The DSS statement betrays its primary responsibility of national security
The Department of State Services (DSS)
recently issued a sensational statement, accusing the Indigenous People
of Biafra (IPOB) of kidnapping and killing five Fulani herdsmen in Abia
State.
The DSS said the victims were buried in a
shallow grave along with 50 other unidentified corpses at a forest
called Umuanyi. “How did DSS come to the conclusion that it was IPOB
members who perpetuated the said crime?” an IPOB spokesman who queried
the statement asked, before adding, “Why was it so easy to identify the
five Hausa/Fulani men by their names while they were unable to identify
the name of at least one person out of the other 50 victims?”
However, shedding more light on the
tragedy last week, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia and his Imo
counterpart, Rochas Okorocha, said the killing was an act of kidnapping
carried out by miscreants. “On the issue of the killing of five Fulani
men that has caused tension, the culprits have been arrested and will be
dealt with under the law,” they said in a joint statement. “Information
reaching us reveals that it is not just five Fulani men as there are
two corpses believed to be Igbos from the area, so it is not a direct
attack on any ethnic group.”
Whatever may have been the motivation,
we consider the statement by the DSS and its obvious sectional and
inciting undertone most unfortunate and reckless. It is even more so
coming from an agency whose primary responsibility is the protection of
national security through managing and deterring threats to the unity
and peaceful co-existence of our country.
As yet, the details of the mass grave
found in Abia State remain sketchy. Again, nobody is aware that a proper
autopsy or forensic examination of the human remains found at the
location has been carried out. We are also not aware that relations of
the deceased have been interviewed, categorised or verified in terms of
who they are, their gender, etc. In an age of DNA testing and other
identity sciences, for the DSS to rush to an obviously preconceived
conclusion and make such unscientific public statement is a grave
national embarrassment. It is also injurious to our national peace and
security.
A pan Igbo intellectual group, ‘Aka
Ikenga’, indeed, last week, said it was puzzled at how the DSS came
about its conclusions. “If the bodies are decomposing and no autopsy has
been done, how can anybody describe the deceased as Fulani?” it asked.
“Is it by their wears? Many Igbo people wear Hausa Fulani clothes.
Secondly, how did the DSS come to the conclusion that the Indigenous
People of Biafra group was responsible for the death of those men? The
press release is a smoking gun in that it can incite other tribes
against Ndigbo.”
We align ourselves with that position
while urging the leadership of the DSS to be careful with the kind of
statements they dish out, especially at a time like this in the life of
our nation. What is at issue in this case is the nature of the crime,
the motives of the criminals as well as the identities of all the
victims, not just that of five. We are talking here about citizens of
our country who were probably victims of extra-judicial execution,
regardless of where they come from or their ethnicity.
What is particularly worrying in the DSS
statement is that making public announcement about criminal matters
rather than conducting investigations and bringing culprits to trial is
fast becoming the norm in our country. If the DSS is in possession of
material evidence of IPOB or any other illegal association engaging in
mass killings, it should ordinarily arrest the culprits and arraign them
in court to press charges. Brandishing statements that are capable of
inciting ethnic violence and disrupting public peace is, to put it
mildly, most unbecoming of an agency like the DSS.
Quote
In an age of DNA testing and other identity sciences, for the DSS to rush to an obviously preconceived conclusion and make such unscientific public statement is a grave national embarrassment. It is also injurious to our national peace and security
In an age of DNA testing and other identity sciences, for the DSS to rush to an obviously preconceived conclusion and make such unscientific public statement is a grave national embarrassment. It is also injurious to our national peace and security
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