Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has called on Abia State Government and Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Janet Agbede to prosecute officers involved killing Abians extrajudicially during lockdown.

The group says failure to prosecute the trigger-happy policemen is an injustice against the immediate past Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Ene Okon.

COSEYL in a statement issued by its President General, Hon Goodluck Ibem and Secretary General, Comrade Kanice Igwe wondered why the state police command has not set up a high-powered committee as it promised regarding the prosecution of the officers.

Titled, “NOT PROSECUTING UNPROFESSIONAL POLICE OFFICERS INVOLVED IN EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS IN ABIA IS AN INJUSTICE AGAINST CP. ENE OKON” COSEYL also recalled many other efforts the former CP made in fighting crime in the state.

“The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), the umbrella body of all the youth organizations in the South East geopolitical zone wishes to draw the attention of the public to a lingering injustice.

“It is sad to state that during the lockdown some police officers in Abia state command of the force carried out successively extrajudicial killings on Abians in places like Ururuka and Ohafia in a rather unprofessional manner to keep to the Covid-19 protocols. The Coalition regret to announce that barring arrest of these officers, no prosecutorial trial of any kind has followed, not even hearing.

“It is true that the buck, at state command level, stops at CP Ene Okon’s table, but the idea of keeping these officers for rather too long under protective custody is an out and out injustice on Okon even when the state command had vowed to set up a high-powered committee to look into this issue.

“Let it be recalled that though now redeployed, Okon reduced the issue of insecurity to the minimum. The Special Anti-robbery Squad, SARS as acronymed, were on top of the security situation within the state. The issue of the killing of a couple in Umuahia before the children whereupon the criminals were apprehended is still fresh in our collective memory. Again, through intelligence, CP Okon’s men foiled a robbery attack on Fidelity Bank, Aba, in October of 2019 even when the bank and its officials had not known what was in the offing. Kidnapers were flushed out of the state and other criminal elements relocated from the state for fear of CP Okon.

“During the said time criminal hideout and facilities billeted by bad elements were raided and arrests made, this helped in tackling some social problems within the state. Though the killings, as they were, remain lamentable and condemnable so, the question becomes: what logic is there in removing a man who had not given order to his surbodinates to kill or use Abians for target practice whereas the trigger-happy officers are yet to have a date in court?

“Nothing compares with life, we regret that Abians died but what happened to the ex police commissioner has no place in justice should the offenders remain at large.

“As a Coalition we demand that the true facts surrounding those lockdown killings be inquired into and justice done. Sad to know is that even after his unfortunate redeployment, there have been cases of people killed extrajudicially. This is why as a front for progressives we demand a rejig of the police in areas of recruitment, training, welfare, promotion and working condition else we would not be making an inch of headway” it says.

The Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has described the Nigerian nation as a country still breastfeeding even at the adulthood of 60 years.

The group was reacting to the country’s 60th Independence anniversary which took place on Thursday, October 1, 2020.

In a statement issued on Friday by the President General, Hon. Goodluck Ibem and Secretary General, Comrade Kanice Igwe said there is nothing to celebrate in the country.

According to COSEYL, numerous challenges facing the country, ranging from insecurity, infrastructure deficit, nepotism and others have made it unnecessary for the country to celebrate true Independence.

Read full release below

NIGERIA AT 60: AN OLD MAN STILL BREASTFEEDING.

It is quite unfortunate that Nigeria got flag independence from her British colonial masters in 1960 and has nothing indeed to celebrate sixty years after. What should we celebrate? Are we going to celebrate extrajudicial killings by the security agencies who are paid with the taxpayers money or killings in Southern Karina, Benue, Katsina and other parts of the country? Are we going to celebrate perpetual darkness by the Electricity Distribution Companies or sheer nepotism and favoritism that is the order of the day in government’s day to day activities and appointments even as recently seen?

