We Will Give
Our Cameroonian Clients The Best Legal Defence
- Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)
In an
exclusive interview with the online newsmagazine, Pan-African Visions, Senior
Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana, has hit hard at Nigerian authorities,
blaming them for “recklessly deporting” Cameroonian separatists. Falana has
vowed to defend the Cameroon deportees but admits Nigeria has every reason to
ensure stability in Cameroon
*The
Cameroon Government announced recently that leaders of the Anglophone movement
led by Mr Julius Ayuk Tabe in Nigeria were handed over to Cameroon, how did
this happen?
 |
| Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana has vowed to give Sisiku Ayuk Julius and other deported Cameroonian separatists the best legal defence |
It is true
that a number of Cameroonian refugees and asylum seekers who were illegally
arrested and detained by the federal government were and deported from Nigeria
to Cameroon on Friday, January 26, 2018.
When we received information of the plan to deport them we rushed to the
federal high court to stop the illegal plan. We also reached out to the
Comptroller-General of Immigration, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the
office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees in Nigeria. As soon as
the Commission confirmed the information it dispatched a letter to the federal
government pointing out that Nigeria has a legal obligation under international
law not to deport the detained Cameroonians. But in a demonstration of reckless
impunity the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd)
deported our clients in defiance of the intervention of the United Nations and
the pending suit in court. Out of shame the National Security Adviser could not
disclose the deportation of our clients from Nigeria but the Government of
Cameroon decided to celebrate the deportation and threatened to prosecute our
clients for terrorism. I have protested the deportation to President Buhari and
demanded that our clients be returned to Nigeria without any delay.
*You were
one the lawyers who was mentioned in the case, what role did you play?
My learned
colleague, Mr. Abdul Oroh is handling the case with our law firm. Both of us
were at the high commission of Cameroon last Tuesday to demand for access to
our clients who are currently held incommunicado in Cameroon. We were asked to
submit a letter to that effect and we have done so.
*Does
Nigeria have any extradition treaty with Cameroon, what laws were respected and
what laws were violated?
Nigeria has
no extradition treaty with Cameroon. For that reason the federal government
could not file extradition proceedings in any local court. Hence, the
deportation was carried out outside the ambit of the Extradition Act. No law
was respected whatsoever but many laws were breached by the federal government
which has continued to exhibit authoritarian tactics and rule of might under a
democratic dispensation that is supposed to be anchored on the rule of law. In
deporting our clients the federal government violated Section 1 of the National
Commission for the Refugees etc Act which has prohibited the expulsion,
extradition or deportation of any person who is a refugee to the frontiers of
any country where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his
membership of a particular group or political opinion or whose life may be
endangered for any reason whatsoever. The federal government also breached the
human right of our clients to enter Nigeria, reside, seek and obtain
asylum guaranteed by Article 12 (3) of
the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement)
Act. The Act further provides that every individual shall have the right, when
persecuted to seek and obtain asylum in other countries in accordance with the
laws of those countries and international conventions. Apart the violation of
such laws the federal government breached its legal obligations under the 1951
United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1969
Organization of African Unity Convention on Refugees and which have guaranteed
the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Nigeria to protection.
*Among those
deported were some said to have Nigerian citizenship and working here, and
others with refugee status or seeking same. What does the transfer or
deportations tell us about the Buhari Administration?
We have
established that three of the deportees are naturalized citizens while others
are recognized refugees and political asylum seekers in Nigeria. Twelve of our clients who are the leaders of
the people of Southern Cameroon have been living in Nigeria for several years. Some
are lecturers at the Ahmadu Bello University and the American University in
Yola. Three of them are lawyers. Those
who are not refugees among them have been granted permanent resident status in
Nigeria. You can only expel a foreigner from your country if he violates the
law. Even then an asylum seeker cannot be turned over to the authorities of a
country that is likely to persecute him. Under no condition can a Nigerian
citizen be deported from the country. The only time that a Nigerian citizen had
been deported was in 1980 when the Shehu Shagari regime expelled Mr. Shugaba
Abdulraman Darman and dumped him in Chad. The case challenging the deportation
was declared illegal by the high court which ordered the federal government to
bring him back to the country. The court also awarded damages in favour of the
deportee. The illegal deportation of the naturalized Nigerians and the refugees
has caused a huge embarrassment to the federal government because there is no
legal justification for it. Can you believe that the National Commission for
Refugees, the Immigration department and the ministry of foreign affairs were
not consulted before the deportation of our clients?
*Some people
look back from the arrest and transfer of Charles Taylor under Obasanjo, to the
inaction of Jonathan when Libya was under attack and now transferring people
who fear for their lives to a government they are running away from and
question Nigerian leadership in Africa, what do you have to say?
It is trite
that the foreign policies of a government are dictated by its domestic
policies. The case of Charles Taylor is totally different from this one. The
Special Court for Sierra Leone set up by the Security Council of the United
Nations had issued a warrant for the arrest of ex-Liberian president for crimes
against humanity. Nigeria was under a duty under international law to turn him
over to the court. But unknown to Nigerians and the international community
President Obasanjo did not want Mr. Taylor arrested in Nigeria. As President Obasanjo
who was then in the United States was under pressure to hand over Mr. Taylor to
the court as a precondition for meeting President George Bush, he quickly
directed the immigration to allow the fugitive to leave the country. But as Mr.
Taylor was rushing out of the country he was arrested at Damboru border in
Borno State at about 6 am on March 2009 by Mr. Sylvester Umoh, a customs
officer who was committed to his duty. Even though Mr. Taylor offered to bribe
him with $500,000 cash Mr. Umoh rejected it and arrested him. That was how Mr.
Taylor was handed over to the Special Court to the embarrassment of President
Obasanjo. The federal government then descended on Sylvester Umoh. Instead of
giving him a national award he was dismissed from the service without ignominy.
Although I succeeded in ensuring the conversion of Mr. Umoh’s dismissal to
retirement in 2014 we are still battling with the payment of his entitlements.
Again, the Libyan case is different from this case but it also demonstrated a
failure of leadership.
Both
President Goodluck Jonathan and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa did not
have the courage to challenge President Barrack Obama over the planned invasion
of Libya. In fact, the representatives of both leading African nations voted
for the invasion. Both Nigeria and South Africa betrayed Africa by endorsing
the invasion of Libya. In particular, the strategic interests of Nigeria were
not considered by the Jonathan administration. Hence,
we have paid dearly for the barbaric invasion of Libya. Apart from the slave
trade that President Gaddafi would not have allowed in Libya the arms and
ammunition looted from the armory of Libya were bought by the Boko Haram sect
to launch a deadly attack on Nigeria.
Just like
the nation is messed up locally by a cabal of primitive power mongers our
foreign affairs have been ruined by the same reactionary group. Luckily for the
cabal, Nigerians are not aware of the extent of the manipulation of our foreign
affairs. Can you believe that the cabal almost smuggled Morocco to the Economic
Community of West African States? The other day, Nigeria lost an important
position contested at the African Union because the cabal insisted on a
candidate that was not qualified for the post? With the controversial
appointment of the Director-General of the new National Intelligence Agency it
has been proved beyond any shadow of doubt that the cabal will continue to
expose the country to ridicule.
*As an
international lawyer and seasoned human rights activist, what impact do such
actions make on the international standing of Nigeria?
 |
| Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (R) and Cameroonian President Paul Biya pose for a photo in Abuja on 3 May 2016. Femi Falana believes Nigeria can resolve the crisis in Southern Cameroon in the interest of regional stability |
A time it
was when Nigeria successfully confronted the West on the decolonisation of the
Southern African region. Was it not Nigeria that ensured the restoration of
democracy in Liberia and Sierra Leone? In international conferences Nigeria is
no longer reckoned with? For instance, it was President Buhari as a military
ruler who had convinced the Organisation of African Unity in 1984 to admit the
Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic as a member state of the continental body.
That was what led Morocco to withdraw from the OAU. Can you believe that
Nigeria did not kick against the admission of Morocco to the African Union last
year when the situation has not changed? How can Nigeria allow Morocco which is
occupying the territory of another African Country to be a member of the AU
without withdrawing from the occupied territory of Western Sahara? I have just
been briefed by the Government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to sue
the federal government and the Dangote group over the illegal contract to
import sulphate for the production of fertilizer in Nigeria because the mineral
resource is in the occupied territory. I have requested the federal government
to cancel the illegal contract. Otherwise I will challenge the legal validity
of the contract.
*For the
thousands of refugees flooding in from Cameroon to Nigeria,should this not be a
sign that our country, Nigeria is not a safe place for them?
Femi
Falana:The implication of the deportation of the Cameroonian refugees is that
Nigeria has been discredited once again. Ours has become an unsafe territory
for refugees and asylum seekers. Since Nigeria has never violated the
provisions of the United Nations Convention Relating to Refugees and the OAU
Convention on Refugees by deporting refugees and asylum seekers to any country
where they might be persecuted we have requested the federal government to
review the illegal deportation and request Cameroon to bring them back to
Nigeria. You will agree with me the case of the deportation of the naturalized
Nigerians is not negotiable. Because of the desperation of Cameroon to put the
deportees on trial and sentence them to death the federal government has to
move fast. The United Nations Commissioner for Refugees will have to extract an
undertaking from Nigeria that refugees and asylum seekers are safe in Nigeria.
More importantly, Nigeria has to demonstrate her readiness to respect the
rights of refugees and asylum seekers. Otherwise, the over 20,000 asylum
seekers in Nigeria from Cameroon, Burundi, Sudan, Central Africa Republic,
Democratic Republic of Congo and other war torn countries and troubled spots
may be expelled at any time by the office of the National Security Adviser.
*With the
international standing and experience you have is there any role you think
Nigeria can play in resolving the crisis in Cameroon?
Frankly
speaking, Nigeria can resolve the crisis in Southern Cameroon in the interest
of regional stability. Notwithstanding
that Nigeria negligently gave out the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, Nigerians
in the island are still been harassed by Cameroonian gendarmes. As far back as
2002 the federal government had opted for a peaceful resolution of the
political crisis in Cameroon. When the people of Southern Cameroon filed a suit
at the Federal High Court to determine whether the people of Southern Cameroon
are not entitled to self-determination within their clearly defined territory
separate from the Republic of Cameroun the federal government decided to settle
the case out of court. Hence, by a consent judgment delivered by the Court on
March 5, 2002, the Federal Government agreed to file a suit at the
International Court of Justice to have a judicial confirmation of the human
right of the people of Southern Cameroon to self determination. The Federal
Government also undertook to take other measures as may be necessary to place
the case of the people of Southern Cameroon for self determination before the
United Nations General Assembly and other international organizations. On the
basis of that judgment which is valid and subsisting Nigeria is estopped from
colluding with the fascistic Paul Biya regime to terrorize the people of
Southern Cameroon.
*Under
Nigerian jurisprudence is it possible for people to be held without access to a
lawyer?
Under
section 35 of the Constitution and section 6 of the Administration of Criminal
Justice Act the fundamental right of every suspect or detainee to access their
lawyer is guaranteed. With respect to the Cameroonians all efforts made by
their lawyers, doctors and family members to visit them in custody were
frustrated. Even Mrs. Nalowa Bih who is pregnant was denied medical attention.
But due to the intervention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs a representative
of the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees in Nigeria was
allowed to visit our clients before they were expelled from Nigeria. During the
visit, the United Nations representative found that our clients were held in an
underground cell at the headquarters of the Defence Intelligence Agency on the
orders of the National Security Adviser.
*From your
findings who ordered the arrest? Some people say they were arrested and taken
to Cameroon long before Nigerian authorities even got wind of it. Is this
plausible?
When we were
refused access to our clients by the National Security Adviser we filed an
application at the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court on
Thursday, January 25, 2018 for the purpose of securing their fundamental rights
to personal liberty and freedom of movement.
Barely 24 hours later, in utter disdain for due process the National
Security Adviser deported our clients from Nigeria to Cameroon. Up till now, the
National Security Adviser has not been called to justify his action since the
country is run on the basis of official impunity. But as law abiding citizens
we have challenged the illegal deportation and we have concluded arrangements
to give our clients the best legal defence. We shall pursue the case until
Nigeria returns to the community of civilized nations. The federal government
has to be compelled to abandon its embrace of the rule of might.
Pic
Senior
Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana has vowed to give Sisiku Ayuk Julius and
other deported Cameroonian separatists the best legal defence
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