Okija Verdict
Raises Question of Cover-up by Nigerian Authorities
The justice system has consistently
been incapable of investigating and properly charging cases
involving prominent members of the society
New York, September 01, 2005—Based
on the acquittal of the ‘priests’ and patrons of
the satanic shrine at Okija a rural town in Nigeria, Africans
In America, Inc. - a New York based human rights organization
dedicated to end the abuse of victims of human trafficking
wish to make the following statements: With great
shock we wish to express utmost embarrassment that on Tuesday
August 24, 2005 a Nigerian court freed the ‘priests’ and
patrons of the satanic shrine on the grounds that there was
no evidence to sustain the charges against them. Africans In America, Inc. wishes to
recap the developments on this case:
August 4, 2004: The
Nigerian police raided a satanic shrine in Okija, Anambra State,
Nigeria and discovered over 70 dead bodies and hundreds of
human body parts openly displayed and at various levels of
decomposition in the satanic shrine at Okija. The police also
recovered over five registers containing the names of the patrons
of the shrine. A federal lawmaker and few prominent
individuals gave press interviews accusing the state governor
of patronizing the shrine and requested the police to quiz
the governor regarding the dead bodies found there. The governor
retaliated by publicly admitted visiting the shrine as a client,
and added that a powerful syndicate with access to the presidency
took him there at gunpoint at about 2.00 a.m. to swear oath
of obedience prior to his election in 2003. These and other revelations on how
some Nigeria politicians got into office generated uproar around
the world. December 28, 2004 : The
Police Inspector-General stated in a press conference that
forensic and pathological examination show that some of the
dead bodies recovered from the Okija shrine had head injuries,
which are signs that they were murdered. March 2005: The Police
concluded its investigation, granted bail to the priests and
transferred the case file to the Anambra State Ministry of
Justice. July 2005: After
almost five months of studying the case file, the state’s
Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice dropped a bombshell
when he stated there would be problems prosecuting the priests
because the charges preferred by the police against the priests
could not support the facts uncovered by the police investigation. August 24, 2005 : Chief
Magistrate freed the 38 surviving ones on the grounds that
there was no evidence to sustain the charges against them.
This development has raised many questions namely:
- Does
the legal victory of these ‘priests’ mean
no Nigerian law has been violated?
- Did the authority deliberately
proffer improper charges to cover-up the highly connected
individuals involved with satanic worship and human sacrifice
in Nigeria ?
- Is there
some surreptitious manipulation from powerful quarters
to shield the ‘priests’ from
prosecution, hence concealing the identity of the highly
connected individuals?
- Why have the police been unable
to make public the names in the registers recovered from
the shrines, as promised?
- Does the Chief Magistrate have
the final say on this matter, or are there still other options?
Reports reaching our office indicate
that the authority may have deliberately bungled the case to
protect the highly connected individuals some of who are; states
and federal lawmakers, states and federal government officials,
as well as, private individuals with links to the states and
federal governments. Investigation reveals that secret and
brutal ancient practice of ritual killing of human beings and
sacrifice to seal oaths and covenants among various African
countries continue unchecked till this day. Nigeria’s current president,
a former advocate of using the ancient practice to fight nuclear-equipped
apartheid regime in South Africa stated recently that he has
changed faith (now a ‘born-again’ Christian). He
also publicly announced that his nation’s police and
judiciary are corrupt, however, he is handicapped in dealing
with it effectively. There have been almost daily reports
of corruption uncovered in Nigeria, but by September 2005 no
prominent Nigerian is serving prison term for corruption even
though Nigeria has been ranked 2 nd to the most corrupt nation
on earth. Most celebrated arrest cases quietly fizzle out after
a short publicity stunt without diligent prosecution. The authority
has consistently been incapable of effectively dealing with
cases when powerful and well-connected individuals are involved. It is unclear
the message the ‘new’ Nigeria
is sending to the world community and investors by the way
it handled this closely watched human rights case. This sort
of development clearly makes nonsense every effort to clean
Nigeria’s image and woo genuine western investors. It is also
unclear whether Nigeria will request the International Court
on Human Rights to take over this case since the nation’s
justice system has proven incapable of handling it. A multi-billionaire
western investor eager to convince his group to invest in
the ‘new’ Nigeria
says, “this kind of stuff is one of the scariest worry
about that country, how could they mishandle such a horrific
case when everyone is watching? That is a hard one to spin.
That is new Nigeria for you”. To salvage
the nation’s image,
market the ‘new Nigeria ’, prove that there is
no ‘sacred cow’ and attract western investors,
Nigeria authority must do the following, immediately:
- Set up a true independent panel/commission
to determine why/how this case was mishandled
- Discipline all the government officials
involved for official and professional misconducts
- Re-investigate the case and properly
charge all those responsible for the dead bodies, human parts
and other heinous crimes
- Convict and commit the guilty to
prison.
Africans In America, Inc. is particularly
concerned about this development because individuals normally
sacrificed at satanic shrines in parts of Africa are generally
victims of internal human trafficking. |
