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It is an unfolding drama for which the Lagos State Government has given an explanation to media colleagues who contacted their officials on the matter. The unpalatable saga came to public knowledge on September 17, when Anambra State Governor Peter Obi addressed the press on the inexplicable presence of some unknown persons in Onitsha, Anambra State.

The strangers were said to have been brought in nine buses and dropped at a location at a most unholy way- and in even less holy circumstances. This prompted the governor's quick resort to the security authorities and his press briefing about "the illegal relocation of some unidentified persons" to the state. He raised questions about the origins of the strangers, their intent and mission, as well as the aim of those who brought them to the said location, without the knowledge of the state government.

Come September 18, Obi was alarmed enough to give a state-wide, broadcast in which he declared that the state of origin of the strangers was in doubt their not being indigenes of the state. There are now confirmed reports that the people were picked up from Lagos and 'deported' to Anambra by agents of the Lagos State Government. This has now raised issues of propriety, consultations and the value (if any) of the Governors' Forum if this sort of thing can happen in the way we have just seen.

While Obi has since put security agencies on the alert, called on the Federal Government to intervene on the matter and urged the public to be vigilant and law-abiding, we should be worried about the wider socio-political implications of a scenario like this.

The said 'deportees' were brought to Anambra State because the agents of the Lagos State Government felt that it was in its overall interest to act the way they did. This belief is not bad in itself, because every state of the Federation has the right (and duty) to act lawfully in protecting its internal security and its economic interests. The worry here is whether the Lagos State Government has in fact acted lawfully, in the overall national interest and even in its own long-term interests. Has the state acted with propriety and in a manner that accords with natural justice equity and good conscience? We even doubt that the state government has acted judiciously.

The first objectionable implication of the action under reference here is that it has made Nigerians refugees in their own country. Baring natural disasters and disruptive social tension, which may spurn 'internally displaced persons', nothing explains or justifies the actions taken with regard to the people so summarily dispatched to Anambra State. It is trite to quote the relevant constitutional provisions that speak against this action. Official government measures that have the potential to reinforce cleavages, especially at this time in our national history, are hardly to be commended.

Beyond that, and even more seriously, there is the question of ascertaining the criteria used in determining the eligibility of the affected persons for deportation, as well as their states of origin. Indications are that several of the affected persons are Igbo, but that many are not. Some do not even have confirmed biological nor other relationships with Anambra State. We wonder, for instance, whether the relevant liaison office, or state government, was contacted and what responses were received. There is the further question of who determined the appropriate spot to deposit the affected persons and in whose custody were they put, given the prevailing security situation in the country at the moment?

Can any person, acting lawfully in his private or official capacity, enter a vacant or partly occupied piece of land and take 'violent' possession of it by wilful trespass? We speak of violence here against the background of their having been no consultations, or clearance, in all the processes leading to the summary off-loading of the nine bus loads of persons of questionable antecedents on the said land.

But the point has been made, in favour of the Lagos State Government, that the action is consistent with the extant policy of one of its ministries. If we assume (and even grant) that this action is understandable, we fear that its constitutionality or propriety is open to question. The affected persons were apprehended and hauled across five state borders and then deposited on a vacant piece of land in another state of the federation, ostensibly as an effort in public service. Were the owners of the land consulted and were there any negotiations? Did the officials who did this consider the larger social and political implications of this action in a plural and fractious country like ours; including its effect on citizenship and human rights? Is this policy of the Lagos State Ministry of Social Development consistent with the provisions of our laws and with the global Charter on Human and Peoples Rights? Does it not deepen the crisis of citizenship and reinforce the growing practice of arbitrary profiling?

The explanation about 'destitute' and helping the irredeemably indigent to relocate to their home states only crowns the incomprehensibility of it all. "Relocation to home state" need not translate into "abandonment in a no-man's-land"; and at the mercy of the elements.

Whatever policy led to this action is divisive of national cohesion and its mode of implementation in the case under reference smacks of 'invasion' of a substantive and subsisting unit of the Federation. It also falls under and 'enemy action'. What if someone had alerted some overzealous task force on local security while the strangers were disembarking and that the latter attacked the buses on the assumption that it would be a wise offensive against potential suicide bombers? Yes, the story would be totally different today if the Anambra State security apparatus had mistaken the busloads of questionable persons disembarking in an unusual location at an unusual time for arsonists and used military assault weapons on the group.

The bold affirmation of this action as justified including the reference to how it had been used to relocate some confirmed indigenes of a South-western state only scandalises the argument. And it is against the background of the foregoing that one is constrained to observe that the Governors' Forum should take on and mange more fundamental national issues, beyond the perceived solidarity for group cohesion and individual political survival. It is unacceptable that the nation should be falling apart on all fronts while the Governors' Forum delivers much less than it has the potential to do.

