Beyond June 12 finger-pointing; Police’s surprise arrests in Benue, and school closure in FCT

Stones are still flying left, right and centre over the June 12, 1993, presidential election. Nigeria has yet to move forward from that error.

It is not rocket science to track down criminals who delight in shedding innocent people’s blood. But the security agencies in Nigeria seem to have made it look so. The magical arrest of 53 suspects under one week has evoked a mixture of shock and surprise.

The school children in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are not faring well this time. Our heart goes out to them.

The June 12 claws on Nigeria

A lot has happened since the official recognition of June 12 as Democratic Day in Nigeria. It all began with President Muhammadu Buhari announcing that he was convinced that the annulment of the election was in error and unjust. The former president had moved the Democracy Day celebration from May 29 to June 12. This recognition has been upheld by the current president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The decision was strengthened by the confession of one of the dramatis personae, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, that Abiola indeed won the election. Although everyone seems to be falling upon one another to be identified as playing one noble role or the other to ensure that June 12 was a reality, a lot of controversies still exist over who did what in those dark days. A former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido went to town the other day, reeling out some lines about the role of Tinubu, alleging that the sitting president was among those who never wanted MKO Abiola to be president. No sooner had he said this than the Presidency bombed him, insisting that Tinubu spared no effort under NADECO in insisting that the right things were done. In the altercation that ensued, Lamido was reminded how he and his family allegedly helped themselves with the money that belonged to the people of Jigawa.

An attempt to drag into the fray the late Tony Anenih drew the ire of his son, Ose.

The Presidency, through a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, had said, “It is important to remind Nigerians that Alhaji Lamido, as secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the party whose candidate, MKO Abiola, won the June 12 election, was among those who failed to oppose the military’s injustice. The SDP leadership, including Lamido and chairman Tony Anenih, wrote their names in the book of infamy by surrendering the people’s mandate without resistance.”

But Ose would have none of such imputations and wasted no time to reply to Onanuga.

Your account of my father’s involvement in June 12 is, to put it politely, untrue. It is disappointing that you chose to use uncouth language to describe Chief Tony Anenih, and in an official communication from ‘the Presidency’, no less.

“I will rise above the emotional baiting that this conversation has clearly sparked and will speak only to the truth. I will also assume that your mischaracterisation of historical events stems from ignorance, not malice,” he said.

From the day IBB and his ilk took the inglorious decision till now, a sharp sword has been put among Nigerians of different and political meanings. While some have consciously and deliberately distorted history to impugn the character of others, some others have leveraged the annulment to their own advantage.

Many people who have benefitted from the civil rule that has existed in Nigeria since 1999 would not have had the opportunity had the June 12 presidential election not been annulled.

Beyond the finger-pointing that has continued, we must begin to learn a good lesson from June 12, 1993. That day, Nigerians threw away religion and ethnicity and voted en masse for Abiola. Can we say the same thing today?

What is evident in the polity today is a sharp division and deep enmity that are hindering the growth and development of Nigeria.

Rather than stoking more bad blood in the name of June 12, what Nigerians want to see today is a brand new country where the ideals and promises of MKO Abiola would be implemented by the powers that be. Mere recognition of Abiola without immortalising him through good governance would amount to nothing.

The magic of police arrests in Yelewata

Less than one week after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited Benue State following the June 13 massacre in Yelewata community, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, announced that about 53 suspects have been arrested.

Over the years, many Nigerians have been killed and wasted without the arrest of perpetrators. On many occasions, a few that were arrested were released in unclear circumstances.

The arrests as announced by Egbetokun have sparked suspicion, as many Nigerians have expressed fears that innocent persons may have been rounded up in the desperation by the police echelon to prove that it was alive to its responsibility.

President Tinubu had wondered aloud why no arrests had been made.

“How come no one has been arrested for committing this heinous crime in Yelewata? IG, where are the arrests…” Tinubu questioned.

