“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” Isaac Asimov
In 24 hours, Nigeria will, for the 6th time in 20 years, the 9th since the Presidential system of government was introduced in 1979 and the 10th time since Independence, go to vote in general elections to determine who will lead the country for another four years.
Voters deserve to exercise their right to vote in peace and safety. In 1983, Nigeria’s Supreme Court laid down the rule in Ojukwu v. Onwudiwe, that “the voters must be allowed to freely go to the polling booths and cast their votes unmolested. Free and fair election cannot tolerate thuggery or violence of any kind.” This rule remains valid and applicable today.
Nigeria bears the scars of a tragic and long history of election-related violence dating back to the first elections in 1922. At each turn, most elections in our history have been characterized by wanton destruction of lives and property, and imbued with impunity. The ineffectiveness of the Nigerian government and its security forces in checkmating this cyclical violence has emboldened perpetrators over the years. In 2019, we have a duty to turn the page on this.
According to Nigeria Watch, between June 2006 and May 2014 alone, there were about 915 cases of election related violence resulting in over 3934 deaths: the North Central recorded about 1463 deaths; 911 deaths in the North-West; 644 deaths in the South-South, and; 319 and 386 deaths in the North-East and South-West respectively. The post-election violence (PEV) in the 2011 general elections killed nearly 1,000 persons in nine states. In the 2015 presidential elections, the National Human Rights Commission reported nearly 500 killings. There are no accurate records of the numbers of persons who have been grievously wounded or permanently incapacitated, or of properties destroyed. A conservative estimate will however suggest hundreds of thousands of persons, and cost the properties in billions of Naira.
In most of the geo-political zones of the country, existing fault lines of structural violence could aggravate tensions, expose voters to higher threats of violence and dissuade others from even going to the polls. In addition to the legacy tensions in the context of some states, we have noted several episodes of violent clashes between political rivals. For instance – in Lagos and Kano State; and the violent gang clashes in Rivers State. The continuing insurgent attacks which for example culminated in the worrisome attack of the Borno state Governor’s 85-car convoy amongst others.
We have also noted with concern, examples of inciting statements made by politicians from different parties, which could provoke violence in this season and jeopardize public safety and security. We welcome the assurance by President Buhari that all Observers will be afforded protection and security, and disowning the threat by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state, that international observers who “intervene” in the elections would “go back in body bags”.
At our last press conference on November, 29, 2018, the Joint Action Civil Society Coalition, called on government to act urgently to address early warning signs in specific states, and ensure accountability for various forms of electoral violence and other factors that contribute to them, including hate speech, and fake news. We also announced the establishment of a Violent Incidents & Election Atrocity Fusion Centre (VIEAFUC), tasked with the monitoring, systematization, documentation and reporting of data, information and analysis of incidents of violence and the factors that exacerbate them, with a view to seeking accountability whenever and wherever possible. Since November 2018 when campaigns started, we have recorded over 140 deaths resulting from electoral violence, with 121 of these directly traceable to campaign-related violence.
We have also noted the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALWs) across the federation.
As Nigeria heads to the polls in this weekend, the Joint Action Civil Society Coalition:
1. Welcomes the issuance of clear operational orders by the leadership of the security services and calls on the agencies to ensure effective compliance, monitoring and prompt discipline of errant officers. Security officers must keep away from interfering with the exercise of the right to vote.
2. Calls on government at all levels to ensure effective deterrence and accountability and end impunity for all acts of election-related violence.
3. Ensure that purveyors of hate speech irrespective of party affiliation are brought to account for crimes of incitement to violence.
4. Applaud the signing of peace accords by political actors and call on them to abide by their commitments. We remind them that they are under public scrutiny and that their actions and inactions are being noted.
Let it be clear that civil society are not merely documenting violence or their perpetrators but will also take steps to ensure accountability to the maximum extent possible under Nigerian law and, if necessary seek international assistance in doing so. We have established incident report hotlines which will be manned on an uninterrupted basis until after the announcement of results and we call on citizens and observers everywhere to report incidents of violence and their perpetrators. The duty of a violence-free election is a shared responsibility.
Signed for the Violent Incidents & Election Atrocity Fusion Centre:
Hamsatu Allamin Cheta Nwanze
Abiodun Baiyewu Chidi Odinkalu
Ken Henshaw % Kelechukwu Okezie
Ier Jonathan Sylvester Yibis
Adamu Kotokorshi
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