A very interesting piece by a budding social commentator, Mannag Joshua Jabbe ESQ. Its a good read. Enjoy the piece!
The primary duty of every responsibe government around the world is the protection of lives and properties of its citizens. This is carried out through the instrumentality of the law enforcement agencies such as the Police. However,as society and evolves, and with the high wave of crime and terrorism,it became imperative for other security outfits to be established like the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp,(NSCDC) or receive recognition by the government, such as the Civilian JTF in Maiduguri or of recent,the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, (VGN). However,it must be noted that these other outfits are to compliment,not usurp or compete with the Police in the maintenance of law and order. As such,they must all act within their powers as allowed by the enabling law as well as the Constitution. See Ojukwu v Mil. Gov. of Lagos State. With the coming on board of the VGN,I expressed more fears than happiness. This is not far from the fact that since it is a voluntary agency,with little or no stringent procedure for recruitment, the good,bad and the ugly of the society will find themselves there which may likely create more problems than solutions. This fear became real when stories began to go round that suspects apprehended by members of the VGN,especially, armed robbery suspects are usually beaten mercilessly, and set ablaze. I witnessed one of such barbarism and cruelty sometime in October, 2015,where a suspected okada snatcher was burnt alive,simply because he confessed to the crime,as claimed by the 'law enforcers.' This action violates the principle of presumption of innocence under S.36(5) 1999 Constitution as amended. My fears about the VGN,further increased,when I saw its members carrying arms,and upon enquiry,I was told that any member who can afford to acquire one is free to do so. In a country where terrorism and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons is on the rise,it don't think it is wise to allow ordinary and unschooled citizens to carry arms without license and regulation,simply because they are members of a so called group of security outfit. To whom will they be accountable on how they use the arms and how can it be ascertained that it was really and truly used like that? I interacted with some personnel of the VGN,and I understand that the know nothing about the procedure for effecting an arrest,what to do with an arrested person,as well as the provisions of their Constitution- if they have any. Recently,they came up with one toxic and nauseating law that any person found with long hair(afro hair) or sagging trousers will have the hair shaved,trouser torn and fined. Who gave them the power to enact such a decree in a civil society? To me,such issues are matters of morality not law,which the law stricso sensu has no business with. In my local residence, on 1st January, 2016, Nigerian citizens who went to the annual new year celebration in Bwalnwang,Gindiri, had their freedom of movement violated under the guise of enforcing the illegitimate law on hair and sagging. Vehicles were stopped and okadas were prevented from crossing the road block,and any one found with long hair had his hair cut with scissors,and any attempt to resist resulted to brutality on the person. A victim of this uncivilized conduct told me that,though he didn't resist the hair cut and was not beaten,he saw some persons who received beating with an okada clutch cable after their hairs was cut. Not even the Police did anything to stop this madness. Reports also had it that this act was carried out by only the Muslim members of the VGN around that jurisdiction,and christians were mostly the victims. Where are we heading to in this country when there's already in place a fault line of suspicion between the two religions? I call on all stakeholders to raise up with one voice against the excesses and extremism of the VGN before it is too late. Government must also regulate the recruitment, membership,activities,powers and use of firearms by the group,else we will all have ourselves to blame. I am on the side of truth.
MJ Jabbe, ESQ.
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