Highway Terrorism by Zamfara Governor

Highway Terrorism by Zamfara Governor’s Escort

Ibrahim Dan-Halilu

Sunday, December 9 is one day I will never forget in my life. It is a day I was reminded once again that most of those we have as leaders today are rulers,; they do not care for our welfare but for their pockets; they are not chief security officers of their respective domains but agents of insecurity.

What will you describe a Governor whose Escort and security details terrorize innocent citizens on highways in the name of providing protection for His Excellency? This has been the case in most Nigerian cities, and it was my experience last Sunday in the hands of the Escorts and Security details of the Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Mahmuda Aliyu Shinkafi.

I have never met the Governor personally but I have heard a lot about him from a friend who is an indigene of Zamfara. My perception of him was that he was a civilized and dynamic leader of the new generation of political leaders. But what happened yesterday has changed this perception. I regard him as no better than, if not worst than a military dictator. Otherwise how can the failure to clear off the road leads to an attempt on my life?

I was driving back to Abuja last Sunday evening in my Honda Accord 1997 model (Academy) after a very good weekend with my family when I jammed the convoy of the Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Mahmuda Aliyu Shinkafi. The Governor was coming into Kaduna through Ali Akilu Road at about 5:00 p.m. on such a high speed that you would think he was on a journey to Mecca road.

His convoy which was led by a police escort van and a state security vehicle (white Peugeot 406) caught me midway along Ali Akilu Road and was bleat siren uncontrollably. I was so scared and confused that I did not know what to do than to remain calm on the speed lane looking for where to park and allow the rogues to pass.

Luck was not on my way because as I was about making a halt near the AP Filling Station of Unguwan Shanu Kaduna, the white Peugeot 406 conveying the plain clothed security men swerved to the right lane and overtook me. Two of the occupants shouted from the window asking me to park by the road side. I demonstrated to them that the right lane is parked off with vehicles and the other lane I was driving had no sidewalk, so there was no way I could clear off the road without injuring myself or destroying my vehicle.

Before I could shut my mouth, I saw the Police Escort vehicle, a Peugeot 504 wagon by my side. One of the mobile policemen in wagon drew his gun and smashed the rear windscreen. Thanks to God, I was not hurt but the windscreen was damaged. A second vehicle conveying some mobilepolicemen also joins their colleague as one of its occupants hit my right side mirror with his leg. I was dumb founded because I never believed such a thing could happen in a democratic rule. If it were a military era, I would not even waste my time reminiscing over it. But this is era of democracy when the rule of law is supposed to be the norm.

Living under the illusion that we are in a democratic rule, I pursued the convoy whose destination was the Zamfara State Governor’s Lodge. As the Governor’s convoy entered the lodge, I stopped at the main entrance and asked to see the Director of Press to the Governor because he was the only person I thought could be responsible and civilized enough to listen to my ordeal and probably offer some succor. But I was told he was holding a meeting with some pressmen. So I returned to my vehicle and was about departing when a mobile policeman who has heard my telephone conversation with a friend to whom I was explaining my encounter with the Governor’s convoy, beckoned on me. He asked what the matter was, and I explained to him what his colleagues did to me. He did not utter a word but sneaked away. As a matter of fact I was not expecting him to do or say anything because he was an accomplice. But I wanted him to know that I will take up the matter until I get a redress.

Having confirmed that the escorts belonged to the Zamfara State Governor, I went straight to a Police Station to report the incident. The police officer on duty took my statement and asked for copies of photographs of the smashed windshield and side mirror, which I promise to supply. I am pursuing the mater until something is done to stop this highway terrorism.

The question begging for answer is this: What is my crime to be so treated in my country of citizenship? Did I break any traffic law by not doing their bidding at the risk of losing my life or destroying my vehicle? Even if I did, are the policemen empowered by our laws to do what they did as a remedy or punishment? Is there any law in Nigeria which stipulates that when a governor or minister is on the highway or any road, other motorists must park by the road side to allow him to pass? Why are the governors allowing their escorts and other security details to terrorize the public, or are they claiming ignorance of the highway terrorism being committed by their escorts?

