ECHOING the need for justice, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURRIWA) has issued a 21- day ultimatum on President Goodluck Jonathan within which to bring perpetrators of the post-election violence in the North to book or risk being dragged to the International Criminal Court (ICC).The group also advocated the conversion of the National Youth Service Scheme to a one-year compulsory military service as done in Israel, saying it would not only impact positively on the development of the country, but also reduce the members from being massacred any time there was violence in some parts of the country.National Coordinator of HURRIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, who addressed journalists in Enugu yesterday, said the group was disturbed by the incessant violence leading to destruction of lives and property, especially in the northern parts of the country.He stressed that it had continued because the government has demonstrated lack of seriousness to contain it.Onwubiko explained that even with the attendant high rate of innocent Nigerians especially those of South-East, who become victims anytime there were such crises, the Federal Government had continued to show unwillingness to tackle the trend by its refusal to punish those responsible for it.He added: It appears the government has been so weak to guarantee security and welfare of Nigerians. We are saying enough is enough and the President should not end up paying lip-service to the present issue. We have not seen punishment of any sort meted to the perpetrators even with all the overwhelming evidence. This act has become almost a regular thing especially in the past 12 years. Some prominent and wealthy persons in the North are culpable in these developments.Onwubiko, who though commended the President for the efforts to halt further escalation of the violence, said the fact that he (Jonathan) had likened it to the Civil War of 1968 means that it was a serious matter.He added that describing the victims of the violence as heroes of democracy was not enough, explaining that they should be immortalised and their relatives compensated.We are watching the President and giving him 21days to bring perpetrators of this violence to book failing, which we are going to send a report to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the incident, so that generation after generation will see mans inhumanity to man that has taken place in the country.We will protest to the ICC and he will face prosecution when he must have left office for his failure to protect the citizenry under his government, he said, adding that the group had documented the incident.He called on the leadership of various political parties, especially the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), to refrain from further comments on the matter, accusing some of them of inflaming the situation.Also, asking the CPC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to desist from further unguarded statements, Onwubiko urged him to take advantage of the election tribunal to prove his allegations about electoral malpractice.
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