Ogun Truth Commission: Between Daniel and Amosun

Posted by admin Ogun, State News Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Even before its inauguration, the Truth Commission set up by the Ogun state governor, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun has started to generate controversies among stakeholders with many describing it as a witch hunting exercise by the state government.

But the state government insisted that the commission was aimed at ensuring peaceful co-existence of all the people of the state at all times.
At the inauguration of the Truth Commission in Abeokuta, penultimate Wednesday, Amosun stressed that it was meant to unravel the facts behind some incidents which occurred during the administration of Gbenga Daniel between 2003 and 2011.

The five-man commission headed by Justice Pius Aderemi (rtd), has retired Justices Abdullahi Mustapha, Dolapo Akinsanya, Bamidele Aturu and Tunji Onabanwo as members.

Daniel initially commended the state government for the establishment of the commission: “From the initial composition, we notice that the ommission is composed of men of proven integrity capable of ensuring justice in this sensitive assignment. “We, however, believe that to do justice, he will require at least one week to give his testimony with opportunity for multimedia presentations, and live coverage of the proceedings by both the local television stations and at least a national television’’.

But shortly after the inauguration of the commission and the terms of reference were made public, Daniel alleged that the inauguration of the commission was targeted at him. His latest stand stemmed from his fears about the “restricted focus” of the commission. A statement by his media assistant, Mr. Adegbenro Adebanjo, said though the establishment of the commission was welcome, there were obvious reasons to believe that it was solely constituted to harass the former governor and Amosun’s perceived political opponents.

The commission was empowered “to inquire into reports, complaints and cases of deaths, disappearance and assassinations of persons between January, 2003 and 29th of May, 2011 with a view to determining whether or not such deaths, disappearance and assassinations involve the abuse or misuse of power by any person or persons holding public office or by any person or group of persons acting under the control or authority of such public office holder.”

Adebanjo said “Ordinarily a truth commission of the nature being proposed for Ogun State should be unfettered in its range of issues and era of concern with all participants allowed to table relevant issues of their choice. This informed the content of our statement welcoming the establishment of the commission where we also expressed our readiness to participate in its proceedings. Then we counseled that all issues should be allowed for discussion without any restriction whatsoever.

“Given this, it is obvious that the commission was conceived and constituted to provide a platform for political theatrics and a forum to embarrass and harass perceived enemies and opponents. And in this, it quite clear that the immediate past governor of the state, Daniel, is the unmistakable target.“However, our counsel and concern have largely been ignored going by the content of the terms of reference of the commission which restricted its focus to issues that are wholly criminal in nature and which are within purview of the law enforcement agencies and the law courts.

“Incidentally, the governor of a state is the chief security officer of the state, who being the boss of the state commissioner of Police, the state Director of State Security Service (SSS) and also the State’s Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), has the power, authority and resources to call for the case files, if any, of any criminal case and cause such to be prosecuted through the normal justice system as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“For the truth is that issues of alleged murder and kidnapping that constitute the restrictive terms of reference of the commission are purely criminal matters over which the security agencies and law courts are statutorily empowered to handle and resolve.“It is also clear that certain individuals may have conceived the idea of the commission to achieve other intentions apart from unearthing the truth. We, however, remain unperturbed by this obvious selective persecution as we have nothing to hide. We certainly will monitor the proceedings and take appropriate measures.”

But Amosun insisted that the commission would afford the people of the state and Nigerians in general the opportunity to “know the truth against the falsehood and vile propaganda that have ruled the air wave in the last few years’. “The inauguration of this Truth Commission is our own investment towards ensuring peaceful co-existence of all the people of Ogun State at all times. It is to find out the truth about what happened in the past.”
The governor said that the power to establish the commission “is conferred on me by Section two of the Commissions of Enquiry Law,” adding that the events of the last five to six years seem that the atmosphere for our people to freely express themselves in a democracy was greatly impaired.

“People were allegedly killed, maimed or injured simply because they expressed their preference for a political association, person(s) or interests, the very essence of democracy. Today’s event is therefore symbolic because it is aimed at acknowledging the wrong-doings and ensuring justice for those who lost their lives or suffered injury during this period. It is also to prevent a recurrence of such.”

The terms of reference of the commission, according to the governor include; “inquire into reports, complaints and cases of deaths, disappearance and assassinations of persons between January, 2003 and 29th of May, 2011 with a view to determining whether or not such deaths, disappearance and assassinations involve the abuse or misuse of power by any person or persons holding public office or by any person or group of persons acting under the control or authority of such public office holder; “Inquire into reports, complaints and cases of kidnapping, physical torture and infliction of bodily harm on any person or group of persons between January, 2003 and 29th of May, 2011 with a view to determining whether or not such kidnapping, physical torture and infliction of bodily harm involve the abuse or misuse of power by any person or persons holding public office or any person or persons acting under the control or authority of such public office holder.

“Inquire into reports, complaints cases of wanton destruction of properties between January, 2007 and 29th of May, 2011 with a view to determining whether or not such destruction of properties involved the abuse or misuse of power by any person or persons holding public office or by any person or persons acting under the control or authority of such public office holder; “identify individuals, institutions and groups whose activities resulted in the acts referred to in (i), (ii) and (iii) herein, and the extent of their involvement; identify the victims of the acts perpetrated in (i), (ii) and (iii) above and ascertain the extent of damage to the lives and properties of such victims; recommend appropriate measures and sanctions against the perpetrators, conspirators and masterminds of the said acts ,recommend measures and means of preventing the future occurrence of the acts mentioned in (i), (ii) and (iii) herein; and make appropriate recommendations on any other matter which in the opinion of the Commission, is relevant or incidental to the foregoing”.

The commission according to him “is expected to complete its assignment and submit its report not later than 12 weeks from today, that is, 13th December, 2011. During this period, members of the public can submit written memorandum or make oral representation of their cases. I enjoin members of the public to take advantage of this opportunity, so that we can resolve most of these issues once and for all”.

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