Govt may extend emergency rule in Borno, others The Federal Government may change its mind on the possibility of calling off the emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states before the expiration of the initial six months recommended by the 1999 Constitution, investigation by The PUNCH has revealed. President Goodluck Jonathan had on May 14 declared emergency rule in the three states following continued bloodletting in the affected states. In declaring the emergency rule, the President invoked Section 305 of the constitution as amended which empowers him to make the declaration for an initial six- month duration upon the approval of the National Assembly. The six months duration is expected to expire on November 14. But Jonathan on May 26 during a meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, on the sideline of the 21st ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Africa Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said with the level of success so far recorded by the military in the affected states, he was optimistic that the emergency rule would end before the initial six months stipulated by the consitution. “The military intervention in the affected states is going on well. There are no human rights abuses and there are no collateral damages with regard to security of individuals. I am optimistic that with the level of success already being recorded, the emergency rule in the affected states may not last up to the six months stipulated by the constitution,” he had said. But a competent Presidency source told one of our correspondents on Monday that the President might be forced to have a rethink on that decision based on latest developments in the states. The source said the case was worsened with the Saturday killing of 29 pupils of Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Potiskum, Yobe State, which the President has since described as wicked and barbaric. The pupils and one of their teachers were murdered by suspected members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram. “The Saturday killing of schoolchildren is no doubt a setback for the success of security agencies in the states under emergency rule. The sad event had put a question mark on the level of success of military operation. It will not be wise at this time to lift the emergency rule if such an incident could happen under the watchful eyes of troops,” the source said. He added that a final decision on the matter might be taken during the next meeting of the President with security chiefs. When contacted on the development, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said there was no issue on the matter since the initial six months duration was still running. “That remains in the realm of speculation. There is no issue in it. The initial six months is still running and that is a form of intervention. It is when the six months expire that we can be discussing that, “ he said. On the Yobe killings, Abati said that the war against terrorists that had been launched would continue as the Federal Government was committed to putting an end to the terrrorists’ menace. “Mr. President is committed to the issue of the protection of lives and properties of all Nigerians and he wants to assure Nigerians that the war against terrorists has been launched and will continue and the Nigerian government is determined to put an end to this menace,” he said. Meanwhile, the Amnesty International has called on the Federal Government to provide tight security in schools to prevent further terrorist attacks on children and their right to education. The organisation urged the government to investigate the attack on the pupils in Yobe State by Boko Haram members. AI’s Deputy Director for Africa, Lucy Freeman, in a statement on Monday, said information available to the organisation indicated that several children that fled to the bush during the attack had not been found. “The protection of children’s lives is paramount, and the Nigerian government has a duty to ensure that the country’s educational sector is not further threatened by the killing and intimidation of students and teachers and the destruction of school buildings. The Nigerian authorities must investigate these attacks and bring those responsible to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty,” she said. Freeman said that the government was obliged under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to which Nigeria is a party to take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools. “Such attacks violate the right to life and undermine the right to education for thousands of children in northern Nigeria. They must stop immediately,” Freeman said. According to her, the destruction and damage of school infrastructure and facilities grossly reduced the availability of and access to education for many children in northern Nigeria. Also, the Peoples Democratic Party expressed shock over the killing of the pupil s, describing it as “monstrous and horrible”. It also said that those responsible for the killing would not go unpunished. PDP Acting National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Tony Okeke, said in a statement in Abuja on Monday, that the killing of the pupils was a direct effrontery to God and the height of wickedness only fit for the devil. “The PDP received the news of the killing of 28 pupils and a teacher at Government Secondary School, Mamudo with shock. The gruesome killing of these innocent ones is indeed monstrous, horrible and the height of wickedness only fit for the devil,” the statement said. The PDP, which said the killing was a sacrilege to God and humanity, stressed that there was no way the perpetrators would get away with the crime as “all forces of nature will collaborate to bring them to book.” The party insisted that no person has the right to take the life of another under any guise and charged security forces to rise up to the occasion and ensure that the killers and their supporters were tracked down and made to face the wrath of the law. It also commiserated with the families of the deceased, the Government and people of Yobe State and prayed God to give the bereaved families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 14:05:51 +0000