STOP THE REPRESSION AND KILLINGS! FREE SHEIKH EL-ZAKZAKY NOW!!
On
Saturday, 5 members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement
for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) were also shot
dead, and not less than 7 seriously wounded at Onitsha. This is coming up after
an earlier killing of IPOB members last month.
UAD
unequivocally condemns this wave of macabre repression. It is an ill wind that
blows us all, as poor working people, no good. The frequency of killings in
this short period is a grave cause for concern. And the reasons adduced in each
of these cases, are equally spurious to say the least. If the Nigerian state
has any respect for the lives of poor people, who are those that have been
felled with its accursed bullets, the blood of these citizens would not have
been shed.
It
also appears to have learnt nothing from recent history. The army’s arrest of
Sheikh El-Zakzaky and subsequent handing over of the Islamic cleric to the
police is reminiscent of the developments in 2009 that led to the lethal phase
of Boko Haram’s militancy. Mallam Mohammed
Yusuf, the sect’s leader had equally been arrested by the army and was handed
over to the police, only to be killed whilst in custody.
The
continued detention of El-Zakzaky is in no way justifiable. UAD thus calls for
his immediate release and the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry
into the Zaria killings which should include the trade unions and civil society
movement.
UAD
stands for the unity and struggle of working people across the length and
breadth of Nigeria, and indeed across the world, with the aim of system change.
The right of nationalities to self-determination must however be held sacred by
all who stand for justice. Detaining or killing persons who stand for the secession
of “Biafra” is in no way a solution to the secessionist agitation which is now rife
in the South East.
The
reason why the idea of “Biafra” is now very popular is because the Nigerian
state and the class of bosses who control it, including those from the South Eastern states, have failed the
generality of common women, men and youth. Repression will not muffle their
cries which are being articulated in different -and at times refracted- ways.
We call for a referendum in the South East and for the right of “Biafran” secession
to be respected if such plebiscite endorses this as the popular sentiments.
We
however enjoin working class-people in the South East and all other regions and
states in the country not to lose sight of the problem: the bosses’ class of
looters who feed fat on the wealth our labour produces, from Enugu to
Maiduguri, and from Sokoto to Lagos. United we are stronger to defeat them all,
and build a better society.
REINSTATE ALL SOLDIERS CONVICTED FOR “MUTINY”
NOW!
United
Action for Democracy is shocked that the death sentence by firing squad, passed
on 66 soldiers in the first quarter of the year has been merely commuted to
10years, in the wake of shocking revelations
of the “armsgate” that confirm the correctness of their actions!
The
ill-equipped soldiers protested when sent to face Boko Haram insurgents with just 30 bullets each and no food rations.
This was when, as we now know, over $2.2bn meant to purchase arms and equipment
for their use, was being siphoned by the bosses, who are likely to get off with
less than 10 years each through plea bargains!
UAD
thus calls for the unconditional pardon
and full reinstatement of the 66 soldiers as well as the other 579 soldiers secretly
tried for the same reasons in May. Anything short of this is rabid injustice
and utterly condemnable.
Baba Aye
National Convener
Issued: December 21, 2015
Comments