BREAKING: Court Restrains Sacked Oyo LG Chairmen, AGF, IGP From Forceful Takeover Of LG Councils

An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, the State capital, on Tuesday restrained the 68 sacked council chairmen and chairmen of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) from the forceful and illegal takeover of the council offices across the state.

The Court, presided over by Honourable Justice Moshud A.A. Abass, granted the four reliefs sought by the lead counsel to the Oyo State Government, Dr. Akin Onigbinde, SAN, including an order of interim injunction restraining the sacked chairmen from forcefully taking over the Local Government Councils or taking steps capable of causing breach of peace in the State.

The orders of interim injunction, which were granted by the Oyo State High Court followed an ex-parte motion filed by the State Government in Suit No: I/78/2020.
Also restrained were the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN; Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar; Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, Mr. Shina Olukolu, and the Oyo State APC chairman, Mr. Akin Oke.

The parties and their agents were restrained from taking any step that could tamper with the pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.

According to the Court, the sacked chairmen, as well as the four other defendants, their officers, agents, privies or otherwise, were restrained from taking steps that would cause a breach of peace by embarking on self-help to give effect to a letter dated 14th January 2020 with reference number HAGF/OYO/2020/VOL.I/1 issued by the Attorney General of the Federation to the sacked chairmen and the Inspector General of Police pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

LG crisis: We will prosecute those who vandalized LGs properties -Oyo govt

…Says sacked chairmen’s destruction of councils criminal

’Govt’ll await Appeal Court judgment’

 

The government of Oyo State declared on Monday that it will bring the full weight of the law to bear on the criminal and violent takeover of some Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas' secretariats by the dissolved illegal chairmen loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Reports from different parts of Oyo State confirmed on Monday that the sacked chairmen resorted to break-ins and vandalisation of government properties, leading some imposters to seize offices of council Chairmen.

The State Government, in a statement by Honourable Babatunde Oduyoye, the Special Adviser on Strategy and Political Matters to Governor Seyi Makinde, maintained that the action of the sacked chairmen amounted to criminality and unwarranted provocation.

It condemned what it called unwarranted lawlessness and motor-park-like brigandage perpetrated by the sacked chairmen on Monday.

According to the State Government, the imposters broke into council offices, vandalising gates, doors, windows and other properties at the respective local council secretariats.

The government, however, appealed to the teeming people of the State to remain calm, law-abiding and patient, pending the decision of the Court of Appeal on the matter slated for 19 February 2020.

It promised that  "a drastic measure “will be taken on the reports of destruction and violence which characterised the actions of the sacked chairmen on Monday.

Hon Oduyoye said: "We have received reports of vandalisation of government property. We have received reports of wanton destruction of doors, windows, and others, and I can tell you that the governor will not sit down and watch while some people decide to be lawless. This is criminal and the government will pursue it to a logical conclusion. 

"So, pending the determination of the cases at the Court of Appeal, I think it is only appropriate for these chairmen to be law-abiding because we had said earlier that it is sub judice and we cannot do anything until these cases are determined in the court. 

"For the records, the state government, in a statement yesterday, did say that we are going to ensure we do not allow a breakdown of law and order. As we speak, there are two cases in the Court of Appeal and the cases are coming up on February 19th. I do not know why the Attorney-General of the Federation wrote such a letter that is now being used as excuse by some to act recklessly. We will recall that he did a similar thing on the issue of Amotekun.”

The Special Adviser added that as a law-abiding and peace-loving Government, the 68 caretaker chairmen appointed by Governor Makinde were directed to stay away from the secretariats in order to forestall an outbreak of violence, noting, however, that the chairmen have been charged with keeping peace and order in their respective local councils.

He added: “We in Oyo State are law-abiding citizens. The government directed the chairmen to maintain peace. We have just finished a meeting now and workers in the state under the umbrella of NULGE are on strike, and you now begin to ask why the sacked APC council chairmen went to the local government councils. 

“The issue is, there is industrial action by NULGE. I think they are justified by the level of reports we have received of people macheting PDP members they found around the local government councils’ premises, destroying government properties, forcing doors open and all that. NULGE was right to have taken such a decision. We do not begrudge them for doing that but we have told our people to be law-abiding. We have told the chairmen too to ensure there is no breakdown of law and order within the local government areas.”

Speaking on the situation that led to the current imbroglio, Oduyoye maintained that the Court should be allowed to take its decision on who is right or wrong on the matter on ground, insisting, however, that the government, under the leadership of Governor Makinde, would not sit down and watch some desperate elements destroy the state and create fear in the minds of the people.

"Whether one is right or the other is wrong, it is not for me to decide. The court will decide.  This is a very simple matter. An election was held when there was an injunction. Second, elections took place in LCDAs not recognised by the Constitution. These are matters before the court.

“As I said, the court will decide if you can conduct elections in areas not recognized by the constitution and, if you can go ahead to conduct an election when there was a pending injunction, these are matters for the Court of Appeal to decide upon.

Pending that time, we have appealed to the good people of Oyo State to be calm, law-abiding and we will ensure we do something about the report sent to us on those who have destroyed government property,” Oduyoye said.

Signed

Hon. Babatunde Oduyoye

Special Adviser on Strategy and Political Matters

January 27, 2020.