A country like Nigeria is supposed to draw strength from its various diversity, cultural and traditional potentials but instead it has such potentials have been our undoing in rather reverse sense. A country like America is moving from strength to strength because they saw their diversity as a source of blessing and exploited same for their own collective good. That is why today America is a force to reckon with the world over. Nigeria can achieve a great feat if we toe the same line like American.

But it is too sad that the present federal government is leading the country to its grave by not carrying other geopolitical zones along in its appointments. A President that only appoints all the security chiefs from one region (northern zone) can hardly be said as being Nigerian. It portends great danger ahead for the nation. Other geopolitical zones have by that singular act shown that while they belong to Nigeria, Nigeria does not belong to them.

In Mr President 60th independence speech, he admonished Nigerians to imbibe tolerance in diversity. Now the sixty-four thousand dollar question for Mr President is: Are appointments of all security service chiefs and NNPC Management members from the north imbibing tolerance in diversity which he strongly emphasised?.

The bitter truth is that we have nothing to celebrate as a nation after 60 years of independence from our British colonial masters. Nigeria is an old man still sucking her mother’s breast at sixty, the retirement age. What a pity! Why do not the refineries work today and why did the president not make any reasonable explanation as to why prices of fuel and consumer goods are high in the market? Why did he end up drawing comparison with other petroleum economies whereas on a comparative note Nigeria is not better run than the other sixteen African countries that attained independence with her by 1960. Rwanda’s independence came in 1962 but that nation after the 1994 genocide has moved ahead. Why is Nigeria still stuck in 1966/7 pogroms and genocide?

Lots of promises were made by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 when he was canvassing for support and votes of the people five years after today how many has he kept? When he said he belonged to nobody and continues – by way of appointments – showing us where his political and ethnic bread is buttered should we not then feel right to tell him he belonged to his Northern region?

Before President Buhari came on board, fuel was sold at the pump price of N90 per litre but today, the same product is sold for N161 or more per litre. He promised to end Boko Haram insurgency but today their terror activities have increased by folds and in percentage in the north. Worst is that as much as he could not solve the problem of insecurity, challenges related to security arose in the form of armed herdsmen, banditry and kidnappers even in the federal capital territory of Abuja.

Northerners and Middle Belt indigenes who are mostly farmers can no longer farm and this has greatly brought hunger to the land. The level of unemployment has drastically increased by 23-27 percent from 2015 till date. The country is seriously in a dire and sorry state even as Nigeria and Nigerians can no longer breath.

Nigerian workers wage is no longer a living wage. They can’t feed their families not to talk of paying school fees of their children. Feeding is now a luxury in Nigeria as those who eat 2 times a day are seen as the rich and yet billions of naira was diverted in the name of feeding school choldren.

In his speech, Mr President said “no government in the past did what we are doing with such scare resources” we wished to remind him that Nigeria of 1970 after the civil war fared better than him and did not borrow a dime or a farthing to execute the civil war whereas his government in peace time has borrowed more than any before it for simply lack of creative policies that could transform the economy and better the lives of the ordinary people.

Mr President, we as a youthful coalition wish to remind you that the foundation of the nation was built with the brain and brawns of her youth. You were petroleum minister in your thirties but today how many cabinet officials, including Youth and Sports Minister, are youths under you? The best you could do for the Nigerian youth was to label them “lazy” before the comity of states.

Kindly and humbly, we wish to remind President Buhari that the dream of the founding fathers are still far from being realised and while that yet remains the case, Nigeria under President Buhari had never been this torn, divided and charged along fault lines. President Buhari should by now know that he has come as the cruelest administration in the history of the nation even when compared with past military regimes. We remind the president to go back to history, discover the goals and dreams of our founding fathers and work for a better Nigeria where “though tribes and tongues may differ in brotherhood we shall stand”, the Nigeria of our dream.

We wish Nigerians, home and abroad, a happy Independence celebration, to the government of the federation we wish same also. Long live the federal republic of Nigeria.

Signed:

Hon. Goodluck Ibem
President General

Comrade Kanice Igwe
Secretary General