By
Barrister Charles Taku*
The politically motivated
life sentences slammed on Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and nine Ambazoinian leaders by a
Court-martial in Cameroun with the complicity of the government of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria is one more unfortunate example of the militarization of
justice, civil and political rights in African through inter-state terror.
The ten victims who were in Nigeria under the
protection of international law, were abducted from a hotel in Abuja Nigeria in
a coordinated operation carried out by Nigeria and Cameroun intelligence and
paramilitary operatives.
A Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria has
since decided that the abduction and rendition of these victims was illegal and
violated the Nigerian constitution and international law and ordered the return
to Nigeria of the abductees; a decision, the Nigerian government has so far
ignored.
The entire operation
leading to this Cameroun staged night judicial terror is a slur on the rule of
law credentials and constitutional governance of Nigeria and Cameroun. It provides cattle fodder for the validation
of the criticism made by an increasing number of observers that the two
countries may be paying lip-service to the supposed fight against Boko-Haram in
which the international community has deployed extensive resources.
Going by the interstate abduction and
court-martial of these victims in a night judicial ritual, a method allegedly
used by Boko-Haram in its operations,
could this hydra-headed monster
so-called Boko-Haram not be but a stealth interstate ruse used to create
instability to justify political brigandage and the corrupt eternalization of
political power relying on international resources and support? Why will supposed sovereign nations prefer
interstate terror to the international rule of law in the conduct of
international relations?
This irrelevant parody of
justice against Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and Southern Cameroons leaders is about ten
individuals. It is about the
consequences in Nigeria, Cameroun and Africa of the legitimization of abduction
and state terror as alternatives to the international rule of law.
The international community must make a strong
statement condemning this travesty and judicial brigandage and seek the
unconditional release of these victims.
Its indifference may unfortunately be construed as a tacit validation of
impunity in an explosive region where violence is not a rare commodity.
No one should be under the
illusion, that the impugned court-martial process and its outcome is a victory
for Cameroun or Nigeria that collaborated in it. It is an international symbol of shame for
the two countries and a validation of the just claims of the Southern Cameroons
to sovereignty and freedom. The ten did
not present the case of the independence of the Southern Cameroons by violent
means.
At their abduction, they were merely
articulating the claims which the Southern Cameroons have strenuously presented
for the past fifty-seven years, at the United Nations, at home and worldwide. Rather than seek dialogue to resolve the
conflict, Cameroun declared war with impunity, hoping to subdue the aggrieved
people of the Southern Cameroons through genocide, crimes against humanity and
war crimes. The Nigeria government which
Africa and the world relied on to mediate in this and other African disputes,
decided to throw its support to the government of Cameroun in the mistaken
belief that the abduction of these victims would end the crisis. By its own miscalculation, Nigeria, lost an
opportunity to oversee a peaceful solution to a potentially protracted conflict
in its own backyard.
Ambazonia is an albatross
on the neck of the Republic of Cameroun which will loosen its grip only when
Ambazonia is fully liberated.
The life sentences only
extend the duration and complexity of the conflict which neither the present
leaders of Cameroun nor Nigeria will be around to see how it plays out. May be only their progeny, may as fate often
does, have the chance to have glimpses of these victims when they will be liberated
to partake in the celebration of an independent and free neighbouring
Ambazonia. The night justice of shame will not define the cause they stand for.
The
sustained resistance, self-defense and the unbreakable will and resolve
of a people who have craved for justice with peace plants, memoranda to the UN
and the international community, their precious blood and the eternal
conscience of humanity will determine the outcome of this conflict and not
conspiratorial carnage, terror and the arrogance of ephemeral power of a frail
failing dictatorship. For this reason,
by imposing the so-called life sentences and other coercive conditions of life
on Southern Cameroons captives, they might in this occasion, have put their own
poisoned portions on their own lips and that of their nation.
*Charles Taku,a Cameroonian and noted International lawyer( with a penchant for criminal justice) ,posted this commentary on his Facebook page on August 20,2019 following the jailing of the Ambazonian leaders to life in prison
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