Great thinkers have often stated that the logical consequence of not learning from history is the repeat constantly of some costly human mistakes and intentional crimes.

Unfortunately, Nigeria seems to be a perfect laboratory for the experimentation of the above statement, even as evidence abounds to show that the deliberate lack of institutional memories and the failure to learn from past historical evils has often resulted in the frequent repeat of same sinister evils, in more devastating scales.

Let me explain what I am driving at. In the days of the benevolent military dictatorship of Gen Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (as he then was), Nigerian soldiers were a major component of the peace-keeping operations that facilitated the end to the prolonged civil wars in both Liberia and Sierra Leone. As part of the United Nations peace-keeping operations, the country got accolades for playing these heroic roles towards the return of political stability to the troubled West African nations.

But, besides this significantly positive contribution of the Nigerian contingent, there were reported cases of some moral and ethical indiscretion committed by the troops to such a notoriety that dozens of Liberian and Sierra Leonean girls were left in family ways by some of these morally bankrupt soldiers. Unfortunately, the Nigerian government never took measures to sanction these misbehaving troops.

It is said that the children produced from such widespread sexual gratifications by our returnee soldiers are all over the place in those countries, unsure of when they would see their real biological fathers.

Fast forward these scenarios to the ongoing conflict resolution efforts of the Nigerian troops in the troubled North-east and, once again, there are reports of sexual violations of teenage girls who are caught up in the terror attacks, and have become internally displaced because of the destruction by Boko Haram terrorists of their homes and schools, including businesses. These persons, who are Nigerian citizens, have suddenly become squatters at the various government-administered Internally Displaced Persons’ camps (IDPs). But, if these citizens expected that the troops and other government officials would truly provide protection for them and wipe out their accumulated emotional trauma they got from the activities of the dare devil terrorists, they may have exaggerated their expectations. This is because most of the young girls have unfortunately found out that the fastest survival strategy in those IDP camps is to play according to the immoral rule-book put up by some of the morally depraved officials from the affected states in the North-east, including soldiers and policemen posted to provide security. The state officials manning these camps located in the North-east have substantially compelled girls to exchange sex for relief materials or food.

Reports filtered in since over a year that these evils of sexual violations of teenage girls were happening in the IDP camps, but officials from the Federal Government denied these well-grounded allegations. Key federal agencies also disappointed these abused girls. The National Human Rights Commission, the National Emergency Management Agency and the Ministry of Women Affairs, all stood by and allowed such sexual exploitation by government officials and armed security forces to continue unabated.

Months after, a United States-based organisation, Human Rights Watch, gave a global exposition of these sex-abuse scenarios in IDP camps, by publishing detailed researched reports of sizzling sexual violations of teenage girls in the IDP camps in the North-east. The report, which was circulated on the international media scenes, has rattled the Presidency and compelled President Muhammadu Buhari to spring to his feet in shock. We will return to the reaction of the President to these sordid shows of shame in IDP camps of the North-east, vis-à-vis how state government officials turned the camps to state-sponsored brothels, aided and abetted by some members of the armed forces and Civilian-JTF.

First, let us flip through the executive summary of the report on these serial sexual violations of teenage girls of the North-east, as compiled by the Human Rights Watch of New York, USA. This American group narrated:

“Government officials and other authorities in Nigeria have raped and sexually exploited women and girls displaced by the conflict with Boko Haram. The government is not doing enough to protect displaced women and girls and ensure that they have access to basic rights and services or to sanction the abusers, who include camp leaders, vigilante groups, policemen, and soldiers.

“In late July, 2016, Human Rights Watch documented sexual abuse, including rape and exploitation, of 43 women and girls living in seven internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.”

HRW affirmed that the victims had been displaced from several Borno towns and villages, including Abadam, Bama, Baga, Damasak, Dikwa, Gamboru Ngala, Gwoza, Kukawa, and Walassa. In some cases, according to the researchers, the victims had arrived in the under-served Maiduguri camps, where their movement is severely restricted after spending months in military screening camps.

“It is bad enough that these women and girls are not getting much-needed support for the horrific trauma they suffered at the hands of Boko Haram,” said Mausi Segun, a Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch, adding: “It is disgraceful and outrageous that people who should protect these women and girls are attacking and abusing them.”

He observed: “Four of the victims told Human Rights Watch that they were drugged and raped, while 37 were coerced into sex through false marriage promises and material and financial assistance. Many of those coerced into sex said they were abandoned if they became pregnant. They and their children have suffered discrimination, abuse, and stigmatisation from other camp residents. Eight of the victims said they were previously abducted by Boko Haram fighters and forced into marriage before they escaped to Maiduguri.”

Upon the circulation of this report and the concomitant global opprobrium it has attracted for Nigeria, President Buhari immediately asked the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Kpodum Idris, to probe the allegations. This presidential directive is, indeed, a smokescreen to conveniently hide these crimes under the carpet of impunity; because the very persons responsible for these sexual abuses are drawn from the conventional Armed Forces, the Police, and the civilian joint task force.

How does the President expect an institution whose members are guilty of such serious infractions to investigate itself? It is same as making an accused both the judge and prosecutor in the same crime. So, what happened that a body like the National Human Rights Commission is not allowed to do this investigation which, in any event, falls under its statutory mandate?

The reason is that the National Human Rights Commission is now so weak and compromised as to carry out professionally-credible investigative work, because the governing council/board is not in place, and the management in place lacks the requisite expertise and commitment to discharge independent functions as a truly independent ombudsman. The best bet is for government to rapidly reconstitute the governing board of the National Human Rights Commission, and appoint a passionate human rights lawyer as the executive director/secretary, to head the management arm of this seriously deficient commission. The President must make hay while the sun shines, as it does not require rocket science for the government to do the needful: by appointing an effective governing board.

Allowing the office of police Inspector General to mess up the investigation of these grave human rights violations is the greatest disservice to the Nigerian Constitution, and this would rub off on the international status and respectability of the nation as a member of the civilised comity of nations.

If I may ask: how many high profile cases of assassinations have the Nigeria Police Force resolved? From 2003 till date, over two dozen high profile cases of assassinations have occurred, including that of the then serving Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige (SAN), who was killed during the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s era. Till date, not a single person has been arrested and punished for this dastardly crime that brought so much international shame on Nigeria. The Nigeria Police Force, as currently constituted, lacks the necessary competences and professional commitments to independently investigate the sexual enslavement of internally displaced teenage girls in the North-east. What the police will come up with at the end of the day may not stand the test of time in a competent court of law. The other day in Kano, did the killers arrested and arraigned for the murder of an Igbo woman, 74-year-old Mrs Bridget Agbahime not let off the hooks? Was the Nigeria Police Force not the investigators and prosecutors in that case, which was messed up by the Kano State attorney-general? But has the police said or done anything to ensure that the killers aren’t allowed to escape the long arm of the law? Posterity will judge this government harshly, should these rapists be let off the hooks. To avoid this pitfall, let this government do the needful now.

A stitch in time saves nine.

•RIGHTSVIEW appears on Wednesdays, in addition to special appearances. The Columnist, a popular activist, is a former Federal Commissioner of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission and presently National Coordinator of Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA). He can be reached via 08033327672 (sms only) or via doziebiko@yahoo.com

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