By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
The decision of the Rivers State Government to set up a panel of inquiry into the alleged killings in Oyigbo is a welcome development.
At least, those who witnessed the mayhem that rocked Oyigbo during the EndSARS protest now have an opportunity to tell the panel and of course the public what they saw and felt.
Already, an announcement for submission of memoranda from the general public, especially the Oyigbo residents, has been ongoing in the media since the panel was constituted.
While the setting up of the panel is a right step in the right direction, the effort will be more productive if the Panel’s scope of functions is expanded to include receipt of complaints from victims of the Oyigbo crisis. This will enable the victims to ventilate their grievances and give the Panel, the government and the general public a full, balanced insight into what actually transpired during the crisis.
Giving the victims of the Oyigbo mayhem the opportunity to air their complaints and share their experiences will also convince the public that the Panel was not set up to serve any particular interest.
The fact remains that what affects one affects all, hence Dr Martin Luther’s statement that “injustice to one is injustice to all.”
While the killing of the policemen and soldiers by hoodlums believed to be IPOB members during the EndSARS protest in Oyigbo was highly barbaric and wicked, the alleged abuse of human rights of the ordinary masses in the area by security agents during the post- protest curfew is equally inhuman. Everybody’s life is important. God values the lives of all his creation, including animals. That was why he asked Noah to preserve not only the lives of his family members but also the lives of all species of animals, Genesis 6, 7 and 8.
Thus, the Panel should not only give all affected persons equal opportunity to present their complaints but should also go a step further to make appropriate recommendations on how to redress the various forms of injustice suffered by all the victims of the Oyigbo mayhem.
It’s heartwarming that the president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt, Prince Onyekwere, has also toed this line of view.
While commending the Rivers State Government on Wednesday for constituting the Panel and expressing his confidence in the Panel’s ability to deliver on its mandate, Onyekwere pleaded with the state government to expand the Panel’s terms of reference to include receiving complaints from victims of Oyigbo crisis.
His appeal was timely, given the fact that some people are beginning to suspect that there could be a conspiracy to cover up issues of human rights violations during the enforcement of the post-protest curfew.
The cancellation of the proposed NBA public hearing for victims of the Oyigbo crisis scheduled to hold at the Oyigbo Town Hall on Wednesday, 11/11/2020, due to fear of insecurity, to a remote extent, lends credence to that suspicion.
This makes it imperative for the Panel to allow all victims of the Oyigbo crisis to present their complaints during its sitting, as it will help to dispel this pervading suspicion of conspiracy.
There are allegations that some people were injured while some were killed by stray bullets during alleged series of sporadic shooting by security operatives during the post-EndSARS protest curfew at Oyigbo.
One of the ways to ascertain the authenticity of these allegations is for the Panel to throw the complaint space open to accommodate the families of those victims. Denying them of that opportunity will further fuel suspicions of conspiracy and cover-up that are already rife among the public.
With the international community, particularly Amnesty International and some other human rights groups, already accusing the Nigerian security agents, especially the Army, of human rights violations during the Oyigbo curfew, an open complaint space for all the victims of the crisis will change the global impression that the authorities are covering up ‘things.’ Such an unrestricted complaint space will give the world the impression that we are still practising democracy –which entails the right to free speech and fair hearing – and not tyranny.
No doubt, the Rivers State Government’s decision to set up the Panel is quite laudable.
But allowing the Panel to hear all reports and presentations from all the actors, eyewitnesses and victims of the Oyigbo mayhem will be excellent.
That will help in assuaging the pains of the victims and also convince Rivers people, Nigerians and the international community that the Panel is not just another government charade or conduit pipe to siphon public funds.
