INJUSTICE TO ONE IS INJUSTICE TO ALL: INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS INJUSTICE EVERYWHERE. (New Year Message to Members of DPA) December 31, 2014 THE DUE PROCESS ADVOCATES (DPA) was born on the horns of the gathering dangers of unchecked injustice, as seen in the rising spate of mass jungle justice across the land. The peak of this was the brutal killing in Aluu, Rivers State, Nigeria, of four young promising university students, by a community vigilante. My life changed the moment I watched, half-way only, the brutality of that incident on October 6, 2012. That was the moment DPA was born. I recognized that I was not the only one troubled by that extremely gory event. I immediately began to look for others who wanted change. That was how I found you, or rather, that was how the Due Process found us and brought us together. I like to give a testimony at this time on my work for due process. In October of 2012, when the four students were killed in Aluu, I encountered a lady on Facebook, who argued so vehemently in support of the killings. She insisted that the four boys were robbers and that they should be killed. I was quite troubled that a young lady of about 24-years of age would really encourage the brutality of that event. I was boiling inside me as I listened to her argument. But I held myself together with great care to avoid telling her to go to hell. As I probed further, I discovered that the young lady was a victim. She was raped in her first year in the university by a gang of armed robbers who attacked her hostel residence. Since then, she had borne the trauma of her own dehumanization and debasement. Without any counseling or appropriate cure, she had lived with a damaged mind. She wanted everybody suspected (however unreasonably) of robbery to be killed by a mob. Greatly troubled by this ladys experience, I cultivated her friendship and we talked on the phone from time to time. Last year, she called me on the phone. She was greatly agitated and something seemed terribly amiss. When she gathered her breath to speak, she informed me that her own younger brother had just been arrested for robbery based on a false allegation. Her brother was arrested by the SARS and there was fear that he could be killed there in one of the extra-judicial killings that SARS are notorious for. I am happy to inform you that I intervened directly and probably saved her brothers life. I tell this story to show that even those who support the burning of suspects might also fall victim of the evil practice they have supported. After Aluu, we have gone further to see video clips of many other acts of jungle justice. A woman and her daughter were brutally dehumanized and one of them killed in Lagos because they were accused of stealing pepper in their local market. Two university undergraduate ladies and their male friend were brutally dehumanized because they were accused of stealing bra in a market. (Quite sadly, in any case where a woman is the victim of jungle justice, some men in the mob will be aiming at touching or exposing or putting something in her private part. Some idiot is sure to be there to shout: Show us your toto!). We recently learned of a sick woman who was attacked and set on fire because she was accused of being a witch, turning from a bird to a woman. Young children are routinely beaten, brutalized and killed because they are accused of being witches. And recently two young men on a bike were hunted like rats and roasted in public glare because somebody, somebody said they must have been thieves. In all these, the Nigerian law enforcement agencies watch and do nothing. There must be somebody or some group of people who would not keep quiet about these occurrences. That quest and impulse for action and for change gave birth to DPA. That is why we are. Apart from the national crises that propelled me then, I came upon DPA at a time when I faced a crossroad in my relationship with my country of birth, Nigeria. I came to realize that time had come when it was no longer enough to stand on the sideline and whine and complain about how better things ought to be. It was a time for strategic and constructive engagement with the country, and with the world on the fundamental issues of justice. Trained as a lawyer, the law and legal institutions were ready-made tools for me to use in the quest for justice. When that time came, I called upon you to lend me your hands of partnership. Despite your many doubts about me and my intentions, you decided to come along. I am so grateful and proud of you for that act of courage. From helping the poor, informing others and to intervening on many issues of justice and injustice in Nigeria and elsewhere, DPA has grown from a loosely-gathered enthusiasts to a strong forum for discussion and debate and reshaping of public opinion. Unknown to many, people in powerful positions of leadership are beginning to take into account what people are saying in DPA. Thanks to each one of you. There is so much work to do as we go forward into time. The pillars of injustice, apathy and official indifference are still firmly rooted in their places. We must therefore brace ourselves and understand that we will work harder, think faster and demand more for justice and liberty in the various places where we find ourselves. As we have come to realize when we thought about it, injustice to any one man is injustice to all men; injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. We therefore need not wait until it knocks on our own doors for us to understand that we must rise from our beds and stand up for our neighbors and friends who suffer injustice today. In the past year, DPA has intervened in many cases, big and small. Our voices have caused government to pay attention where it might not have. When we heard of a pregnant woman who was beaten to stupor at her place of work in Lagos by her Lebanese boss, we asked questions and signified our intentions to step in. Government had to step forward just to preempt us. When we heard of the police officer that beat a female food-seller and knocked her down in a muddy pool of water, we asked questions. That forced the police high command to step in and ultimately discipline the officer. When we watched as thousands of fellow citizens where humiliated and traumatized in their effort to get employment with the Nigerian immigration authority, we stepped in. That matter is still on. The list of what we have done is long, but longer is the list of what we plan to do in the future. Just know in your hearts that years from now when your children would ask: Mummy, Daddy, when they attacked the poor, what did you do? When they hunted the weak, where were you?, you can proudly answer your children that you were with DPA. Those children will understand that you did your best and those children will feel proud of you as their parents. As we go into the New Year, I am happy to wish you good health and strength and wisdom. I wish us all success in our collective quest for justice. In a separate post yesterday, I thanked the members of our admin crew. They have done more than I could possibly thank them for here. May God guide and protect them as they continue to support and promote DPA in many other ways. Cheers and Happy New Year to you all. And may God bless you!
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 18:28:19 +0000
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