DEJI ADEYANJU LIKE DINO MELAYE: ARE THERE STILL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS WHO SEEK TO PROTECT AND DEFEND INDIVIDUAL HUMAN RIGHTS?

DEJI ADEYANJU LIKE DINO MELAYE: 

ARE THERE STILL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS WHO SEEK TO PROTECT AND DEFEND INDIVIDUAL HUMAN RIGHTS? 

By Frank Tietie

Deji Adeyanju

Are there human rights organizations who still seek to protect and defend individual human rights? Quite frankly I don't know anymore.

Some people who are referred to as human rights defenders, including me, Frank Tietie, who claim to defend the rights of the poor, oppressed and persecuted, may not be sincere. Don't we do much of what we do only when it is convenient or when some money or popularity will flow therefrom?

The truth about it is that the impulsions of much we do as a people either in government or in civil society, especially so called human rights groups are driven by gain and not by a commitment to applying the principles of protecting and defending human rights. Indeed, it is about how much gain and how convenient it is for us, to do the human rights work.

I recall when Senator Dino Melaye was being haunted and hounded by the police. I, Frank Tietie was jumping from one radio or TV station to the other, shouting on top of my voice that he should be released and that he was being persecuted.

I had gone face to face with the police at his (Dino's) house, challenging them why they had to lay siege on his house. To date, I wonder what kind of sheer bravado drove me that day to address the fierce looking policemen at such a close range. I must confess that I still admire the comportment of those policemen who allowed my freedom of expression that day, without any molestation. I recall that they looked on me with some pity in their stern looking faces and they did not answer me.

When the media began to report my spirited efforts at ending what was then perceived as the travails of Senator Dino Melaye, one respected lawyer called me in derision and asked how much did Dino pay me? That, to date remains one of the most painful moments in my human rights advocacy. Of course, if Dino gave me money, I would take it but the truth is that at that time and till today, I never took money from Dino. So how much will Dino pay me that will make me risk my life to confront Nigerian policemen the manner I did? How much will Dino pay me to go junketing on several radio and television station to condemn the police action against him, at that time? Ask all the media houses which gave me their platforms, I never lobbied them or paid them any money to put me on air. I have never done so and will never do it in my life. My views are sought by media houses and they invited me on those Dino sessions like any other occasion to address the travails of Dino as a matter of public interest and I did it as the passion flowed in me. 

I sincerely believed at that time that Senator Dino was oppressed by the government but since he (Dino) regained his freedom he has never for once picked my several calls asking him to support the 2018 human rights fiesta. He has distanced himself from me like a plague. Nothing has bewildered so much in recent times. How could  I do so much to identify with him and now he seems not to appreciate my efforts even in the least by supporting the 2018 Human Rights Fiesta. I recall the warnings I got from one of my mentors to stop my campaigns for Dino. An old secondary school classmate called late in the night begging me to abandon my advocacy for Dino and that it wasn't worth it. Dino may not have known how much I put up for him while he was in detention but that is not the reason he avoids me. I think I know why and I will address it in course of this writing. It may be a conjecture though.

Frankly, I admire Dino in so many ways. He supported the first human rights fiesta which I organized under the auspices of CASER. He hosted Orits Wiliki and Ras Kimono in his house on the day they performed at the human rights fiesta. He attended the Fiesta in the night, driving himself in a lift back and gave a rousing speech in the manner of Dr Martin Luther King. 

Senator Dino didn't have to do anything more than the above acts in order for me to stand up for him anytime or any day and in whatever circumstances. He was the first to identity with me and I vowed to myself to stand by him and fight for him no matter what. It didn't and still doesn't matter to me that he now doesn't want to relate with me anymore but I will always hold him in very  high esteem because of his courage to speak the truth.

Here's is my thinking. Long before Senator Dino's travails began, he knew that the police would move against him. He said it on the floor of the Senate and wrote letters to Amnesty International and other groups. At that time, Senator Shehu Sani was also being persecuted and Amnesty International did not waste time in issuing a solidarity statement in his support. 

Apparently, Dino expected the same treatment which Amnesty International gave to Shehu Sani. Actually, at that time, Senator Dino was the most vociferous critic of the government who was calling for respect for the fundamental human right to life of Nigerians in the wake of the farmers/herders crisis. Dino's positions were indeed populist and in my view deserved the solidarity of the human rights community.

Amnesty International had supported my advocacy in many ways and particularly, mainly to host the 2017 Human Rights Fiesta. So Dino perhaps, thought I had some influence in the Amnesty International circle but I really didn't. Favouritism is unheard of in the human rights community even though it didn't go for him the way it went for Shehu Sani.

So when Dino asked me to accompany him to Amnesty International's office to discuss the petition he had written to them. I gladly accompanied him and came back. It was not more than 24 hours later that Dino was arrested at the airport on his way to Morocco. He was released and subsequently a siege was laid to his house. Now, that is the nexus of my address at his house during the police siege.

Senator Dino perhaps thought, Amnesty International would stand up for him the way it did for Shehu Sani. He was sorely disappointed. Through out all his travails, including his detentions, hospitalization and arraignment, Dino didn't get what he expected from Amnesty International. 