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Northern backs 'Amotekun', demand for "Operation Shege ka Fasa"

 

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) is canvassing the establishment of Operation Shege ka Fasa in the North in response to the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Operation Amotekun. ‘Shege ka Fasa’ means I dare you.

The coalition, which was the brain behind the 2018 quit notice to the Igbo living in the North,said yesterday that the North is even more genuinely entitled to be angry in view of the current high level of security challenge in that part of the country. It cited the incessant attacks on and killings of innocent citizens by gunmen,abductions, destruction of communities and terrorism.

Spokesman for the group, Abdulazeez Suleiman,said in a statement in Kaduna that the North has persevered in a dangerous security environment fuelled by outside interests that thrive on the supply of deadly merchandise including hard drugs and other harmful substances and the proliferation of arms in the region. The group wondered why the SouthWest had to wait until after the conclusion of the 2019 elections before coming up with Operation Amotekun. But it said the security outfit should function within the ambit of the law.

“We are convinced that there is indeed a justifiable reason for Nigerians to seek to take extra measures for self- protection and preservation in the prevailing circumstances,” it said. It added: “This need is necessitated by the apparent failure of the government to discharge its primary duty of protecting the lives and properties of all citizens. “Recall that in 2015, Nigerian voters trusted Buhari to lead our nation through and out of its limitations, into a future in which we will live secure lives and pursue livelihoods in a united Nigeria whose human and material resources will be protected by leaders.

“Regrettably, five years on, the story is that of poverty ravaging communities, hunger stalking millions of homes, inflation making life difficult, people losing jobs, businesses closing down, infrastructure decaying, young Nigerians losing hope, which are all drivers to the current security situation.

“Worth recalling also, is that long before the current deterioration, the government had been advised severally to take definite steps to end the conflict between farmers and the pastoral communities which it shunned. Instead government came up with various ambiguous policies in the form of Ruga, livestock transformation, etc that all ended in controversy, and were never implemented.

“At a point, the CNG and Northern Elders Forum were compelled to consider advising the pastoralists to return home to safety at which the presidency intervened by renewing the vow to protect all citizens’ rights to live and thrive anywhere in the country.

“Having evidently failed to do that, the ensuing level of fear and uncertainty pervading the country now sparks concerns that government’s willingness and the quality of coordination of efforts, management of resources and the capacities and integrity of the mechanisms charged with the nation’s security do not do justice to the magnitude of the problems, or address the sense of urgency in dealing with an escalating disaster.”

On the launching of Operation Amotekun by the SouthWest,the CNG said: “While we do not dispute the right of the South West to initiate the Amotekun as a necessary alternative to secure their safety in the face of government’s control lapses, we nevertheless understand the need for such measures to abide by due processes that conform with relevant laws of the land.

“In this regard, CNG recognizes the authority of the Federal Government to take steps to disband all militias and armed groups everywhere in Nigeria to ensure that no group has the capacity to challenge the State in its prerogative to maintain law and order, and protect citizens’ lives and properties.

“The acceptable position remains that only legally constituted outfits and lawfully sanctioned organizations under the direct control of the Federal Government, as recognized by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, can be so organized, armed and fitted.

“Any extra judicial arrangement by which regions set up state-sponsored armed militia groups may therefore not be tolerated as it only confirms suspicions of a wider agenda similar to that of IPOB, to cajole other parts of the country to submit to their ambition for political ascendancy.

“In particular, the idea of Amotekun on the claim of deteriorating national security at this point, raises the question of why, if they are sincere, the South West leaders fought so hard to secure the return of this same administration for another term, notwithstanding the security lapses that manifested long before the elections of 2019.

“If indeed the aim of the South West leaders is to use Amotekun as weapon to coerce the nation into ceding the presidency to them in future, CNG finds it pedestrian and tactless as brigandage will only jeopardize their chances the way IPOB did to South East politics. On the contrary, any section of the country that is able to present a credible alternative shall certainly gain the support of Nigerians without the need for resorting to bluffing.

“ In the prevailing circumstances, the North is even more genuinely entitled to be angry at the rate its people are attacked, killed, towns and villages vandalized, innocent citizens including children abducted, and terrorized, families traumatized and communities displaced on a daily basis.

“All this while, the North has persevered in a dangerous security environment fuelled by outside interests that thrive on the supply of such deadly merchandise as hard drugs and other harmful substances and the proliferation of arms into the region.

“With the current level of anger, frustration and uncertainty that is fueling communal disharmony and mutual distrust, CNG believes that the North should as well take similar steps to arrange for the protection of the region and its people from these daily attacks and destructions.

“Thus, failure of the authorities to provide proof of its capacity to protect citizens in all parts of the North as minimum evidence that they are serious about their responsibilities, would leave the people with no option than to resort to forming an Arewa Security Initiative to secure their people’s lives with the proposed code name “Shege ka Fasa.”

“For the avoidance of doubt, notwithstanding that Nigerians may not have quarrels with region taking measures to protect its people, they are at the same time unlikely to give in to calculated manipulation, coercion, intimidation, aggression or undue show of force in whatever guise.

“On its part, the North remains confident that it will not shy away from any process leading to any form of national reassessment that may arise now or in the future, in the context of a genuine dialogue without hidden agendas or preconditions.”

•Source: The Nation