Bringing Professor Falaki’s killers to justice

Aliyu Musa

In a documentary last year the toll our war on the Boko Haram terrorism was taking on innocent citizens was laid bare. The intent of the filmmakers was to galvanize the Nigerian government to investigate such rights abuses, bring erring security officials to justice and put a stop to further excesses or at the very least minimise it. Or, in the event of the government not acting to protect innocent lives, the people, and every stakeholder, to put pressure on the government until something was done.

It is now more than half a year since the documentary was released. And more and more people have continued to lose their lives needlessly, fired from both ends. Professor Ahmad Mustapha Falaki, a renowned professor of agriculture and executive director of the Institute for Agricultural Research at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, is among the latest victims.

I have read various accounts of how he died and who, allegedly, was responsible. For example one account says he was mistaken for a Boko Haram member and, before police could do anything to stop angry villagers, he was mobbed to death. Another account argues that he killed by gunmen who made away with his official Toyota Hilux car. And the last, which appears to be the most alarming, is that he was robbed of his official car at gunpoint but was unhurt; he was taken to a police station, where he was to give a written account of what happened, but a team of police officers arrived and accused him of being one of the Boko Haram insurgents that had earlier attacked a police station in Kibiya. This account also says he was struck a blow by an officer that cost his life.

In this age of Internet and social media every of the above accounts could be misleading and should not be taken in until it is fully verified. Even mainstream media, sometimes, perhaps in a bid to beat co-competitors, become victims of fraudulent stories because they do not do a proper check before letting off. One way to find out the truth in the case of Professor Falaki’s attack is to speak to witnesses where the robbery attack and/or attack took place and, possibly, any survivor.

In a BBC Hausa interview Professor Falaki’s 52-year-old brother, Abbas, who survived the ordeal told of how police officers accused them of being Boko Haram members while at the police station in Kibiya, where they had gone to report the robbery incident. And that even after the late professor and his driver had presented photo IDs, the officers were unconvinced; they were suddenly attacked and a blow to the back of Professor Falaki’s head may have caused his death.

Abbas said he recalled being dragged onto a police van and later the professor was heaped on like a dead animal. The driver had managed to escape into the dark of the night but was apprehended by the villagers who handed him over to the police unharmed, suggesting that the account the villagers were responsible for the professor’s death was only concocted to absolve officers, who had made calls to colleagues to announce their capture and had celebrated their ‘gallantry’ by making stops at several police stations along the way to Kano to display their victims.

Reports say it was only when the Professor’s colleagues at ABU intervened, insisting he had nothing to do with Boko Haram that his remains were released for burial and his brother, who survived the ordeal, was released without a charge. It was also then the police realised the gravity of their fatal error and/or impunity and began to concoct lies to cover up and, in the process, came up with the story that the villagers were responsible. But with Abbas alive and conscious enough to recollect and recount all that happened the police’s alibi will definitely not stand the test of veracity, unless the Nigerian factor – a metaphor for all sorts of corrupt practices, including allowing felons to escape justice – is factored in to kill the matter.

At the minute it appears the top echelon of the police are trying hard not to be seen to be shielding their colleagues from facing justice. But one will not hurry to jump to any conclusion – it’s less than two week since the gory attack. One will only hope perpetrators of this and similar crimes are brought to justice. Fighting terror is no excuse to overtly violate human rights. Justice for Professor Ahmad Mustapha Falaki is not negotiable.

Postscript

Some years ago James Ibori, now a convicted criminal serving a term in Britain was wanted by prosecutors in the UK to face charges of money laundering amongst other felonies. The money illegally ferried into the UK was stolen from the public treasury in Nigeria. While British prosecutors sought support from the Nigerian government to bring fugitive Ibori to justice the Nigerian government refused to cooperate and, through the then Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa, did everything to kill the matter. But Ibori was short-sighted enough to expect he would be safe in the UAE. He was wrong.

Fast forward to February 2015. While majority of Nigerians want free, fair and credible elections and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has worked hard enough to ensure that, the federal government is doing everything to forestall it. Through its Justice Ministry, even as Justice Minister Mohammed Adoke (SAN) claims not to be aware, it has filed a suit to stop the use of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), a biometric pass that will ensure would-be riggers are screened out. It emerges each day that the PDP would stop at nothing to keep power. But those behind this plot should know that jettisoning the use of PVCs could a big recipe for violence.