Killings: Christian Lawyers Want Nigeria Security Architecture Overhauled

The Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria (CLASFON) rose from her 2-day President-In-Council virtual meeting to issue a communique, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari’s led federal government to immediately overhaul the country’s security architecture.

The Fellowship expressed worry over what it described as unending wanton killings and destruction of lives, properties and communities in Kaduna, Katsina Sokoto Zamfara and Borno States and other parts of the country.

The communique, which was jointly signed by Arome M. Okwori Esq. and Olatunji O. Omole Esq. the National President and National Secretary respectively noted that, overhauling and repositioning of the Country’s security architecture became necessary to avoid a total breakdown of law and order as citizens may be forced into armed self defence in the face of apparent lack of capacity of the present security structure to protect their lives and communities.

“We are worried and alarmed by the unending wanton killings and destruction of lives, properties and communities in Southern Kaduna, Katsina State, Sokoto State, Zamfara State, Bornu State and in other parts of the country.

“CLASFON calls on the Federal Government to completely overhaul her security architecture and reposition the security agencies to decisively tackle these menaces to avoid a total breakdown of law and order as citizens may be forced into armed self defence in the face of apparent lack of capacity of the present security structure to protect their lives and communities”, the group said.

CLASFON further expressed concern over the rising spate of rape cases and gender-based violence including senseless and wicked killing of vulnerable girls and women who are fall victims, calling on the Federal and State Governments to take urgent measures, including legal, legislative, social measures etc, to deal with the problem and to halt the increasing wave of the evil and obnoxious crimes of rape and gender-based violence.

The group also has a word for Nigeria in the recently celebrated democracy day, “CLASFON notes with regret that despite the conscious efforts made by some of our leaders in the past to entrench democratic values and culture, Nigeria is still a far cry from meeting the aspirations of the majority of her citizens with respects to some notable pillars of democracy.

“Free and fair elections, respect for the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, protection of fundamental human rights, protection of minority rights, respect for the Constitution, entrenchment of internal democracy in the political parties, among others. We call on the government at various levels to deliberately promote the advancement of democracy in Nigeria.

On COVID-19, the group urges the government to considers seamless access to justice as a sine qua non for any society desirous of peace and progress, accepted that recent that the pandemic has negatively impacted access to justice given that it occasioned the limitation of human movement and necessitated social distancing.