OUR STAND ON THE KILLING OF OUR FORMER AMIR: A PETITION TO NSA
Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd.)
The National Security Adviser,
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Abuja
Dear Sir,
PETITION AGAINST THE MURDER OF PROFESSOR AHMAD MUSTAPHA FALAKI IN COLD BLOOD BY THE ACTION OR INACTION OF NIGERIAN POLICE.
We write to demand for justice on the gruesome murder of our former National Secretary General ( 1977-1978) and President (1978-79), Professor Ahmad Mustapha Falaki of the Institute of Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University , Zaria by the police- same people employed and provided with facilities for the protection of lives and property of all Nigerians.
The sad event happened on Sunday, 15th February 2015 in Kibiya Local Government Area of Kano State when the Professor was on his way to Bauchi State with his brother and official driver. It was alleged they were suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgency group by the police.
On the contrary, the professor was rather a victim of armed robbery whose Toyota Hilux was snatched at gun point and thus had only option of trekking to a nearby village of Fala in the Local Government Area in a bid to board a vehicle to Kano. Upon arrival at the village, they headed for Police Station to report the incident as ordinary law-abiding Nigerians. To our utter and unimaginable dismay, the police in Kibiya accused them of being Boko Haram members. Even when they identified themselves with the presentation of their ID cards and drivers licenses, they were rebuffed and mercilessly beaten till the professor died and his brother fainted. It was only the driver who managed to run away for safety in a nearby bush as the police proved to be wilder than the forest. Later, when the identity of the killed professor became manifest, the police came up with a fathom allegation that the act was committed by a mob in the said village.
In the light of the above, sir, this is a clear case of extra judicial killing of a selfless, patriotic Nigerian who had spent all his life in the service of the country. This act is totally unacceptable notwithstanding whoever might have committed it. It is the duty of any responsive government to make sure that perpetrators of such acts are brought to book expeditiously. We totally condemn and reject the hasty accusation that the professor and his brother were insurgents when they had already identified themselves. It is saddening that if a person of Professor Ahmad Falaki, a renowned professor of Agronomy of international repute could be so cruelly murdered in cold blood, then, the fate of ordinary Nigerian citizens is precarious.
We state unequivocally that impunity and extra- judicial killing has become a culture of Nigeria Police Force. Furthermore, the heartless and needless murder of the eminent Professor cannot be divorced from his Islamic identity.
We cannot but wonder that there is a deliberate plan to eliminate prominent Muslim personalities in the country. Indeed, with this latest development, we are convinced that hatred and extra- judicial killings of Muslims are becoming institutionalised in our country.
OUR PRAYER
From the foregoing, we demand the following:
i) Immediate setting up of a powerful and independent panel of enquiry to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the murder of Prof. Ahmed Mustafa Falaki
ii) Prosecution of all those found culpable in the murder
iii) Proper measures should be put in place to prevent future occurrence
Yours Sincerely,
Sirajudeen Abdulazeez Folayemi
National President
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