(Onitsha Nigeria, 29th of June 2016)-The attention of leadership
of International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
(Intersociety) is drawn to unfolding circumstances trailing the criminal
enrichment and illicit acquisition and ownership of multi-billion naira foreign
house properties and local industrial farm by the embattled Chief of Army
Staff, Lt Gen Turkur Buratai (a.k.a. Buratai De Butcher). Our attention is also
drawn to latest claims by the embattled COAS, to the effect that “Boko Haram
Cyber Terrorists and those jealous of his “successes” against Boko Haram insurgency
in the Northeast are behind his present ordeal”. The claims are totally fallacious and untrue.
The truth is that the COAS, Lt Gen Turkur Buratai (a.k.a. Buratai De Butcher)
is roundly haunted by personal greed and spiritual forces of over 1000 unarmed,
defenseless and innocent citizens massacred under his operational and vicarious
watch and directives.
We wish to recall that the authorities of
Sahara Reporters had on 24th of June 2016, released a damning
report, heavily indicting the serving COAS (Turkur Buratai) over his
acquisition and ownership of multi-billion naira properties while still serving
as Nigeria’s COAS. The extensively investigated report with pictures, dates,
time, locations and other documentary statistics, was released by the
authorities of Sahara Reporters after wide consultations with their legal
department on the true position of the law and military convention as they
concern the legality or otherwise of a serving military officer in Nigeria
acquiring and owning choice house properties in overseas as well as industrial
farms in choice areas like Nasarawa State-Abuja axis. On 28th of
June 2016, the authorities of Sahara Reporters updated their report with more
documentary details on how and when Lt Gen Turkur Buratai paid for and took
over his Dubai house properties. The updated report also exposed the COAS
industrial and multi-billion naira farm located on Keffi-Abuja Expressway. The
most striking of it all was that the Dubai properties were purchased through
proxies and the COAS chief employer (Federal Government) was never informed
officially of same till date; thereby expressly establishing the two fundamental
elements of crime: actus reus (guilty act) and mens rea (guilty mind or intent).
Since then,
strong attempts have been made and are still being made by the office of the
COAS, the Nigerian Army, the Ministry of Defense and the Federal Government to
cover up the report and sweep it under the carpet. Some “human rights”
activists and lawyers have also been hired, compromised and paid to organize
press conferences and feature in arranged television and radio programs for the
purpose of watering down the report and sweeping it under the carpet. Some of
them have also been hired to write rebuttal for government hired public
relations consultants. One of such rebuttals is presently in circulation under “PRNigeria”,
in which the COAS was said to have been investigated and cleared by the Federal
Government within 24hours. The latest cover up statement circulated by the
referenced, claimed that the COAS breaches no law because “he acquired the
Dubai properties as a share holder” and that “he is entitled to own a farm as a
serving army officer, which he did since he was a major”.
The COAS had
earlier authorized the Nigerian Army to issue a statement where he claimed that
“he bought his Dubai properties through his personal savings”. The Ministry of
Defense on its part said “the COAS is not criminally and morally culpable
because he included the Dubai properties in his Asset Declaration Forms and had
declared same more than one to the Army and the Code of Conduct”. The COAS also
added more salt to the wound by attempting to whip up “Boko Haram sentiments”
as the reason for his present ordeal. He had specifically claimed that his
ordeal came as a result of his “successes against Boko Haram terrorism in the
Northeast” and that “he is under serious attacks by Boko Haram cyber terrorists”
(vivid reference to the authorities of Sahara Reporters and other critical
online and social media). As laughable,
contradictory and empty as the above defenses are, we are not surprised a bit
over same.
The above
defenses, to say the least, are fallacious, vexatious, concocted,
contradictory, watery, un-legalistic, un-argumentative, immoral, shameless,
irresponsible, rotten, unscientific, unverifiable and untenable. The truth is
that the COAS is being haunted by souls and blood of over 1000 innocent citizens
he vicariously and operationally massacred, in conspiracy with his
Commander-in-Chief and Nigeria’s most violent civil president as well as the
third butcher-in-chief, retired IGP Solomon Arase. By the combined butchery
efforts and roles of the trio and their sub-commanders, over 1000 unarmed,
nonviolent, defenseless and innocent citizens, including over 700 Shiite Muslim
faithful and over 200 Pro Biafra agitators, were massacred with reckless
abandon under a period of nine months. The COAS attracted the wrath of spiritual
avengers, rioting and revolting from the cosmic world when he literally
abandoned the code of conduct and rules of engagement guiding modern act of
soldiering and chose to become a butcher and murderer as well as serial ethnic
hater and cleanser in uniform.
Why The Souls & Spirits Of Murdered Innocent
Nigerians Rose Against COAS, Turkur Buratai: Under
his operational and vicarious directives, unarmed and defenseless citizens were
massacred in broad day light and their corpses abducted and unceremoniously
buried in secret graves. Under the COAS operational and vicarious directives,
in conspiracy with his violent Commander-in-Commander and the murderous ex IGP,
Solomon Arase, bodies of dozens of those they massacred and murdered were
dumped in burrow pits and when alarms were raised by rights groups, they sent
their agents to set them ablaze.
Under the operational and vicarious directives
of the COAS and Co, over 90 bodies of massacred Igbo/Biafra Heroes Day celebrants,
onlookers and passersby were abominably buried in secret mass graves inside
Onitsha Army Barracks. As we write, over 15 dead bodies of the Asaba spillover
massacre of 30th of May 2016 conducted by Buratai’s soldiers and
Arase’s police officers are still dumped at the Asaba Federal Medical Center
mortuaries with a firm instruction from the Buhari administration not to
release them to their families till date.
Under his operational and vicarious
directives, in conspiracy with others, five of 12 unarmed jubilant citizens,
massacred by soldiers on 17th of December 2015, were abducted and
later dumped at the Onitsha General Hospital, where three of them were later
discovered and recovered by their families. Under the COAS operational and
vicarious directives, the wounded, receiving emergency medical attentions in
various clinics, were abducted by soldiers and many of them made to disappear
violently till date.
Under the
operational and direct directive of the COAS, over 700 unarmed and innocent
Shiite Muslim faithful, exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to
freedom of worship and conscience, were massacred in his presence and under his
watch. He further ordered his subordinates to “finish up” the rest, leading to
violent invasion of the sect headquarters, killing of others and abduction of
the rest to his army headquarters where they were murdered in cold blood and
unceremoniously buried in droves in criminal mass graves. Instances are too
many to be mentioned.
Totality of the
foregoing starkly constitutes the collective angers and wrath of the spiritual
avengers, who were untimely, violently and abominably massacred by Lt
Gen Turkur Buratai and Company. The violent killings under reference and
genocidal treatments meted out to the wounded are universally abominable and abhorred
under the international humanitarian and human rights laws and the UN system.
Lt Gen Turkur Buratai as a key participant in the past international peace
operations or peace missions should tell Nigerians and members of the
international community where it is heard that the wounded combatants in armed
conflict are abducted from the hospital beds by peacekeeping soldiers, denied
medical treatments and murdered in cold blood, not to talk of wounded
non-combatants or wounded unarmed civilians in peacetime. The COAS should also
inform all and sundry if in the course of his participation or commandeering roles
in his past international peace missions, he has witnessed, participated or
supervised the setting ablaze of murdered corpses of innocent citizens dumped
in burrow pits.
Failed Attempts To Whip Up Boko Haram Sentiments: Contrary to false claims being made by the COAS and the Buhari
administration, to the effect that “Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria has been
militarily defeated”, the reverse is totally the case. The horrible state of
military and security intelligence in Nigeria is thousands of miles away from
matching or taming an internationally average terror insurgency, not to talk of
standard or high profile terror insurgency. Bookshops or literatures containing
Nigerian originated and written military and security intelligence methodologies
and strategies can only be patronized by an army of Maiduguri flies.
Most of
the standard data and literatures on security situations in Nigeria are those
written by foreigners. A typical example is the “CIA Fact Book”. The Australian
based “GunPolicy.Org”, for instance, has severally failed to lay its hands on
any accurate data on Nigeria, originated from within, as per “number of licit
guns in circulation in Nigeria and in right or wrong use, accurate State
armoury inventories, number of illicit guns in circulation and their bearers,
number of police officers in Nigeria, number of personnel of armed forces in
Nigeria as well as accurate crime records and statistics, etc”. The Nigeria’s
National Policy on Security was last updated in 1979 and till date, there is no
known foreign policy direction for Nigeria, Nigeria’s security intelligence is
in tatters and its their armed personnel are beastly, crude, untrained,
gun-cultured and graft infested.
These explain
why it laughable hearing the Buhari administration and its COAS claiming
victory over terror insurgency and when the whereabouts of the likes of
Government Akpemuopolo (Tompolo) have defied all government intelligence and
security networks and apprehension till date. Therefore it is extremely
important to inform that “the concept of Boko Haram” was a half-baked idea
nurtured by its original founders, but hijacked by violent and primordial
northern politicians and nursemaided into the limelight for
the two purposes of capturing northern presidency and uprooting host and guest
Christian communities in northern parts of Nigeria.
Owing to huge
monetary patronage from crookedly rich northern Muslim politicians, the Boko
Haram ranks were easily penetrated and controlled politically, leading to
ceding of 70% loyalty or more of its activities, conducts and management to the
northern Muslim politicians and sponsors and 30% or less to regional and
international radical Islamic networks. Because Boko Haram insurgency is
located at land-locked areas of the North or areas without any access to
natural resources (such as crude oil bunkering in South-south), its combatants
heavily rely on illicit monetary subventions from northern Muslim politicians
for survival and oiling of its operational activities.
