THE judgment of Honourable Justice Lambo Akanbi awarding the sum of N37.6 billion against the Federal Government as compensation to the victims of Odi community in Bayelsa State for the military invasion of the community 12 years ago is yet another victory for democracy, nay the rule of law. It underscores the point that every action taken by a government or its agencies or by any individual must be in consonance with the law and where there is a violation of the law, regardless of the motives for this, the courts can be trusted to provide appropriate remedy.
Following the murder of seven policemen in Odi by armed youths in 1999, then President Olusegun Obasanjo had threatened to declare a state of emergency in Bayelsa State if former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha failed to produce the killers. Precisely on November 10, 1999, the former president issued a 14-day ultimatum to fish out the killers, but on November 20, troops were deployed in the community where they unleashed maximum force on lives and property for five days. The devastating damage done to the community necessitated the action of the victims of the invasion, which culminated in the judgment of Justice Lambo.
While it is the duty of government to preserve law and order and to apprehend those who may constitute threat to peace and security of the state, government has a corresponding duty to ensure that this is done within the limits permitted by the law. On no account should government breach its own law in the process of enforcing the law. The Odi invasion as the judgment now emphasise, was a study on how not to enforce the law.
Why would a government shirk its responsibility to protect lives and property because it wanted to apprehend militants or a gang of criminals? Why would a government unleash violence on its defenceless citizens in the name of maintaining law and order? Why would such a horrendous havoc be wreaked on a community because of a few bad elements as though there is no single innocent and law-abiding citizen in the community who deserves government’s protection?
It is outside the contemplation of Nigeria’s constitution that an innocent person should suffer for an offence committed by another. Where the law is unsure of who did what, it holds no one responsible. That is why it prescribes that every accused person shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proven. The duty to prove the guilt rests on the accuser; the state. Even the law of Almighty God makes it clear that only the soul that sinneth will die. As a matter of fact, the notion of the law is that it is better for a thousand guilty persons to escape than for one innocent person to be punished. It is this important concept of the law that the indiscriminate military action in Odi ignored. What the invasion achieved was to punish a thousand innocent persons for the guilt of one or a few persons. That was a mockery of democratic tenets and cherished principle of law, which should never have been traced to or accommodated by any civilized government.
In essence government went completely overboard. It must bear the consequences of its action. And that exactly was what happened through the judgment of Justice Lambo Akanbi.
The beauty of the judgment is that it makes government perpetually responsible for its actions and inactions. Secondly, it confirms what Lord Atkins said during World War II that, “in this country, amid the clash of arms, the laws are not silent. They may be changed but they speak the same language in war as in peace. It has always been one of the pillars of freedom, one of the principles of liberty for which on recent authority we are now fighting, that judges are no respecter of persons and stand between the subject and any attempted encroachment on his liberty by the Executive, alert to see that any coercive action is justified in law”.
Finally, and perhaps of most importance, it demonstrates the quintessential attribute of the rule of law, which presupposes that the state is subject to the law; the judiciary is a necessary agency of the rule of law; and that government should respect the rights of individual citizens under the law.
Once again, the initial action of the militants, killing policemen and soldiers, which led to the Federal Government’s over-reaction of a military invasion, was wrong and remains condemnable; and no state should permit such lawlessness. But the response must still be within limits of rule of law and respect for the lives of innocent citizens.
The people in any community have a right to live and to own property regardless of the heinous crime committed by a few members of that community. A government must protect this right, even as it seeks to identify and punish criminals. That is the message Lambo’s judgment has sent to all and sundry. And the greatest beneficiary of the message should be the government of Nigeria, which should know now that diligence in its duty to the people is paramount.
Following the murder of seven policemen in Odi by armed youths in 1999, then President Olusegun Obasanjo had threatened to declare a state of emergency in Bayelsa State if former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha failed to produce the killers. Precisely on November 10, 1999, the former president issued a 14-day ultimatum to fish out the killers, but on November 20, troops were deployed in the community where they unleashed maximum force on lives and property for five days. The devastating damage done to the community necessitated the action of the victims of the invasion, which culminated in the judgment of Justice Lambo.
While it is the duty of government to preserve law and order and to apprehend those who may constitute threat to peace and security of the state, government has a corresponding duty to ensure that this is done within the limits permitted by the law. On no account should government breach its own law in the process of enforcing the law. The Odi invasion as the judgment now emphasise, was a study on how not to enforce the law.
Why would a government shirk its responsibility to protect lives and property because it wanted to apprehend militants or a gang of criminals? Why would a government unleash violence on its defenceless citizens in the name of maintaining law and order? Why would such a horrendous havoc be wreaked on a community because of a few bad elements as though there is no single innocent and law-abiding citizen in the community who deserves government’s protection?
It is outside the contemplation of Nigeria’s constitution that an innocent person should suffer for an offence committed by another. Where the law is unsure of who did what, it holds no one responsible. That is why it prescribes that every accused person shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proven. The duty to prove the guilt rests on the accuser; the state. Even the law of Almighty God makes it clear that only the soul that sinneth will die. As a matter of fact, the notion of the law is that it is better for a thousand guilty persons to escape than for one innocent person to be punished. It is this important concept of the law that the indiscriminate military action in Odi ignored. What the invasion achieved was to punish a thousand innocent persons for the guilt of one or a few persons. That was a mockery of democratic tenets and cherished principle of law, which should never have been traced to or accommodated by any civilized government.
In essence government went completely overboard. It must bear the consequences of its action. And that exactly was what happened through the judgment of Justice Lambo Akanbi.
The beauty of the judgment is that it makes government perpetually responsible for its actions and inactions. Secondly, it confirms what Lord Atkins said during World War II that, “in this country, amid the clash of arms, the laws are not silent. They may be changed but they speak the same language in war as in peace. It has always been one of the pillars of freedom, one of the principles of liberty for which on recent authority we are now fighting, that judges are no respecter of persons and stand between the subject and any attempted encroachment on his liberty by the Executive, alert to see that any coercive action is justified in law”.
Finally, and perhaps of most importance, it demonstrates the quintessential attribute of the rule of law, which presupposes that the state is subject to the law; the judiciary is a necessary agency of the rule of law; and that government should respect the rights of individual citizens under the law.
Once again, the initial action of the militants, killing policemen and soldiers, which led to the Federal Government’s over-reaction of a military invasion, was wrong and remains condemnable; and no state should permit such lawlessness. But the response must still be within limits of rule of law and respect for the lives of innocent citizens.
The people in any community have a right to live and to own property regardless of the heinous crime committed by a few members of that community. A government must protect this right, even as it seeks to identify and punish criminals. That is the message Lambo’s judgment has sent to all and sundry. And the greatest beneficiary of the message should be the government of Nigeria, which should know now that diligence in its duty to the people is paramount.
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