Chxta Profile picture
26 May, 6 tweets, 2 min read
On the incident in Ebonyi yesterday that killed the would-be bomber, or unfortunate policeman, depending on what side of #Nigeria's many divides you sit, first the Ebonyi @PoliceNG PRO's statement is contradictory...
A grenade and teargas canister are made up of two different compositions.

For a grenade its key is secured like that of a fire extinguisher it has a curved pin that you have to flatten before you can take out the safety pin, hence a mere movement of an elbow cannot detonate it.
I have spoken with a few experts and all of them were clear that teargas cannister detonations never result in explosions.

I'm no expert so I sought opinion, and I'm reporting what they said.
Second, I know for a fact that hand grenades aren't a part of the equipment of anti riot policemen in #Nigeria.

The people who started the unit weren't madmen, who  goes to calm a civil unrest with grenades?
FTR, I'm not saying the Ebonyi @PoliceNG spokeswoman is lying, though I must put it on record that I don't think she's entirely being truthful.

Having said that, the fact remains that at the moment I simply don't know.
In the final analysis the lesson here is that in the absence of trust (which is what happens when the security services have lied serially), then people will fill in the blanks with all sorts of theories.

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More from @Chxta

28 May
The Sharia discussion is necessary because it shows how low the level of trust is in #Nigeria.

It also shows the hypocrisy of many of its proponents. How many of them will gladly, today, pack their bags and move to Zamfara, the state that started political Sharia in Nigeria?
But this Sharia debate, as important as it is, overshadows an even more important issue.

It is, perhaps, a coincidence that Zamfara that did something this past week that bears a long discussion when @GovMatawalle revoked all land titles in the state. bit.ly/3bVPRAj
This is a most important story because property rights in #Nigeria are insecure, one of the banes of our economic development.

I stand to be corrected, but the issue of the Land Use Act was not brought up in any of the constitutional hearings this week.

That is a problem.
Read 16 tweets
28 May
Earlier in this month, more than 127 Civil Society Organisations called attention to the violence, lawlessness and bloodletting in all parts of #Nigeria. bit.ly/3i3gpDs

This thread is adapted from a statement by the Joint Action Civil Society Coalition & Nigeria Mourns
On both occasions, they called on @NigeriaGov at all levels to provide leadership in ensuring that the security of all Nigerians is preserved as enshrined in section 14 (2)(b) of #CFRN99.
They also urged @NGRPresident to provide political and moral leadership for the security crisis and ensure governmental actions are humane in tandem with section 17 (2)(C) of #CFRN99.
Read 15 tweets
26 May
From the viewpoint of a South-Easterner, the region, #Nigeria's tiniest by landmass, has been feeling under the pressure of excessive policing for years.
In December 2018, the International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law published a report that claimed that in the three years prior, the police extorted ₦100 billion in roadside bribery and extortion.
In the absence of any counter research, let us look at these figures.

Let us for the sake of argument, assume that each of these incidents of bribery and extortion was done in ₦1,000 notes.
Read 5 tweets
24 May
Someone asked on @Quora, "What are the main factors that are militating against the Nigerian government not paying high premium to her citizens’ lives?"

I have made an effort to answer. Please feel free to disagree, and let's debate it (I may not respond immediately).
The answer to the question is centuries in the making.

#Nigeria's elite does not value the lives of their citizens because it's just how it is, and how it has been since the two slave trades, Trans-Saharan and Trans-Atlantic.

Look at these two maps, one Arab, one English.
This first map is a transliteration of an ancient Arab map of African trade routes.

The Trans-Saharan trade started long before any European came this way, and one of the important components of this trade was slaves.

Note where the Arabs sourced most of their slaves from.
Read 8 tweets
24 May
Very interesting argument being made by @breketeConnect on his radio station in Abuja this morning.

Let me see if I can do a small thread that summarises his arguments...
He says that @BBCAfrica's thing on him is an attack on the masses. That the Beeb has no credibility and northern #Nigeria is being fooled because of the Hausa radio they have provided (BBC Hausa to the uninitiated).
So he makes the rather interesting point that a station that tore the #British monarchy apart, made a prince leave with his wife, and so has zero credibility in London should not be the one to talk, but northern #Nigeria is allowing itself to be deceived.
Read 5 tweets
11 May
In Western countries, there is a lot of talk about de-escalation of force, risk analysis and appropriate use of force. Many governments, even in some authoritarian countries like #China, see de-escalation of force as "less is more".

Let me tell a short story...
Back in 1989 when #China burst into the pro-democracy riots that culminated in the Tiananmen Square massacre, the protests were spread around the country.
Most people outside China don't know this.
In Beijing, Deng Xiaoping sent in the tanks to crush the protests, and of course no one challenged him. However, again unknown to many, in China most of the local prefectures have a significant amount of autonomy.
Read 11 tweets

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