THE successful extradition of the alleged mastermind of the April 14 bomb blast in Nyanya, Abuja, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, from Sudan seemed a great leap of commitment by the Federal Government in its fight against terrorism. But revelations at the Federal High Court in Abuja that struck out a suit filed by the Inspector General of Police against the suspected bomber for lack of diligent prosecution, is a shameful advertisement of the lack of seriousness on the part of officials in handling matters of profound national interest.
The shoddy prosecution exposed by the ruling of Justice Ademola Adeniyi is embarrassing, unfortunate and a spiteful portrayal of indolence, for it does no credit to prosecutors and the intelligence community. Whilst it reiterates the incurable vacillation that has dogged high profile cases of this nature, it also raises serious questions about simple professional conduct and routine procedure in the administration of justice, whose default is too emotionally turgid to absorb.
In a bid to effect Ogwuche’s prosecution and extradite him from Sudan, where he fled to, shortly after the terrorist attack, the government had arraigned him on a three-count charge for conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism, and for facilitating the activities of persons engaged in an act of terrorism on April 14, 2014 at Nyanya Motor Park, Abuja, by detonating improvised explosive devices that killed 75 persons and injured no fewer than 100 others. But alas, a tussle between the police that endorsed the charge, and the Directorate of State Security, which took custody of the accused Ogwuche, over control of the prosecution, found the two security forces in open public confrontation and at cross-purposes.
There are damaging consequences for this ugly event. At a basic existential level, the ruling is a terrible psychological damage to Nigerians and concerned international human rights bodies, as informed by the very sensitive nature of the case in which many lives were lost in a most brutal manner. So many victims and families of victims are still paying the price and living with the scars of the carnage.
Moreover, the ruling painfully brings to light the culture of recklessness and resignation in the management of resources. That the security agents managed to arrest one suspect after so much effort and intelligence surveillance leading to extradition of the fleeing suspect from Sudan and then bungled the case, is too incredible to fathom. Given the gravity and national importance of the Nyanya bomb blasts, this case should have been handled with more diligence and the Attorney-General of the Federation should have intervened more authoritatively.
What is typified by the inability to promptly address the inter-agency conflict between the police and the Directorate of State Security is the weakness of Nigeria’s institutional process. Inter-agency conflicts are not peculiar to Nigeria alone; it is a frequent occurrence where there are varied interests in a high profile criminal investigation. However, when and where it occurs, it is an unfortunate situation, which, if not promptly addressed through more powerful official intervention, would jeopardise the administration of justice.
That is what has played out in the Ogwuche case. That the Attorney-General of the Federation did not intervene speaks volume of the willingness and the capacity of the Federal Government to fight insurgency. As unfortunate as it is to all Nigerians, so also it is portentous of the state of national impotence.
For this reason, the Attorney-General and the Director of Public Prosecution owe Nigerians an explanation as to why this high profile case was bungled. As public officials they must serve the peoples’ interests. Terrorism, though not new to Nigeria, must be curtailed, and the ministry responsible for coordinating the prosecution of terrorists must be seen to exercise enough political will to do just that.
Notwithstanding the fact that the suspected bomber has sued the Federal Government for illegal detention to the tune of N100 million, it would be embarrassing to this nation, given Ogwuche’s verbal grandstanding, and be unfair to the blast victims and their families, if Ogwuche is allowed to just walk away. The Federal Government needs to redeem its image as a forerunner against terrorism and insurgency, and should take no recourse in extenuating circumstances over this tardy prosecution of a high profile case. To extricate the establishment from any form of complicity, the Attorney-General of the Federation must re-arraign Ogwuche with proper charges and the case must be thoroughly prosecuted. This is necessary to regain the people’s confidence in the security and law enforcement agencies.
Nigerians need to be assured that saboteurs in the system attempting to stop prosecution of suspected terrorists cannot frustrate the course of justice. Or else all the time and resources expended on the fight against terrorism would give credence to a grand deception. And Nigerians will never forgive such.