David Emmanuel Umem
As someone no less imbued with or committed than
yourself to the democratic ideals for our beloved country, I write in
reference to the recent Police brutality of Eket indigenes and for those
who had chosen Eket as their place of domicile because of the general
peace that has enveloped the place over the years, purportedly in search
of cultists. More post after the cut....
His Excellency, it will amount to mere puff to ignore
the level of intimidation, humiliation, degradation, assault, battery
and indignities, the Nigeria Police had subjected the Eket people to,
during these last few days of Police onslaught on cultists in Eket.
His Excellency, In their attempt to uncover the identity of the alleged
cultists, Eket local government became paralyzed by daily civil
disturbances, major roads were blocked and businesses which are a source
of livelihood were technically shut down ,every road user were
assaulted in a dramatic twists of what they will consider as search.
Those innocent citizens who had laboured to keep their hair lost them to
the merciless scissors of these riot looking Policemen.
Women and
children were not spared,as they searched even the forbidden thickets of
their bodies and were even compelled to remove their clothing.
The
manner in which these inhuman treatments were carried out depicted the
barbarism of Old Savage tradition of the ancient Nok civilisation. It
was utterly hostile to reason and bereft of any form of rationality, in
fact, to say the least, it was an eyesore.
His Excellency, let me
state that by the nature of Eket people, they are generally and
unarguably peaceful.
This is evident in the fact that, in spite of being
the reservoir of Nigeria’s huge crude oil reserves, they have resisted
the temptation to carry arms against the state. The peaceful nature of
the Eket people was re-echoed by the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof.
Yemi Osibanjo while on a working visit to the State.
I am an Eket
indigene, and I maintain that in as much as I strongly condemn cultism
in its entirety, the search for cultists by the Police should not
justify the subjugation Eket people into such depths of infamy and human
indignities.
I cannot possibly understand what the Police adduces
to have been the motive for such wanton show of inhumanity to Eket civil
populace.
As far as I can see it, the Police has not established any
nexus that a cultist is one who keeps long beard, or who allows his hair
to grow, to have justified cutting young men hair and scratching off
their beards against their consent.
I can only assume that, this was a
political persecution meant to silence and further box the Eket people
into submission.
Obviously, this act of naivete’ by the Police has
exposed their ineptitude and compromise their modus operandi and thus
putting to question, the need for the confidence reposed in them by the
public.
It is a professional etiquette for the Police to work on
intelligence, the unwholesome ransacking of innocent men and women in
the full glare of the public purportedly in search of cultists leave
much to be desired from the Nigerian Police whose stock in trade is
supposed to be the protection of law and order.
Their investigations
were no investigations at all, will any reasonable person who is a
cultist, having seen the Gestapo-styled operation carried out by the
Police in broad day light, attempt to use that road?
It is a common
sense but I doubt whether the Police have common sense at all to have
known that even cultists would scrap off their beards and walk past
without any hint of suspicion.
This is a public show of total disregard
to the dignity of human persons, specifically, an embarrassment on the
collective sensibilities of Eket people. What the Police did was only to
mount road blocks on the major streets and harassed anyone who had
marks or tattoo on their chests or keep a moustache or hair.
These acts
of brutality has exposed the lax in the Police, their lack of internal
intelligence gathering network thereby compromising their credibility
and undermining the superiority and confidence reposed in them.
Against these background of increasing assaults on the corporate
prestige, interests, and overall sensibilities of Eket people, I
passionately appeal to Governor Udom Emmanuel to call the Commissioner
of Police and his men to order, that the Police should respect
constitutionally guaranteed rights of the citizens, including their
rights to human dignity.
That I restate the point that cultism is a
scourge that must, as a matter of compulsion, be totally uprooted for a
peaceful and better society, but it must not be at the mercy of human
rights and civil liberties.
This letter should serve to warn the Nigeria
Police to desist from infringing on fundamental rights of citizens or
it shall be met with lawful resistance.
In view of a prevention of a
re-occurrence of such, and for the purpose of curbing the effect of
cultism in the society, I hereby make the following recommendations;
1) Ethical and Re-orientation Commission Agency that was first
introduced by former Governor Victor Attah be revived. The likes of
Barr. Eseme Eyibio who headed the commission at its inception be
consulted on how best to bring back our lost values. This method will
tackle the challenge of cultism from the roots. You will agree with me
that there is a far cry from the days of yore and today in terms of
values.
2) Jingles on ethical values must be made to complement
Dakkada Creed . Mr. Exto of ‘Fly wey no get adviser hall of fame’ should
be emulated. This moral messages used to help in no mean way. Today,
most of what we do on our state media outlets is to sing songs of praise
to politicians.
3) Politicians should stop keeping private
bodyguards as securities. It is a fall out of this act that we have our
youths scrambling to join cultism in order to enjoy the largesse that
flows from government. Government as a whole should stop encouraging
violence and rewarding same, because the moral standards of the
followers is a reflection of its leadership.
4) Whereas a government
functionary from any country of the developed world could freely walk
into a gathering unannounced and unnoticed,in Nigeria, a Councillor’s
presence right from arrival is overblown by a large entourage amidst
heavy siren. This breeds the need for more security, hence cultism.
In conclusion ,I re-affirms Eket peoples’ culture and age-long tradition
of peace, though not a sign of cowardice, but a natural virtue that has
elude many people. We are a hospitable and unique people with common
ancestry, I urge the Eket people and those domiciled therein to feel
free to do their businesses in Eket, for the days of brutality are over,
never to come again.
Thank you Your Excellency, as we await your positive corrections regarding issues raised in this letter.
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