Allow Police to do Its Job – MURIC urges NHRC

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has advised the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to allow law enforcement agents to complete their investigations into election incidents in Lagos State and other parts of the country.

The Islamic human rights group gave the advice in a statement issued on Tuesday 21st March, 2023 by its Executive Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola.

It will be recalled that the NHRC on Sunday said it would invite the Chairman of the Lagos State Parks Management Committee, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo over the alleged threat he issued against the Igbo.

MURIC’s full statement reads :

“The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on Sunday that it would invite the Chairman of the Lagos State Parks Management Committee, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo over the alleged threat he issued against the Igbo

“NHRC should not dissipate its energy on this matter at all. In the first place, it will amount to duplication of efforts because the Nigeria Police is already investigating it.

“NHRC will end up wasting resources if it opens another investigation into the same matter. Nigerian agencies should learn how to synergise on matters like this. They are confusing the populace. NHRC should spare us the headache.

“Secondly, the police appears more suitable for this kind of investigation. Afterall it is a threat to use force. Oluomo himself has denied it. He said it was not targeted at the Igbo in Lagos but an ordinary joke cracked with Mama Chukwudi, his friendly Igbo neighbour.

“Therefore it is only a law enforcement agency that has the training as well as the human and material capacity to handle such a matter.

“Thirdly, it is an ill-conceived idea that it is a human rights issue. It is certainly not. Lagos indigenes and the rest of the Yoruba people view it as an existential threat. They see it as a struggle for survival. In our opinion, any human rights consideration which fails to recognise the rights of the aborigines of a particular place is a total failure, a sham and a mirage.

“In the fourth place, NHRC should not allow itself to be seen as collaborating with those who are perceived by Lagos indigenes in particular and the Yoruba in general as people on a mission to invade and conquer Lagos. It is a very sensitive issue about which the indigenes feel very strongly and very bitter.

“The fifth reason for which NHRC needs to soft-pedal on this is that the issue calls more for diplomacy than it does for enforcement of rights. If NHRC insists on inviting Oluomo, it must invite those who said Lagos is no man’s land. Not only that, NHRC must invite those who claim in tweets and other social media sources that their target is to invade and conquer Lagos and the rest of Yorubaland before and during the 2023 general elections. Oluomo is just a party, NHRC cannot afford to be selective.

“The sixth reason lies in the fact that NHRC appears to be in a hurry on the Lagos issue. Such speed and manifestation of anxiety is capable of being interpreted as vested interest in the matter because it affects the Igbo.

“To cap the edifice, if the truth must be told, Chief Anthony Okechuckwu Ojukwu as the Executive Secretary of the Commission is not in the best position to mediate in a matter of serious ethnic concern between the Igbo, the Yoruba in general and Lagos indigenes in particular. Silence from NHRC would not only have been golden in such an issue but also the only wise thing to do. We therefore advise NHRC to allow the police to do its job.”