What about the recent incidence in Kebbi State where some security men pursued a motorist for overtaking the Governor’s convoy and in the process four people, including security men lost their lives? Will the Governor of Kebbi State claim that he did not know? What action did he take after the incident besides paying condolences to the families of the victims? Did he pay any ransom to the family or relations of the deceased?

Should Nigerians fold their arms and allow themselves to be so terrorized by people they cast votes for few months ago until many of us have gone to our graves as a result of police assault on the highways? What is the remedy for this act of terrorism against innocent citizens by men in uniform who are claiming to be protecting the Governors and Ministers by their uncivilized acts?

I don’t think we should fold our arms until we lost so many lives and property to these gangster escorts. I am appealing to all Nigerians to join me in fighting this executive menace. We must stop this barbaric and uncivilized show of power by security details of state governors and ministers. We must tell the terror escort pointblank that the Governors are servants of the people. They are elected to provide development and good governance not to kill or mime. The Governors are holding a mandate giving to them by the people. They are not sovereigns whose action is law unto itself. We must remind them to look around and see how many of the former Governors are now ordinary citizens. Some of them are already convicted criminals who used the protection provided them by law to steal public funds. The Governors and other top ranking government officials using sirens too should be made to understand that the taste of power is not in the molestation of innocent citizens who they are supposed to protect. The proof is in using their position to better the lots of the people. They should imbibe the rudiments of democratic governance which require them to be open, transparent, accountable and accessible to the electorate. Any governor that cannot make a public outing and meet with his people in a free atmosphere, then he should search his mind if he really is a people’s representative.

In the case of Zamfara State, the Governor should emulate the good example of the Holy Prophet of Islam and our Four Guided Caliphs since the state has claimed to be applying the Islamic law. We learn from the traditions of the Holy Prophet that he and his disciples not only moved freely among the people but also did go round to find out how the people feed, how they lived and how they clothed. This is one good quality of a leader. He must not only see but also feel the condition of the people so that he can ameliorate their suffering. But a leader that keeps his gates closed to his people by stationing hefty gun-wielding security men, builds a fortified mansion called Government House and shields himself from the people when he is out of the “Government House” is certainly not a leader. He is a caricature of it; a despot; and a hypocrite.

No responsible Governor who is duly elected by the electorate will tolerate the taking of people’s life, or terrorizing innocent motorists or destruction of their valuables in the name of providing him protection. I am there fore appealing to the Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi to call his men to order and to investigate this hawkish behaviour of his escorts. Besides, he should pay compensation to me for the destruction and moral torture I was put through by his men last Sunday. They did not beat me with a horse whip as they often do, but they have done me the greatest harm of infringing on my rights to free movement; to use of public utility as allowed by our law. They have meted out mental torture to me by implying that I have no right to share the same road with the Governor even as the road was built with public funds.

We must tell the security details of the landlords of the Government Houses that if their lives have no value or if the value of their lives cost peanut which they receive from the Governors as allowances, the life of every Nigerian is as important as that of the Governor whom they are protecting or claiming to protect by their wanton action.

The episode has dashed the hope I have for this country as a young democracy on course that will grow to become a model and a pride for not only Africa but the entire black race. It has reminded me of the dark spots of our history when we have Master-servant relationship. Though the monarchy is powerless, I am reminded that our newfound democracy has adopted of the evils of the former regime. We now have first class and second class citizens with those in government and their cronies as occupants of the apex of the social ladder. My feeling is that we are back to the era of monarchies when the relationship between the leader and the people was that of Master-Servant. But we are in a democratic rule now where a leader is a servant. As a servant leader, his primary responsibility is to protect lives and property of his people and then to deliver good governance to them.