The operational
and logistically challenges faced by remnants of the Boko Haram terror group
presently clearly stem from “starvation of funds”, occasioned by near-stoppage
of huge political funding formerly enjoyed by the violent group from northern
Muslim politicians. Addition to this is substantial adoption of its key quests
by the Buhari administration, which include threat to Nigeria’s secularity,
escalation of ethno-religious cleansing and its extension to the South-south
and Southeast regions using Fulani Janjaweed and violent massacre of Pro Biafra
agitators as well as concentration of key political and institutional
appointments in the hands of northern Muslims. Boko Haram insurgency’s illicit
funding has reportedly dropped by 70%-80%. The current idea being rebranded by
some radical northern thinkers, owing to rising militancy in the South-south
and the Southeast and latest one in Southwest (between Ogun and Lagos States),
is not to fold Boko Haram insurgency, but to retain it as a violent political
option, to be determined by unfolding state of social downturns in the country.
It is therefore
morally reprehensible and totally condemnable for the COAS to hide under non
existing counter Boko Haram insurgency successes to whip up sentiments over his
immoral and criminally indictable acquisition and ownership of the
multi-billion naira properties in Dubai and North-central Nigeria. The most
laughable aspect of it all is that the more his hired defenders try to defend
him, the more the COAS is exposed.
For instance, for
those who claimed that the COAS bought his illicit Dubai properties as “a
shareholder” and not as a sole owner, does it mean that if a public official or
serving soldier loots or diverts public funds of, say; N7B and invests it in a
multi-national corporation with multi shareholders, he is no longer a public looter
and criminal because he is now a shareholder? Did COAS, Turkur Buratai notify
his employer: Federal Government, in writing before making such huge external
investments as a serving soldier? For
the COAS who said he procured the properties with his salary savings, how much
are his monthly salary and other allowances and how much did he save and for
how long? How many of his children have died of starvation or dropped out of
the school or denied medical treatments or denied shelter or clothing or
leisure as a result of his savings for the properties? Why using proxies for
such investments if he has no criminal intent? Why the lodgments in quick
succession? For those who said the COAS
was transparent in purchase of the Dubai properties because he declared same in
his Asset Declaration Forms; does it mean that once a serving soldier or public
officer loots or steals public funds and declares same in the CCB Forms, he is
instantly not criminally liable or a public plunderer?
For those who
said the COAS was constitutionally entitled to own farm as a serving soldier
and that he owned a farm even when he was a major; what category of farm did he
own, subsistent or industrial? Can he also own a farm with worth or values
substantially fatter than all his military career earnings put together, assuming they are unspent? What were his total military career earnings
and savings in 1980s as a major in the army during which he bought the large
expanse of land for farm that is now registered as Turkur & Turkur Farm
Limited, having been enlisted into army 3rd January 1981 and commissioned 2nd
Lieutenant in 1983? Was there any concrete evidence that he borrowed commercial
loans to set up such industrial farm? Is Lt Gen Turkur Buratai as a salaried
serving soldier a part time or full time serving army officer? Is he a
professional businessman or a professional soldier?
We are not
bordered much about obvious efforts by the Buhari administration to cover up
and sweep under the carpet the indefensible criminality under reference, but we
are deeply shocked and alarmed over the attempts of the same Government to ride
on the collective intelligence of all Nigerians and members of the
international community by forcing them to believe by fire by force that “a
black kettle is no longer black but purely white”. This is not the first time
the Buhari administration is shielding the COAS from abnormalities. The COAS,
by records of his service, was due for statutory retirement since 3rd
of January 2016, after completing mandatory 35 years of service and exempted
from the newly created Harmonized Terms and Condition of Services
Officers (HTACOS), 2012 (Revised) applicable to senior officers of the
armed forces, from those in Course 36, except COAS, Lt Gen Turkur Buratai who
belongs to Course 29. But the Buhari administration adamantly retained him, yet
it went ahead under no excusable grounds to sack prematurely dozens of bright
and young military officers dominated by Southeast and South-south zones.
We wish to end
this publication by reminding Lt Gen Turkur Buratai again that forces behind his ordeal are not “Boko
Haram Cyber Terrorists” or “those unhappy with his (non-existent) counter Boko
Haram insurgency successes”; rather, the real forces behind his ordeal are
personal greed and spiritual forces of over 1000 defenseless and innocent
Nigerians, he operationally and vicariously massacred, whose souls and blood
are rioting and revolting from the cosmic world, following their violent and
abominable murders and generationally curse-ridden burning of their bodies and
interment in hidden mass graves without any form of orthodox or unorthodox
appeasement of their souls.
Therefore, he
who desecrates a sacred land shall be ready to wrestle with its benevolent and
malevolent spiritual forces and no matter how armed and gallant a general is,
he can never withstand the sound of a spiritual music. A general, who shoots at
a ghost, has made himself an instant victim of back to sender, because ghost
and live bullet have no commonality.
Signed:
For: International Society for Civil
Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
Mobile Line: +2348174090052
Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq.
Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law
Program
Mobile Line: +234803418632
Website: www.intersociety-ng.org
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