'When did Army take up the job of electoral thugs? Allies of Boko Haram!!!! - Wole Soyinka

Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto) and Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) were among the APC governors stopped on Thursday by security forces from attending the rally in Ado Ekiti of Governor Kayode Fayemi, their party’s candidate in yesterday’s election in Ekiti State.
Wole Soyinka’s speech:

We’ll put the govt on trial

”That embarrassment must stop. So we will not be satisfied with any thing less than making us know who gave the order. If that does not happen, we will set up a citizens court. We did it in the fight against Abacha. And for Albashir of the Sudan. We got victims, witnesses and journalists to come and testify on the violation of human rights. We will ask for international help. If we can’t hold it here, we will hold it else where. It will be a shame if we are forced to hold it outside. We will place the government on trial. This must the very last time that such an incident will happen. I still can not believe that this thing happened. It appears like some kind of fantasy, some kind of Nollywood film.”

Military allies of Boko Haram

”In addition to that, I insist that those governors go to court to sue whoever is responsible for the violation of their rights. I want them to remember that they are custodians of the democratic process. So if they fail to defend themselves it would amount to dereliction of duty. There is something called abuse of power and it is very real. Using the military is dishonouring the military.

I am talking to the military now. Allowing yourself to be used this way is demeaning yourself. It is bringing yourself down. And the military has a lot to answer. I have called on Nigerians to please support the actions of the security forces in defending the security of this nation against Boko Haram. I have called for a non-partisan approach to the menace of Boko Haram. And I have used the language of please support the efforts of the military. But when the military conducts itself in this way, then we have to consider them allies of Boko Haram. Because Boko Haram does not believe in democracy.’

”Boko Haram despises democracy. Some of their allies internationally say that the way to transform the society is not through the ballot box but through the bullets. That is the language of Al-Qaeda, that is the language of a number of fundamentalists all over the world. When an election took place in Algeria and was won by some fundamentalists, the first thing they did was to say that they were discarding democracy. That was the beginning of the problems in Algeria. And Algerians paid horrendously for it. We should not allow that to happen here. We want the President to tell us who sent those soldiers on a mission which very easily could have resulted to loss of lives. It is mind boggling. It is important we have it sorted out.”

Use the military to bring back the girls

”I did not want to speak on Chibok but we can not help returning to it again and again. I was shocked the other day when somebody sent a photograph of the President and his daughters. I don’t know whether it was a careless, thoughtless action or a deliberate act of provocation.

I was with the President on Bring Back The Book campaign years ago, today I am calling on the President to bring back the girls. It was in Port-Harcourt that we adopted the Bring Back the Girls slogan. I am very happy for the President that he is able to celebrate Fathers Day with his daughters.

The President is the Commander-in-Chief. The military should be used specifically in bringing back the girls, not embarrassing the governors. Yes, we all want to pose with our daughters and children and I am very happy for the President for putting that on Facebook. He must ensure that the military is posted to places where they are really needed, not in any act that violates the constitution.”

” What happened in Ekiti is a violation of the constitution and those who are responsible should be exposed and punished where necessary. I want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerians to accept that this is a very delicate situation.

And to get back hostages is a multidisciplinary task. And I am not holding anyone accountable at this moment for failure in that respect. What we will not accept is the misuse of facilities, especially security forces that should be directed at this priority. The security forces should not be used in any way to sabotage what we fought for.”

Consequences of apologising to Yusuf’s family

”We have a problem. I am sometimes worried when certain claims are made especially in situations of great sensitivity like this. We have a problem which exemplifies and summarises my position. I think all assistance should be explored.

The critical thing is to remove this burden of shame on us as a people. That is why I am very careful of not blaming those who are responsible because I know the nature of the problem too much. If somebody says I can talk and bring the children back, lets give that person the chance.

I remember that there are people who have much to answer for this. Those who adopted the approach of appeasement at the beginning when this menace was supposed to have been dealt with.”

” Those who went around apologising to the family of Yusuf, asking them to forgive and forget when a memorial service was being held for those killed at the United Nations Embassy bombing. Claiming that your mission there was to make peace is not the way to make peace.

We are reaping the consequences of that kind of appeasement. So that is all I want to say. However if people want to make up for their past errors, realising the size of the problem, that is fine. They should go to Sambisa forest and apologise for whatever they feel Nigeria has done to the sect, and then bring back the girls.”

Failure to bring back the girls

”I don’t have problem with foreign troops. They are experts and they have been doing this kind of assignment for a long time. In all activities including abductions, you look for experts wherever they are. So, we should go as far as possible in the search for solution. If it is the expertise that is suitable to the nature of the abductors, we should look into it.

If for instance we used experts at the very beginning, we would have gone far. If for instance the government had taken this abduction very seriously instead of waving it as a ploy to bring them down, I have a feeling that very little local expertise could have extracted the girls.

We don’t have to be soldiers to know that every day complicates the situation. It will be an eternal shame on us if we allow those girls to be forgotten. It will be an unforgivable act of dereliction if we allow those girls to be forgotten.”

Sending troops to Ekiti

”I am not saying that troops should not be sent to maintain law and order and to ensure that rigging does not take place. I am talking about playing thuggery. Those who should be protecting the polling booths on election day, are being used to stop electioneering campaign. That is pre- rigging in grand-style. That is also abuse of security.”

Amnesty to Boko Haram

”We must be very careful about amnesty. I said just now that I was actually involved in some of the efforts to resolve the MEND insurrection in the Niger delta. But I disagreed the way the amnesty was granted by President Yar’Adua. I even told the President that I disagreed with the way that amnesty was implemented. So when you talk about amnesty, be absolutely sure of what you are talking about. Amnesty without restitution is a poor incomplete form of amnesty.

When you extend amnesty to those who turned political insurgency to a way of making money, extortion, rape, intimidation, that is not amnesty. Amnesty is supposed to be a rigorous process not a loose kind of amnesty. So ask those calling for amnesty today the kind of amnesty they are talking about.

Are you talking of amnesty for those who bombed the market in Nyanyna? Are you talking of amnesty for those who abducted those girls and even traumatising them even till today? Are you talking of amnesty for the junior members of the movement? Are you talking about amnesty for that creature?

That monster, who was boasting to humanity in general that he is going to sell off the girls? There is a time to fight and a time to negotiate. that is what leadership is all about.”