But I am determined to pursue the matter and to prove the point wrong that Governor Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi is no better a citizen than me. His being a Governor is a privilege conferred on him by the young democracy, which provides the same opportunity to every Nigerian adult to aspire to the same or higher position.

I am yet to get a convincing reason for the indiscriminate use of sirens by Governors and Ministers. Who can explain to me the rationale for clearing off the road for a Governor or Minister to pass? Are these public officers under any threat? Who is the suspected threat? Is it the ordinary man on the street or innocent motorists? How many armed robbers or hired killers have the Governors escorts or security details caught or killed through their highway terrorism? Their victims have always been innocent motorists or pedestrians who don’t have any business with the Governors besides waiting for the dividends of democracy which most of the occupants of the Government House have not been able to deliver.

It is normal in our clime for “powerless” people to leave the matter to God for judgement when they are humiliated or cheated. But much as I do appreciate leaving a matter to God to judge, I also believed that people must fight tyranny by all means because a nation cannot endure with it. I may not have the police or security details to protect me or fight my cause but I will use what I have to let the entire world knows about the highway terrorism that Nigerians are being subjected to by security details of Governors and Ministers. I may not have a gun to fight them but I have a mighty pen to tell the world about my story, my encounter with the escorts and security details of the Governor of a state in Nigeria, a state that claims to be an epitome of Islamic State in Nigeria, where all elements of Islamic jurisprudence is applied.

If I may ask, what kind of Sharia is Zamfara State applying, a Sharia that promotes hero worship and boot-licking at the expense of development, a Sharia that does not recognize human rights of citizens and regard them as a second class. Where did the Governor drive the powers to prevent people from using the road that was built with their money? After all, the road he was plying when his escorts smashed my windshield is not in his territory. It belongs to the Federal Government and is in the territory of Kaduna State. If his details can perpetrate such barbaric act in Kaduna, only God knows the kind of torture they perpetrate in Zamfara. Perhaps, people are banned from coming out of their homes when the Governor is passing through.

I am calling on the National Assembly to enact a law that will ban the use of sirens by any public office holder and to make it mandatory for our traffic regulation enforcement agencies to check the abuses of escorts and security details. The law should provide penalty for any offender and remedy for the victims. In civilized societies public office holders do not use sirens to announce their presence. Sirens are used by hospital ambulances and fire fighting men. They are for emergencies which require motorists to be cautious and give right of ways to such vehicles. I don’t know much about the history of sirens in Nigeria but what I believe their usage became popular and abused during military regimes. Being what they are, we must understand that military governments came in through force of arms, so they need to shield themselves from imagined and real enemies. But what reasons will a democratically elected Governor or President give for using the apparatus to intimidate those voted them into office? We should ban them for good! They do not serve any good purpose at all!

While the National Assembly is working on a bill to ban the sirens, the National Human Rights Commission should rise up to the occasion to enlighten and mobilize Nigerians to report any cases of police brutality on the highway. There is no worst human right violation than to tell a free person that the man he voted into power is more important than him and has higher rights to usage of public utility than himself.

As I unveil the first in my series on Highway Terrorism by Escorts of Governors in Nigeria, I promise Nigerians that I will dig into other abuses of men in power. The other day I was in Bauchi State, I lodged in a very expensive hotel in the city where an official of the state government had incurred expenses of over N300,000 of public fund. To my utter surprise, very close to the hotel are the Governor’s Guest Houses. I begun to wonder why the officer could not occupy one of those houses and save the hundred of thousands he incurred in the over ten days he stayed in the expensive hotel. This is just a tip of the iceberg.

My next on the series will look at what motivates the escorts and security details of Governors in Nigeria to want to molest and kill innocent people. Captioned “Why Governors’ Security Details and Escorts Can Kill,” the piece will explain how Governors abuse security votes to motivate the escorts and security details to do the dirty jobs for them. The third, which is “Inside Zamfara Government House, New Face of Sharia,” will look at the abuse of power in Zamfara State, including the romantic life of some of the key political players in the state. Happy reading!