Senate disagrees with Buhari, says proscription and categorization of IPOB as terrorist org. is unconstitutional

The President of the Senate, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, CON, has stated that the announcement of the proscription of the group known as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by Governors of the South-east states and the categorization of the group as a ‘terrorist organisation’ by the Nigerian military are unconstitutional and does not follow due process.

Senator Saraki stated this in a statement personally signed by him, and made available to Elombah.com.

In the statement dated 18 September 2017, he said “Our laws make clear provisions for taking such actions and without the due process being followed, such declaration cannot have effect. I am sure the President will do the needful by initiating the right process. This will go a long way in demonstrating to the world at large that we are a country that operate by laid down process under every circumstance”.

On his part, Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has written President Muhammadu Buhari urging him to go the way of dialogue and call off the ongoing Operation Python Dance in South East to avoid the kind of tension that could degenerate to full scale civil war.

Senator Ekweremadu in a five page letter urged the president to heed the advice of his security advisers who he said had urged the president to lessen tension in the Southeast through amending his policies to include the region in his appointments and infrastructure development plans.

Ekweremadu, the highest elected political office holder from the Southeast nevertheless restated his full commitment to the territorial integrity of the country and the way of peace.

In the letter entitled “Rising Tension in the South East: Re: Appeal to Call Off Operation Egwu Eke” and dated Thursday, 14th September, Ekweremadu said he was compelled by the rising tension in the South East occasioned by Operation Python Dance and the dangers to the nationhood inherent in it to appeal to the President “to take immediate steps to avert another civil war in Nigeria”.

Following the clash between the military and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Nigeria military designated IPOB a “militant terrorist organisation”, while the five south east governors said they have banned IPOB activities in the entire south east region.

But Saraki sated National Assembly Will Investigate Crisis in South-east, and added: “I hereby call for calm and restraint by all Nigerians so that we would all jointly find the right solution to the current problem rather than worsening the crisis.”

Saraki said the Senate “must commend the military for their efforts in restoring peace to different parts of the country and sustaining the unity of the country. However, in the face of provocation, the military should allow themselves to be guided by their training which emphasizes respect for human rights, even in war. Also, giving the nature of this particular situation, the military has every reason to be hesitant in the use of force.

“It is my view that we should not over-stretch the military. We need to protect our military against dissipation of their fighting strength. And this means we need to strengthen the police and equip them with the capacity to deal with civil crisis. That is why we, in the aNational Assembly, are already reviewing the Police Act and also looking at the possibility of enabling other para-military agencies to help in curbing civil unrest and maintenance of law and order.

“I want to also make it clear that the National Assembly intends to embark on a fact-finding investigation aimed at determining what actually happened during the period of the military exercise in the South-east. We want to be able to sift the facts from the fiction and determine who did what. It is quite clear that all the facts are not yet known. We assure Nigerians that there will be no cover up. We intend to lay the facts bare.”

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook