El-Rufai’s Foreign Mercenaries Threat Invitation To Anarchy- Ajulo

A human rights lawyer, Dr Kayode Ajulo, has faulted Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai’s threat to invite foreign mercenaries to fight terrorists who have continued to attack his state.

Ajulo said although el-Rufai could be justified because he wants immediate solution to the problem of insecurity in his state, he noted that inviting foreign mercenaries could later lead to anarchy and these foreigners might also engage in the overthrow of government.

He said this in a statement made available to our correspondent on Monday.

The governor had hinted journalists of his plans to engage foreign fighters to stop the insurgents after his visit to President Muhammadu Buhari following the terrorists attack on a passenger train in the state last week.

The lawyer said the insecurity situation in the country had assumed a frightening dimension and solutions must be found to curb it urgently.

Ajulo siad, “There is no gainsaying the fact that the state of insecurity in Nigeria is becoming worrisome and disturbing considering the high rate of killings, bombing, kidnapping, conflicts, wars, and clashes etc. which innocent people fall to the guns of criminals in the country today.

“These have led to political, social and economic disruptions which in turn lead to slow economic, social, religious and political development.

“On the use of foreign mercenaries to fight insurgencies, there is no doubt that by the combined interpretation of Section 214(1), 217(1) and items 38 and 45 of Part 1 to the Second Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), provision of apparatus for ensuring security in the country is the exclusive preserves of the Federal Government.

“Hence the constitutional obligations to safeguard the security of Nigerian citizens in any part of the country is within the powers of the Federal Government, without prejudice to the cooperation of component state government.

“While the statement credited to Governor Nasir el-Rufai can be justifiable on the standpoint of concern for immediate response on the imminent danger and state of insecurity in Kaduna State.

“It is apparent that the existing security framework has shown that there is no clear chain of command and thus making it difficult for the security authorities to deal with the rising wave of insecurity in the country, however one must not shy away from the dire consequences of the attempt to engage the services of foreign mercenaries to combat insurgency in the state.

“To lend my two cent to the present hullabaloo, Governor Nasir el-Rufai must understand that engaging foreign mercenaries is surely not a miracle solution to the complex operational and security challenges and the logic does not seem very compatible with the principles and concept of sovereignty within the circumference of a nation as ours.

“While it is undisputed that a number of these foreign mercenaries have been used by several countries for logistics, protection of personnel and sometime to combat armed groups, it is also imperative to stress the legal and reputational risks and danger that could result from using these foreign mercenaries to combat terrorism in Nigeria.

“There have been records of events where mercenaries have been used to topple government and to cause a state of anarchy in a sovereign state. For instance, in 2004, former British special forces officer, Simon Mann-founder of the Private Military and Security Company(PMSC) Sandline International was arrested in Zimbabwe for planning to overthrow President Obiang.

“This experience and many others explain why many countries are wary of foreign mercenaries and private military companies and also why the organization of African Unity (now African Union) was pioneer in developing the Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa.”