The (mis)conduct of the SSS continues to be condemned ....read....SSS and the el-Rufai Arrest - 01 Feb 2014 - Polscope with Eddy Odivwri via ThisDay Early in the week, former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai was arrested and detained by the Department of State Security (DSS) for alleged provocative utterance, which the service said, could be inciting to the public. The former minister, at a Symposium organized by a group of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members had told a reporter of this paper, in an exclusive interview, that unless the 2015 elections were clearly fair and transparent, it could lead to violence. I thought el-Rufai was stating the obvious. Is it not to be expected that those who feel cheated at elections could resort to violence, wrong as it may be? Have we not had several such experiences in the past? Was it not a feeling of electoral fraud that precipitated the Operation wetie in the South west in the aftermath of the 1964 general election? Was it not the same feeling of electoral manipulation that triggered the carnage in Ondo State in 1983? And even most recently, was it not the suspicion that the 2011 elections were rigged in parts of the north that some innocent NYSC members were killed by irate and thoughtless youths in Bauchi State etc? The arrest of el-Rufai represents a huge disappointment to me, not because the arrest and detention was not even necessary, but more because the DSS is indeed one service which I greatly respect, essentially because it had operated largely within professional parameters. But in this case, its action is suspect. So what was so new or so incendiary in what el-Rufai said? I had dismissed it as mere political platitude until the SSS began to make a mountain out of the mole hill, prompting me to re-read what he said. Here it is: “The next election is likely to be violent and many people are likely going to die (in the process). And the only alternative left to get power is to take it by force; this is the reality on ground. Clearly, we have seen a few by-elections in Delta and in Anambra... The level of preparedness of the electoral body was awful; bribery and the use of police and military was rampant. That was even just a by-elections in one or two states, so by the time we have a general election all over the country, it’s going to over stretch the capacity of the electoral commission and the security agencies. “I have no confidence in the level of preparedness of the INEC, security agencies and others to conduct elections based on the experience of the other elections they have conducted so far, but they have the time to clear their act. It’s up to him, The ruling party is unwilling to hand over power even where it is clearly unpopular. “This is what caused problems in the 2011 elections that we had post-elections violence. I see the same thing happening in 2015 unless elections are free and fair, unless INEC cleans up its act and organises free and fair elections, there will be violence. “If people lose confidence in them, there will be violence, there will be riots and other related issues. But this can be prevented if those who are tasked with the job of security and impartial umpires discharge their responsibilities. However, based on what I see on ground, I don’t see that happening but we all pray that before then they will get it right.” Perhaps there is more to the arrest than the above statement. An ordinary interpretation of el-Rufai’s warning or alarm is a cause-and-effect action: if elections are not freely and fairly conducted it could lead to violence. If people lose confidence in the electoral umpire, it could lead to violence… All I sum from his statement is that there will be action and reaction. That violence will be a reaction to the action of improperly conducted polls. Does that not follow the natural sequence of things? Perhaps it is inexpedient at times like this to speak the whole truth. It was more or less a warning of an impending violence, not a declaration of violence. And I thought it would have been a wake-up call to ensure the hypothetical predictions don’t come to pass. On the other hand, when in early September last year, former militant and leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, declared that unless President Goodluck Jonathan was re-elected in 2015, there will be bloodshed, that such a statement approximated more to a declaration of violence than what el-Rufai said. When Dokubo spilled out his hot verbiage, nobody or security agency invited him, let alone arrest him. He was considered to be merely expressing his right to free speech. Dokubo’s threat was not predicated on the paradigms of justice or fairness. For him, it is either President Jonathan is re-elected or blood will flow. It does not matter how the voters vote. It does not matter what the electorate feel. It is strictly a two-barrel scenario: elect Jonathan and be saved or elect somebody else and be damned. It is a clear one-way traffic, a Hobson’s choice! For the avoidance of doubt, here is what Dokubo said last September 9: “The way things are going, there is no sitting on the fence in the battle before us. When some people say they have a right to rule and others don’t have, then there is no sitting on the fence. All of us will have to be in the ring and fight. We cannot leave Goodluck (Jonathan) alone. “My support for Jonathan will be biased, because charity begins at home. Monkey no fine, but im mama like am. Goodluck, na my person. 2015 is already a settled matter. Goodluck Jonathan would be President in 2015. Whether they contest or they don’t. If they say the blood of the dogs and the baboons will be soaked in the streets, or salt water in the streets, we will help them soak them in blood in the streets. “I will declare for the PDP. We will fight, because in this battle, there is no retreat, no surrender. We will not take any prisoner of war. It will be total battle,” he said. Dokubo had made reference to an earlier statement by former Head of State, Gen Muhammadu Buhari who had waxed his frustration in an Hausa proverb when he said, if what happened before (rigging of election) repeats itself in the 2011 election, “the dog and the baboon will be soaked in blood”. Now between what el-Rufai said and what Dokubo said, which one is a worse threat to national security? If the man who promised to fight and help spill blood on the streets, if his candidate is not returned (whether he contests or not) in 2015, is not invited or arrested, why should the man who said if elections are not freely and fairly conducted, violence could erupt, be arrested and detained? I hate to think that the SSS spared Dokubo because he said what favoured Mr President (having declared he is joining the PDP) and el-Rufai is harassed, and detained because he is in the opposition party. Is the SSS now also partisan as the Rivers State Police command?
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 08:01:42 +0000
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