ON THE MURDER CASE OF SUPER TV CEO - MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SHOULD FOCUS ON ADDRESSING PRESSING NATIONAL ISSUES AND LEAVE THE NIGERIAN POLICE TO DO ITS JOB AS IT SEES FIT
July 16, 2021 | News
When I recently saw a report that members of the House of Representatives have urged the Nigerian Police to stop the ongoing media trial of Chidinma Ojukwu, the prime suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, ...
-By Zik Gbemre
ON THE MURDER CASE OF SUPER TV CEO - MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SHOULD FOCUS ON ADDRESSING PRESSING NATIONAL ISSUES AND LEAVE THE NIGERIAN POLICE TO DO ITS JOB AS IT SEES FIT
With all the pressing serious national issues/problems plaguing the lives of Nigerians, who supposedly elected these lawmakers to represent their interest at the national level, why then should the lawmakers dabble into a murder case the Police are investigating?…
Parading criminal suspects for the media…should not really be an issue for the lawmakers, particularly when we consider the disturbing level of crime rate in Nigeria…
The lawmakers already have a lot to do in the polity, which they have not been able to live up to desired expectations…
When I recently saw a report that members of the House of Representatives have urged the Nigerian Police to stop the ongoing media trial of Chidinma Ojukwu, the prime suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, all that came to my mind was, what is the business of the House of Representatives with the Police investigation on the murder of this man? Why should they dabble into this in the first place? With all the pressing serious national issues/problems plaguing the lives of Nigerians, who supposedly elected these lawmakers to represent their interest at the national level, why then should the lawmakers bring up a murder case under investigation by the Police, in the house plenary session? Don’t they have any more work to do as lawmakers of the lower chamber?
It is even appalling to note that this followed the adoption of a motion of supposed “urgent public importance” moved by Rep Tolu Sadipe at plenary. According to reports, the lawmaker, while moving the motion, raised concerns over the unending parade and media trial of the suspect by the Nigerian Police. She said the police should rather conclude its investigation in her matter and charge her to court for trial rather than the ongoing media trial the suspect is being made to go through.
Agreed that the media parades of criminal suspects by the Nigeria Police have, for a long time, been a subject of heated public debate as to whether it is lawful or not lawful, but my main thrust here is the fact that: does the member of the House of Representative who moved this motion in the first place, not have other pressing national issues to move for discussion at their plenary session? Since when has members of the House of Representatives become the Nigerian Police to know how best murder investigations should be carried out? The Representatives are not the Nigerian Police.
As I had noted in a recent write up, for me, parading criminal suspects for the media, especially those caught with guns, should not really be an issue for the lawmakers, particularly when we consider the disturbing level of crime rate in Nigeria, which in the last couple of months, is quite alarming. But I would also like to consider what the law says about this, and how it all started, and perhaps the way forward. While I am aware that there is the tendency for the Police authorities to also abuse this practice of parading suspects before the media, which we have seen in some instances in the past, but in a Nigerian society like ours, sometimes what we need to get things done is the unconventional and unpopular methods.
The lawmakers should allow the Nigerian Police to do their job, as specified by the Nigerian Constitution. It is not the responsibility of the lawmakers to investigate criminal cases, and tell the Police how it should be done. The lawmakers already have a lot to do in the polity, which they have not been able to live up to the desired expectations. So, why dabble into the criminal investigation matters by the police? To me, it is clear misplacement of priority and abuse of official power. It is the responsibility of the police to investigate criminal cases and prosecute suspects in court of law, and they should be left to do so as they see necessary. And it is left for the law courts to convict, or set free, and not the lawmakers. They should allow the police do their job as stipulated in the Nigerian constitution, simple!
Zik Gbemre.
July 16, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
-By Zik Gbemre
ON THE MURDER CASE OF SUPER TV CEO - MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SHOULD FOCUS ON ADDRESSING PRESSING NATIONAL ISSUES AND LEAVE THE NIGERIAN POLICE TO DO ITS JOB AS IT SEES FIT
With all the pressing serious national issues/problems plaguing the lives of Nigerians, who supposedly elected these lawmakers to represent their interest at the national level, why then should the lawmakers dabble into a murder case the Police are investigating?…
Parading criminal suspects for the media…should not really be an issue for the lawmakers, particularly when we consider the disturbing level of crime rate in Nigeria…
The lawmakers already have a lot to do in the polity, which they have not been able to live up to desired expectations…
When I recently saw a report that members of the House of Representatives have urged the Nigerian Police to stop the ongoing media trial of Chidinma Ojukwu, the prime suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, all that came to my mind was, what is the business of the House of Representatives with the Police investigation on the murder of this man? Why should they dabble into this in the first place? With all the pressing serious national issues/problems plaguing the lives of Nigerians, who supposedly elected these lawmakers to represent their interest at the national level, why then should the lawmakers bring up a murder case under investigation by the Police, in the house plenary session? Don’t they have any more work to do as lawmakers of the lower chamber?
It is even appalling to note that this followed the adoption of a motion of supposed “urgent public importance” moved by Rep Tolu Sadipe at plenary. According to reports, the lawmaker, while moving the motion, raised concerns over the unending parade and media trial of the suspect by the Nigerian Police. She said the police should rather conclude its investigation in her matter and charge her to court for trial rather than the ongoing media trial the suspect is being made to go through.
Agreed that the media parades of criminal suspects by the Nigeria Police have, for a long time, been a subject of heated public debate as to whether it is lawful or not lawful, but my main thrust here is the fact that: does the member of the House of Representative who moved this motion in the first place, not have other pressing national issues to move for discussion at their plenary session? Since when has members of the House of Representatives become the Nigerian Police to know how best murder investigations should be carried out? The Representatives are not the Nigerian Police.
As I had noted in a recent write up, for me, parading criminal suspects for the media, especially those caught with guns, should not really be an issue for the lawmakers, particularly when we consider the disturbing level of crime rate in Nigeria, which in the last couple of months, is quite alarming. But I would also like to consider what the law says about this, and how it all started, and perhaps the way forward. While I am aware that there is the tendency for the Police authorities to also abuse this practice of parading suspects before the media, which we have seen in some instances in the past, but in a Nigerian society like ours, sometimes what we need to get things done is the unconventional and unpopular methods.
The lawmakers should allow the Nigerian Police to do their job, as specified by the Nigerian Constitution. It is not the responsibility of the lawmakers to investigate criminal cases, and tell the Police how it should be done. The lawmakers already have a lot to do in the polity, which they have not been able to live up to the desired expectations. So, why dabble into the criminal investigation matters by the police? To me, it is clear misplacement of priority and abuse of official power. It is the responsibility of the police to investigate criminal cases and prosecute suspects in court of law, and they should be left to do so as they see necessary. And it is left for the law courts to convict, or set free, and not the lawmakers. They should allow the police do their job as stipulated in the Nigerian constitution, simple!
Zik Gbemre.
July 16, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes