By Elohor Igbru
Human rights activist and president, Center for Change, Dr. Joe Okei Odumakin has cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari against creating another theater of war similar to the Boko Haram insurgency in the Southwest.
Odumakin said the reported attempt by security operatives to ” whimsically arrest rights activists, Mr. Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho,” will increase the anachy which has engulfed the country today.
” We must learn from history and tread carefully! This was how a little Boko Haram fire was carelessly handled and it became the monster that it is today,” she said.She cautioned that with the country in a general state of unrest, the Federal Government must not open another theater of war in the southwest.
“With crises everywhere – Boko Haram, Herders banditry, kidnappings and the Niger Delta militants joining the fray again – we must not open another theatre of war in the South-west.
Rather than go for Igboho’s arrest, let the Federal Government address the vexed issue of Herders terrorism in the South-west and, indeed, in other parts of the country.
“This is what gave rise to the Igboho phenomenon and solving it will be tantamount to uprooting the problem completely and handling the Igboho issue.
“Cutting the branches might turn out an exercise in futility as the tree will sprout again,” she said in a statement.
She warned that a gestapo-like seizure of citizens is not consistent with the ethics of democracy.
Odumakin: “Besides, it is important to remind the authorities that we are in a democracy, which does not allow for extra-judicial killings or the trampling of the fundamental rights of citizens.
“Gestapo-like seizure of citizens is anathema to democracy and we thought we had outgrown that!
“Nigerians fought bitter fights and waged relentless struggles for the freedoms and liberties we all enjoy today – including those of our compatriots in power.”
Infactng recalls that a team of security operatives including, Military, Department of State Security (DSS) and the Police attempted to arrest Igboho around the Ibadan toll-gate as he was traveling to Lagos on Friday.
The arrest was repelled by ighoho’s boys who prevented the operatives from carrying out their mission.