I was personally disappointed thinking Amnesty International should have issued a PUBLIC statement strongly calling for the respect of his rights as a Nigerian citizen and a senator who spoke courageously in defence of human rights. 

My accompaniment of Dino to Amnesty International's office may not have helped him. In fact, it may have worked against him as I believe that the people at Amnesty International's office may have suspected that Dino may have paid me some money for me to accompany him to get Amnesty International to use its big image to help him gather international sympathy. If those people at Amnesty International thought better of themselves, they would know that, that couldn't have been the case and that such is so far from the truth.

Dino was the one who wrote a petition to Amnesty International by himself. He didn't consult me . Dino's lawyers at that time were Rickey Tarfa, SAN & Co. He didn't brief me as lawyer. He saw my rights advocacy side to be more useful to him and asked me to accompany him for whatever reason he considered. He didn't brief me so he couldn't have given me money. If he did, I would have taken a different course and certainly I would not have written to Amnesty International, knowing it would not have achieved much.

So if Dino despises me today, it is probably because he now knows that we do much of talking about human rights without much capacity to deliver either on our commitments or our resolve to enforce the fundamental human rights of the people we claim to advocate for.

Senator Dino should have known that there is little we can do when all we have is the law on paper and often in action that are disregarded by the authorities. Honestly, what do you expect of us as human rights defenders in an environment where the law and legal processes are observed more in the breach? 

I have always known that impunity and disregard for the rule of law are the unfortunate situations in our clime which we have come to accept as the imposed leviathan. 

That was the principal  reason why I set up CASER as a human rights organization that can only advocate in most cases. I named it as the Citizens ADVOCACY for Social & Economic Rights (CASER). I didn't promise more than advocating for those human rights. I didn't  have to raise unrealistic expectations but simply a commitment to do advocate for human rights to the best of my ability, hoping to increase the human rights consciousness among the citizens of Nigeria. I have continued to advocate for the protection and enforcement of those composite human rights of Nigerian citizens with severe difficulty, great sacrifices and huge risks.

Those who know me can testify that I hardly make ends meet. I am always broke most of the times yet the ordinary people never cease to beg me for money and they inundate me with their personal problems. I struggle financially and barely sustain a law practice for livelihood. I have never got any donor support except in recent times that I had to harass my friends for money and began selling T-shirts to fund my human rights work. 

The other day, Pastor Dr Otive Igbuzor called me to his office, in manifest love and queried my approach which he thought was imbalanced. I agree with him. I know that with my God-given endowments, natural proclivities and professional training, I am living far below my career potentials but I have had to do all I have been doing in my firm belief that Almighty God gave me the strong desire to work for better living conditions for the citizens of Nigeria, including law enforcement agents who are also citizens, using the instrumentality of law. I am always on the side of the law hence, it is difficult to fault me and my operations.

I have learnt very many bitter lessons in my human rights work but I shall continue this advocacy, perhaps till I move unto the next dimension. I shall continue, may be with some more sense in the coming years.

Coming to Deji Adeyanju, I do not see his present travails to be very much different from the ones Dino faced recently. I am glad that Dino, himself has raised Deji's issue on the floor of the Senate and I await action on that. 

So if Deji had been quiet, he probably would never get into trouble with the authorities. I maintain that his present troubles are directly associated with the political views that he holds.

I have recently received calls from several quarters to intervene in my capacity as a human rights defender. Of course, I will do my best. Deji himself had actually called me while at the FCT Police command, the day he was first arrested. I was not immediately available to go and see him there. Besides, I have always preferred to meet the police in court since they have a time limit to keep any citizen in custody. 

Bail applications, especially in a Magistrate's court can be made by any lawyer and I had expected his immediate release on bail when he was arraigned though, it delayed a bit  for lack of suitable sureties. 

I didn't believe the rumour that he  would be rearrested. Presently, the dimension his troubles have taken require the scrutiny of the human rights community with a view to establishing whether or not his case is that of political persecution.

Deji may have an affinity with the PDP but his commitment to the defence of human rights transcends ethno-religious and political divides. He stood up for the Shiites Moslems and protested the murder of Jamal Kasshoggi, the Saudi journalist. He was ever ready to lead any protests which he believed served the interests of the Nigerian people and to advance our democracy. Whether or not he made any mistakes, no one can take away Deji's love for Nigeria and his fellow countrymen. He simply stands out in all of our midst.

There is every need for human rights groups, lawyers and individuals to  show of solidarity and support for Deji at this moment. Experience shows that scattered efforts would not yield the required pressure to get the authorities to act in respect of his fundamental human rights

I commend the efforts of his legal team, so far for its commitment and legal dexterity. I believe the lawyers in the team are capable of using available legal processes to secure his ultimate release.

What is required at this time is leadership among members of the human rights community. Beyond issuing bogus reports and distant statements, major human rights groups should indeed show commitments and strategy in the realization of the human rights of individual citizens of Nigeria, like Deji Adeyanju.

Frank Tietie

Lawyer and Executive Director, Citizens' Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER)

Writes from Abuja