A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana , has urged the Federal Government to ensure diligent prosecution of suspects arrested in connection with the recent bombing of the United Nations Building in Abuja, saying that the development will send a signal that the culture of impunity is gone in the country.
Falana stated this in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday. He added that there was the need to go beyond the arrest of criminal suspects, saying that investigation must be thoroughly conducted by competent security personnel while trials are speedily conducted by well equipped courts.
The human rights activist also reminded federal government and other stakeholders that unless the culture of impunity was addressed by the government, law and order could not be restored in the country.
He said,” The barbaric attack of the UN building at Abuja a fortnight ago has been rightly condemned by the Federal Government, leading politicians, religious groups and other civil society organisations. As usual the government has sounded tough and threatened to deal with the culprits.
“But since similar threats were never carried out in the past, they are no longer taken seriously by Nigerians. Against the background of official impunity the country has been witnessing an increasing wave of terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, extra judicial killings and other violent crimes. “Suspects that are arrested by the police and other security agencies in connection with such crimes are hardly investigated while those who are charged to courts are released for want of diligent prosecution and unleashed on the society to continue their nefarious activities.
“In the United Kingdom, a riot occurred recently. Most of the suspects were arrested with the aid of CCTV. They were summarily tried, convicted and jailed. But in Nigeria, all those who have taken part in several civil disturbances which led to the killing of thousands of innocent citizens and loss of properties worth billions of naira are immune from prosecution under a neo-colonial criminal justice system that has been hijacked by nihilist forces.