IBB should be prosecuted for human rights abuses, undermining democracy under his watch – Hon. Abdul Oroh

BY PATRICK WEMAMBU

Erstwhile Director of Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), a non-governmental organisation focused on human rights and pro-democracy advocacy since establishment in 1987, Hon. Abdul Oroh, has called for the prosecution of former military ruler, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida for what he described as human rights abuses and undermining of democracy during his regime.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Times in his office in Abuja, the civil rights activist said: “Babangida should face trials for numerous crimes under his 8-year rule – not just for the annulment of June 12 election. There were human rights abuses and undermining of democracy under his watch. Remember the massacre of students during the Anti-SAP (Structural Adjustment Programme), and murder of Dele Giwa, for which he was culpable, etc.”

Reminded that Gen. Babangida denied Dele Giwa’s murder in his autobiography, Oroh insisted that he was culpable in view of facts available to him then. “Abubakar Tsafe, then Lagos State Commissioner of Police, who was directed by DIG Omeben to investigate the crime said it. He said he had his facts and when he tried to confront the military intelligence agencies then, they refused to cooperate,” Oroh asserted.

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Asked if he had any personal grouse with Gen. Babangida, the former Executive Director of CLO who once doubled as Member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives replied that many of his colleagues were arrested by the military authorities then and detained for several weeks. He added that those who eventually were released, had to undergo medical checkup because of the harsh conditions they were subjected to in detention.

“Furthermore, my late Uncle, Major A. Y. Abbas of the military intelligence then was involved in that Hercules C-130 plan – carrying middle-cadre officers – that crashed into a swampy area near Lagos a few minutes after take-off,” Oroh lamented.

To counter some of what he called ‘lies’ in IBB’s Autobiography, Hon. Abdul Oroh revealed that he would be launching his book soon. It’s titled;” Demonstration of Craze: Struggles and Transition to Democracy in Nigeria by Abdul Oroh.”

Throwing it’s weight behind Oroh’s viewpoint, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), a human rights organisation, has also called for the prosecution of former military ruler, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), for his role in the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

The CDHR’s demand comes after Babangida’s recent public admission of his involvement in the annulment, which the CDHR described as an attempt to “hoodwink” Nigerians into believing he acted in good faith.

The CDHR in a statement issued on Saturday, views Babangida’s actions as a “brazen sociopolitical and moral assault” on Nigerians, undermining democracy and resulting in widespread human rights abuses.

The organisation in the statement signed by its President, Debo Adeniran, emphasised that the annulment was a “coup d’état” against the administration of MKO Abiola, who was denied his rightful victory.

The statement partly reads; “The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) received with heavy heart the recent admission of the infamous June 12 notorious fact by former military ruler, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (Rtd).

“His belated public confessions regarding his role in the illegal annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election is an attempt to hoodwink the unwary Nigerians to believe that the mischievous dictator actually meant well by the brazen sociopolitical and moral assault he unleashed on them by the inglorious act.”

It went further; “Although we had viewed the June 12 election as being an unfair exercise, going by all the shenanigans that preceded the election. These included prevention of willing political associations from transmuting to political parties; creating political parties for politicians; banning, unbanning of eligible politicians from contesting in the election; the creation of political structures, programmes and manifestos for politicians and imposition of alien ideological leanings on Nigerians. We insisted that despite widely regarded as the most peaceful and freest election in the Nigeria’s history it was, like the military dictatorship that orchestrated it, not fair but could be tolerated.”

Describing the June 12 annulment announced on the 23rd June, 1993 as worst of the unfair treatments unleashed on the 14 million citizens who voted in the election by the self-acclaimed ‘Evil Genius’ when the world expected the announcement of Chief MKO Abiola, the statement stressed that the action was reckless, illegal and unconstitutional. It added that it remains one of the gravest injustices inflicted upon the Nigerian people, undermining democracy, destabilizing the nation, and robbing millions of Nigerians of their fundamental right to freely elect their leader.

“General Babangida’s belated admission is not only an affront to the principles of democracy and justice but also a clear acknowledgment of his direct involvement in an act that plunged Nigeria into years of political turmoil, civil unrest, loss of lives and properties and inestimable economic hardship. It should therefore be regarded as a coup d’état to the administration of M.K.O Abiola who was robbed in broad daylight and denied the opportunity of savouring his well-deserved victory at the polls,” the CDHR maintained.

It concluded; “The annulment of the June 12 election led to severe human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, political assassinations, and the suppression of press freedom.

“In light of this, we call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to immediately order the prosecution of General Babangida for crimes against humanity and for orchestrating a coup d’état that subverted the democratic will of the Nigerian people. This prosecution should not be difficult since the chief plotter has confessed to these crimes in public and in writing as published in his bloody book that could have been ‘A Journey into Perdition’ mistitled “A Journey in Service.”