

On the day Channel the programme "Nigeria's Hidden War" was aired by Channel 4, I could not watch it because of the monstrosity and savagery of the treatment of alleged or assumed Boko Haramists. Twice after that broadcast I have tried but woefully failed due to personal distress to watch the recorded episode completely. Each time I tried, I stopped when my heart cannot stand to bear what I was seeing. I still cannot bring myself to terms with the extra-judicial punishment and torture inflicted on fellow humans and fellow citizens. 

I felt appalled and severely distressed that one human being could inflict such life threatening savagery against another all in the name of curbing terror or curbing insurgency. No crime, I repeat, no crime is worth even the minute punishment without the direction or supervision of judicial authorities, not to talk of subjecting a human being to such potentially life-terminating and degrading treatments. 

I am ashamed of my Nigerianness in that my own country has chosen not to address this appalling crimes at the very highest levels and bring the perpetrators to book. Till date, the response from the Nigerian authorities to the broadcast has been muted. 

It is not only necessary to stop this inhumanity, a new rules of engagement need to be developed to deal with the insurgency. The arrest of suspects must be recorded in the presence of a law enforcement agent. Their full details - names, addresses, gender, age and any identification document must be obtained and matched. There photograph or mugshot must be taken and securely kept. 

Their testimony and interrogation must be recorded both on tape and formally. When they are handed over to the military or police authorities, their state of health must be ascertained and recorded by a medical officer. We cannot continue to treat our citizens in this manner and expect the world to take us serious as a nation that intends to play a serious or leading role in international affairs. 

The Nigerian leader must be aware that these are possible grounds for an indictment against him when he leaves office in the ICC and must now come out clearly to let it be known that this kind of genocidal treatment is not officially sanctioned or condoned by the Nigerian state. 

I totally detest and abhor terror and extremism or any form of fundamentalism. As a liberal christian of the pentecostal extraction, I do not support sectarian, religious or ideological fundamentalism, neither is racial or economic bigotry a manifest tendency for me. But the fundamental human rights of even those who preach this must not be disrespected or taken away from them. 

We can defeat this terror by doing good to all men. What the Bible teaches me is that love is the supreme attribute through which we can bring all iniquities and transgressions unto submission. This war of ideology is a mind war, it cannot be won by boots and bullets. 

Developing Nigeria especially the ravaged North East, reversing the years of misrule and its attendant social dysfunctions, increasing economic and social opportunities across the length and breadth of the country, tackling elite corruption in Abuja (especially right at the seat of power) and rebuilding the country to fulfil the potentials of its massive youth population is the only way to defeat this war.

By: Oluseyi Steven Faseyiku