He further said, “Police, I hope your men are on alert to listen to information. How come no arrest has been made? I expect there should be an arrest of those criminals.”

Read also: Outrage in Benue as over 100 feared dead in Yelwata

One of the reasons why many Nigerians feel so sad about the killings going on across the country is the inability of the police to arrest those who perpetrate the heinous crimes.

They have also always accused the government of looking the other way because of political and religious sentiments.

It beats many Nigerians hollow that within a few days of the presidential order, the IGP has reported a harvest of arrests. While it is cheering news, many citizens are clapping with one hand because they are not sure if the acclaimed feat was indeed what it seems.

The question begging for an answer is, does it mean that the police have been looking the other way, allowing evil to fester and waiting for the presidential directives?

The military also has not done much to check the killings by herdsmen across the country.

There have been allegations that in many cases, even the military formations in some areas were not able to deter the killers, which has always fuelled the suspicion of complicity.

The President also put the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, to task, ordering him to take charge.

He told General Musa to, without further delay, flush out all the criminal elements fomenting trouble in Benue State.

“Christopher [Chief of Defence Staff], thank you very much. I watched your comments. I know you can’t be tired of staying in the bush, including Oluyede [Chief of Army Staff] and the Air Marshal. Thanks to all of you, but we need to keep our ears to the ground. Let’s get those criminals; let’s get them out,” the president said.
But Nigerians felt very disappointed when Musa reportedly disclosed that the massacre in Benue State occurred because troops of the Armed Forces of Nigeria were provided with faulty intelligence.

Musa said that troops received intelligence that more killer herders were on their way to some communities in Benue State in different locations, mobilised and deployed to the named communities, but on getting there, discovered the intelligence was faulty, only to learn the attack was elsewhere.

Nigerians have been complaining over the lackadaisical handling of the insecurity across the country by security agencies. They have been regaled with talks about repentant bandits, Boko Haram and other assorted criminals, who were sent back into the society as reformed people, only for them to unleash mayhem on unsuspecting citizens.

Beyond the Presidential marching orders issued to the Military and Police apparatchiks, the question on the lips of many Nigerians is, will Egbetokun and Musa sustain the tempo of this seeming seriousness and new-found vigour, or are they just aimed at convincing the President that something is happen, whereas it is all garagara- the more you look, the less you see?

School closure in FCT

In what could be likened to a curious case of a poor man living and suffering in the midst of wealth, primary school teachers, health workers and other civil servants at the council secretariats in the six councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are only hearing about plenty of money flowing in their area without a taste of the good life.

There have been reports that primary schools, health centres and area council secretariats across the six area councils of the FCT have been shut down for the past two months over non-payment of arrears, promotion and other entitlements of the workers by the six council chairmen.

While the leadership of the FCT Administration has been bullish constructing, rehabilitating and inaugurating all manners of projects, primary school teachers are languishing in penury. They are being owed by the council chairmen in an FCT environment where the ministry is dishing out billions of naira for physical projects.

Schools in the affected councils have been under lock and key. This is a council government that frowns at beggars in the FCT but feels comfortable with seeing schoolchildren roaming the streets. The non-payment of teachers and the consequent shutting of schools may lead to an increase in the out-of-school children population. These children may end up as beggars tomorrow if reasons fail to prevail today.

Pray, what is the use of road and other great projects being commissioned every other day, when the human capital development is being neglected?

There have been non-payments of arrears, promotions and other entitlements of the workers and teachers in the FCT.

The joint union of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and National Association of Health Workers Union (NAHWU) recently mobilized its members across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) a mass peaceful protest that began June 23, 2025.

This followed the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued to the FCT administration to settle the demands of both primary school teachers and area council staff and health workers by the state council of the Nigeria Union of Labour Congress (NLC) in the FCT.

Leaders must prioritise education. It is unfortunate that school children have been at home for several weeks now because their teachers have not been paid. It will do the country a world of good to give priority to anything education, because it is the future of any nation.