Nigeria: Chasing rats while house burns

Curiouser and curiouser.

That, perhaps, best describes the Nigeria of today. Or how else is one to consider the arraignment of 32 minors for alleged treason at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court last Friday?

What type of country would choose to arrest and detain citizens – kids for that matter! — for protesting against mass hunger? How do Nigerian leaders sleep at night? The Police officers who arrested the kids, their superiors who ordered the detention, and the Director of Public Prosecutions who gave the final nod for the arraignment, are all in the vortex of evil: conscienceless, lacking in empathy, and evil.

The kids were seen scrambling for water and biscuits at their arraignment in court. Unkempt and clearly malnourished, the kids did not need to disclose the horrors that they must have been put through by agents of state since their arrest over the End Bad Governance protests across the country from August 1 to August 10. It was boldly written in their faces for the whole world to see.

As they were being docked, four of the kids collapsed and were rushed out of the courtroom because they could not stand.  The judge who knows, or ought to know, — that under the Nigerians laws, minors are not to be arraigned in open court with the bench disrobed, descending to the floor close to the bar, at a juvenile court session – placed a N10 million bail condition on the hapless, hungry kids! In other words, the bail that the judge gave with the right hand was withdrawn with the left. Bail is approved but the condition is so steep that the kids, children of nobody who spilled onto the streets to moan loudly that the government’s policies had turned them into scavengers, will each have to post a N10 million bail! What kind of cruel judicial system is that?

Relatedly, how do you describe a nation where Idris Okuneye, more commonly known as Bobrisky, is continually being harassed after putatively serving jail time? Bobrisky’s life choices are abhorrent to me. His is not the lifestyle that I would encourage in my family. But, hey, it’s his life! My duty is to mind my damned business. If his alleged voice is caught on tape telling someone that an unknown godfather ensured that he did not sleep in prison but that a comfortable accommodation was arranged for him close to the prison, and that the prosecuting agency extorted money from him to drop one of the charges against him, should it be that agency that will be arresting him and stopping him from enjoying his fundamental right to freedom of movement, since his jail term has been served in the eye of the law? Or, has there been a court order or process that he be remanded for another offense?

Appearing before the House of Representatives committee investigating Bobrisky’s allegations, Michael Anugwa, the deputy controller of corrections in charge of the Kirikiri maximum custodial center, at which he was ordered to serve his term, disclosed that his reported suspension by the National Director General of Prisons was “a social media suspension.”

“They did not serve me a letter, sir. It is a social media suspension,” he said, flatly, when asked why he was in Prison uniform although he was reported suspended after Bobrisky’s alleged voice was heard that N15 million was demanded and received from him to not be housed in prison.

Over one month after, mum is the word from the Prisons authorities on the declaration by Anugwa.

The President and the Minister of the Interior are abiding by the rule of the three wise monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil! Over one month after, there has been no disclosure about the officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who allegedly collected money from Bobrisky to drop money laundering charges, which would have on conviction earned him heftier punishment. The EFCC officials are not only walking free, but also  stopping Bobrisky from traveling out of the country!

Curiouser and curiouser!

Sometime in October 2023, military officers arrested 76 persons and arraigned them in a Gombe State court for allegedly attending a party for gay people.  To date, there is no report of how the matter was disposed of by the court. I repeat: It’s not a lifestyle for me, but can I please mind my Goddamned business? Isn’t that curious? What does it say about Nigeria?

The Nigerian justice delivery system is adept at delivering injustice. Or, how else can one situate the story of Ehis D Light Lilian Oseghale, wife of a Pastor who in Kaduna called for compassion in dealing with the Bobriskys of this world and people in same sex relationship. An entire community of hate was raised against her, her family and her church. From Kaduna to her home state, Edo, life has not been the same for Mrs Oseghale, a preacher of the word herself. The husband’s church, the Ruach House of Liberty, in Kaduna, Kaduna State, was burnt to the ground!

During one crusade in 2022, Oseghale was preaching at her husband’s church. While a question-and-answer session was going on, a congregant sought Pastor (Mrs) Oseghale’s views on same-sex union, to which she answered said that such people deserved love, care and understanding. “We should love and accept them because they are also human beings,” she had said.

The harmless response has set her life on a tailspin, with religious extremists making attempts on her life and family both in Kaduna and her home state, Edo. Mum has been the word from the government, including the Police.

The Nigerian currency is tanking daily, a meal a day is fast becoming a rarity. Hunger stalks the land, fuel prices have shot through the roof. Addressing these challenges seems not to be the concern of the government and leadership of the country. A protest against mass hunger is an evil to be crushed, even in flagrant disregard of the country’s laws. Bobrisky is an evil that must be dragged in the mud, but not the persons named in extorting money from him to pervert the course of justice. Persons with weird sexual orientations and their perceived sympathizers must be run out of town. Persons attending a party allegedly conducted by people of deviant sexual orientations, or a preacher canvassing love in dealing with such persons are the targets of hate with the active involvement of the government.

Meanwhile, people can continue to suffer starvation, homelessness, and want. The government is too busy chasing rats while the home burns, literally.

Nigeria is indeed a curious nation.