Sequel to the above titled article, authored by one Gloria Mabeiam Esq, and published in the Monday 31st March, 2014, edition of the Blueprint newspaper (daily), kindly permit me, the opportunity to present fresh perspective to the arrest of Reuben Buhari, the erstwhile spokesman of the late Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, by the Kaduna state police for uploading on Gurara Forum face book group, pictures of the sad genocide that occurred on the 14th of March 2014 in Bondong, Kaura local government area of Kaduna state.
He (Reuben) having remarkably worked closely with the late Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa of blessed memory, was and is still seen by many as a protégé and an embodiment of the late governor, who was an epitome of humility, hard work and dedication. No wonder, of all the appointees of the late Yakowa, Reuben has remained closer to the family of the desist, owing to the adopted-son status he earned while the governor toiled for the development of the state. Therefore, one cannot be far from the truth if one asserts that the unseen hands of the enemies of Late Yakowa even in death, within and outside the state are clawing at Reuben Buhari, who, invariably seems to be towing the service-to-humanity path his late boss once thread. In another vein, there is a popular position held amongst a big chunk of Southern Kaduna youths, that some political bigwigs within Kaduna State, are bent on intimidating and cowing the newly appointed Honorable Minister of Environment, Mrs Lawrencia Laraba Mallam, into doing their bidding – a bidding the youths believe is adversely detrimental to the Southern Kaduna region, and by extension undermining the legacies the late Sen. Isaiah Balat sought to achieve through her appointment into the federal cabinet. Hence, these tend to give credence to the fact that the whole Reuben Buhari bruhaha, has an enormous political undertone and can pass for a pure act of political witch hunting.
The history of the Nigerian Judiciary is rife with political interference and or manipulations, much of which hasn’t been evidently established, but most of which the indicators are uncontestable. From electoral tribunals, to corruption litigations, money laundering cases and all, the ‘invincible’ hands of government officials and political office holders saddled with the responsibility of either executing or making the laws have been continuously seen to be meddling in the affairs of the judiciary, and to a very large extent dictate how, when, where justice is dispensed and to whom. Examples of these politically-induced judicial (mis)adventures dot the annals of our dear country’s history, but this is a topic for another day.
The case of Mr. Reuben Buhari cannot be any different, or better put, one cannot espouse vested interest from the entire incident as it unfolded – his invitation, re-invitation, threats of arraignment and subsequent ‘bail’ granting, all smacks of bizarre judicial absurdity, but strangest of all is the purported ‘crime’ of posting ‘inciting’ pictures of a real and unfortunate incident on a social media platform, a platform none of the security operatives are either members nor invited spectators. The commissioner of police, Mr. A. A. Hussaini, while addressing Rueben Buhari, alongside over a hundred of his sympathizers at the Kaduna State Police command headquarters on 25th February, 2014, betrayed the complicity of some powerful individuals bent on exploring all possible ways of using the purported ‘public inciting’ matter to posthumously settle political scores with Reuben Buhari and the other two desist strongmen of Southern Kaduna extraction (Yakowa and Balat). Because, the Police commissioner made it succinctly clear that day, that the ‘case’ (one wonders what case) was beyond him and that the Inspector General of Police was interested and hence is taking over as a matter of utmost urgency.
Pundits has it, that the security operatives in a desperate and unfortunate bid to save face in the face of their inadequacy in mitigating the escalating security situation in the state (Southern Kaduna particularly), were simply out to hold onto just about anything or make culprits of just about any innocent citizen, and sadly Reuben fell into their net for openly mourning a massacre. This move opinion holders claim, is believed to be a ploy to get the ‘men’ busy on an irrelevant, (but made relevant) case and not the real case in the Southern Kaduna, which seems to have been given very little attention by government and its security agencies, while hundreds of lives and unfathomable number of properties destroyed on a weekly bases.
Finally, the Nigerian government should not be seen to be complicit in matters that are purely judicial, but instead be at the forefront of ensuring that justice is dispensed fairly and that the security apparatus are not deployed for politically motivated operations, but for such assignments that seek to protect the lives and property of ordinary citizens. The police in particular should not be a willing tool in the hands of politicians or top government officials in intimidating the populace, else this will create a conundrum of a sort, which may boomerang with adverse effects on the polity. Hence, a continued prosecution (or is it persecution?) of a Reuben Buhari and the likes, would have created more tension than there already was as at the time of his arrest and or detention. The retreat by the security operatives to carry on with ‘order’ from above was most laudable, shrewd and timely, because it was a clear case of punishing the bereaved for daring to mourn openly by displaying pictures of destruction visited on them – a catalyst for crises if you ask me.
Tim Maiyaki.
Madakiya. Kaduna State.
