The Run Away Republic of Nigeria -By Owei Lakemfa

The cumulative 29-year military rule left the country in ruins. In the Civil War alone which was triggered by military coups, over two million Nigerians lost their lives.

In the post-war era, thousands more were killed by military regimes, including through seasonal purges in the name of coups, attempted coups and assumed coups.

In the anti-Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, protests, many were killed. In the protests against the military annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, hundreds were murdered by the military, including the 118 Nigerians shot dead on July 6, 1993.

Today, 24 years after military rule, the country continues to suffocate under the culture of impunity developed by the military regimes.

So, you can imagine the tension in the media when news went round that armed men, with at least two in military uniform, had barged into the Lagos home of FirstNews Editor, Segun Olatunji.

The nightmare began at dusk on Friday March 15, 2024 when the Editor was watching television with his seven-year-old son. Suddenly, armed men barged into his home with his wife, Mrs Oluwatosin Olatunji, and one year old son who had earlier been abducted. The abductors had forced Mrs Olatunji at gun-point to take them to her home.

The panic in the media was not because it was uncommon for armed bandits donning military uniforms to abduct people. But because under military regimes, journalists had been abducted and simply disappeared. The most prominent case was that of Bagauda Kaltho, abducted without trace, three decades ago. He was being hunted by the military gestapo and had fled his Kaduna home. I had met him in a safe house in Lagos and, with another journalist, Dapo Olorunyomi, who was also on the run; we had agreed that his plan to go underground in Abuja was a brilliant one. We thought the military gestapo would be out looking for him in Kaduna, his Billiri, Gombe State hometown and Lagos, not right under their noses in Abuja.

So, when Olatunji was abducted and disappeared without trace, there was palpable fear.

The thought of his abductors being bandits was virtually ruled out. First, the abductors had been patient enough to allow Olatunji, who was in his boxer shots, to go into his bedroom and pick a trouser and a shirt. Usually, bandits do not display such patience or civility. But the second and main reason was that bandits call relatives of their victims to demand ransom. But in Olatunji’s case, his abductors made no such call.

However, this also raised other fears. Since the Presidency, the office of the National Security Adviser, the State Security Services, Military Defence, Army, the Police and security services denied holding him, could his abductors have been hired assassins?

After the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye, had denied holding the journalist, the Nigerian Chapter of the International Press Institute, IPI, gathered irrefutable evidence that they were holding the Editor.

The IPI held a press conference, not just directly accusing the Defence Chiefs of abducting Olatunji, but also demanding that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should instruct the duo to set the journalist free. The IPI and other media bodies announced that they would hold a more comprehensive press conference the next day to provide further evidence.

The Defence Chiefs were clearly rattled. They did not know how the media bodies got such exact information, and were not sure what further information the media bodies had on the case. So, they reached out to the Minister of Information, Mr Mohammed Idris Malagi, to confess they were holding the journalist and promised to release him immediately.

This was 12 days into the abduction. Next day, a journalist, Yomi Odunnuga, received a phone call to come for Olatunji. Mr Odunnuga, accompanied by Dr. Iyobosa Uwaghiren, the General Secretary of the Guild of Editors, set out to receive the Editor. This was not without the Defence Intelligence Service playing ‘James Bond’ by directing the journalists around Abuja before finally handing over their victim at a bridge in the city.

Mr Olatunji revealed he had been tortured with his right hand and leg feeling numb. He said after his abduction, he was detained at the National Air Defence Corps, NADC. He was handcuffed, his glasses seized and he was blindfolded before being flown to Abuja. On arrival, he was stripped down to his boxer shorts and leg chains added to the handcuffs. He said in Abuja, he was thrown into a cell where he was tortured, interrogated and his phone scanned for sources of his information. He was also taken to a clinic where his urine and blood samples were taken. His abductors accused him of sundry crimes, including terrorism.

So, what do we do about men who abducted a citizen and committed the national and international crime of torture? Under the United Nations Convention, torture is any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed.

What do we do about public officers who so blatantly violated the constitutional right to movement and, the duty of the journalist to hold government accountable to the people?

What do we do about Generals in uniform who lied that that they were not holding the Editor and, deprived him of his constitutional right to defend himself in court? What do we do about serving military chiefs who illegally incarcerated a Nigerian citizen depriving him his right to family life and endangering his life? Do we pretend nothing has happened and wait for the next victim?

I think we can collectively ensure that all those involved in these crimes are put under international watch so that if they are above our laws, we can ensure their arrest and prosecution anytime or day they step outside our shores.

The press can also boycott activities and programmes featuring any of the Generals. Also, the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, can team up with Mr Olatunji and the press to ensure justice.

We also hope the National Assembly would wake up to ensure the Constitution prevails.

Those who condone or rationalise the illegality of the Military top brass are like a man riding on the back of a tiger; he may end up in its stomach.

Welcome to the Run Away Republic of Nigeria where might is right and impunity thrives. However, I am confident that collectively, Nigerians can put a stop to all things that keep us chained, backward and underdeveloped.