PMB’S DIRECTIVE ON BALLOT BOX SNATCHERS IS CONSTITUTIONAL
Well, President Buhari’s order essentially that ballot box snatchers should killed may be ruthless. APC secretariat might not be the right place to make such a statement. Few day to election may not be the right time. But the directive is it is not illegal. It legal, constitutional and lawful. This is because his directive is sanctioned by and under Section 33 of the Constitution, the very section that guarantees right to life. As an exception to the sacred right to life, subsection 2 of Section 33 provides:
“A person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in contravention of this section, if he dies as a result of the use, to such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted by law, of such force as is reasonably necessary -
(a) for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property:
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; or
(c) for the purpose of suppressing a riot, insurrection or mutiny.”
It is clear that the foregoing immunes law enforcement agents, including the police, from liability if they deprive a person of their right to life under any of the above circumstances. Items (a) and (b) are particularly instructive here.
Item (a) relates to deprivation of the right to life to defend unlawful violence against any person or property. It is a known fact that ballot box snatchers commit violence against ballot paper boxes (which are invaluable property) and in the process commit violence against people which sometimes leads to deaths and chaos. More than that, ballot box snatchers threaten Nigeria’s democracy and stability by committing acts that are capable of triggering crises that may engulf the whole country. Thus, the constitution allows using force to prevent them and that may extend to, if necessary, killing them for the good of innocent law-abiding citizens and the country.
Item (b) above completes a situation in which a person commits a crime and attempts to escape. If efforts to arrest them proves abortive, reasonable force, that may extend to killing them, may be used. Everyone who has witnessed or even heard of how ballot boxes are snatched by political hoodlums knows that the culprits come in numbers with dangerous weapons, stab some people around, including INEC officials, security agents and innocent voters, snatch the box and other materials, and zoom off or destroy them instantly depending on the directive they were given by their sponsors. In this situation, it is only reasonably to use force against them.
Before I conclude, I would like to drop a line or two to those lawyers who cite sections 129 - 131 of the Electoral Act 2010 to submit that the president was wrong. Those sections deal with a situation where ballot box snatchers were arrested, investigated and prosecuted. But that doesn’t mean they should not be prevented from committing the crimes or shouldn’t be pursued for the purpose of arresting them. And if that process, force needed to be used, it must be used. If that leads to their death, the constitution says that’s okay.
Finally, I may not like the exception to the Right to Life discussed above. I certainly hope and pray that no Nigerian dies during the polls. But those who are bent on derailing our democracy and throwing our country in chaos for selfish and parochial reasons must not be allowed to succeed. They must be dealt with and decisively! So the PMB’s directive is lawful, constitutional and legal and it is in my opinion intended, first and foremost, to scare hoodlums from interfering with the right of Nigerians to their right to vote in a peaceful atmosphere.
THIS DOESN’T HOWEVER MEAN NIGERIAN SECURITY FORCES SHOULD UNDER ANY GUISE ABUSE THAT DIRECTIVE TO GIVE THE RULING PARTY ADVANTAGE OVER THE OPPOSITION. IF THEY DO THAT THEY WOULD BE FOMENTING CHAOS IN THE LAND!
Audu Bulama Bukarti
19/02/2019

One of the Buhari Cow in Daura have spoken