For instance, a more strategic Governors' Forum can summarily terminate the national debate over the welfare, wellbeing and personal security of young Nigerians who set out each year on the mandatory National Youth Service Course (NYSC) scheme. Imagine what it would be like for the serving corps members to be formally handed over to every state governor at the end of the general orientation in their respective states. Also imagine what it would be like for each governor to write his colleague a letter forwarding the list of "his" children sent by the NYSC National Secretariat to serve Nigeria and asking that they be well taken care of. Would it not be a thing of joy for governors to compare notes, take personal interest in how "their' children are faring and strengthen the bonds of national unity? And, just before someone jumps up to assure us that the Forum has a different mandate, or that it is doing enough already, let it be said here that it can do much more that will affect the lives of the people - outside elite schemes of controversial benefit to the people.

Well, maybe we are hitting the poor Forum too hard here; but then it is within slapping distance because of its current profile!

The Lagos/Anambra deportation saga puts citizenship and several human and people's rights on trial here. The two states do not need this at all, given the volume of commerce and the population interface binding them over the years. Lagos is most probably the only place in Nigeria where Ndigbo came back from the civil war to have their property formally handed over to them by the authorities. In some really shocking cases, the returnees received the total arrears of rent collected during the duration of the civil war (thanks to Adeniran Ogunsanya). We cannot let all this go up in smoke, because Lagos has been good to Igbos and, particularly, Ndi Anambra.

Deportation of Nigerians within their own country? Ejikwa m ogu!

Beyond that, and even more seriously, there is the question of ascertaining the criteria used in determining the eligibility of the affected persons for deportation, as well as their states of origin. Indications are that several of the affected persons are Igbo, but that many are not. Some do not even have confirmed biological nor other relationships with Anambra State. We wonder, for instance, whether the relevant liaison office, or state government, was contacted and what responses were received. There is the further question of who determined the appropriate spot to deposit the affected persons and in whose custody were they put, given the prevailing security situation in the country at the moment?

ndu_chucks: This is once again an unconstitutional act and a violation of the right to freedom of movement of the Anambrarians. This is similar to the law passed by Ogun which seeks to do the same to Fulani herdsmen. This is a troubling trend coming out of the SW.

These SW leaders may very well be rascals as stated by GEJ during the election campaign.

Dudu_Negro:

....of course it is! Ask Obi why as a citizen he cannot sell beer in Kano........or why igbos, born and bred in North are not recognized as bonafide citizens of the land they are born in.

Dudu_Negro: Nobody has violated any constitution my friend........people are simply disillusioned into believing that the gathering of non-consenting ethnic groups into a fraudulent coalition of pretentious sovereingty is a permanent and workable substitute for crossing or bridging customs and cultures.

The piece of composition ratified by non-consenting ethnic groups to serve as document of order and propriety for the native land is nothing but a sham.....it invokes more problems than it resolves grievance.

Dont blame the "effect"....curse the "cause". We are living an infatuation....a perpetual one for that matter the longer we continue to rest hope in a constitution as the harbinger of truth and the savior of our faulty gathering.


Odua is moving on!

saintneo: I don't understand the legality of this action. Let us ignore the issue of being Anambra or not.

Does Lagos State Government has the right to deport Nigerians from Lagos?
What legal data does Lagos have classify these people as non-Lagosians?
On what criteria did the Lagos decide to deport people from Lagos?
When did Lagos State start its immigration policy and immigration commission?
Do Nigerians require PASSPORT or VISA to visit Lagos?


Now responding to the tribalistic post.
Having lived in the Lagos for two years before relocating to a more relaxed part of the country, I must say that Anambra people and Ndigbo in general are numerous in population Lagos and they are gainfully employed in businesses. On one of my visits to the trade-fair complex, I noticed that all the shops I visited where owned/operated by Igbo people except for two - one by an Efik-Ibibio and the other was a Chinese. On another note, most of the less able people in Lagos (if not all of them)are not of Igbo origin; consequently, I find it beyond logical comprehension that Lagos State will convey less able people in nine buses to Anambra State without proper identification.

If Lagos is a big city as it claims, it should have started a program to rehabilitate or support these individuals rather than deporting them to Anambra state.

saintneo: @dudu_negro

Seriously, are you telling me that if former President Obasanjo is seen in Lagos State, he will be deported to Ogun State or Anambra State as in the original post. I find your argument completely out of logic. No one is referencing neither the UN or the US in this argument. This is the kind of argument that drives apartheid, segregation of people without true reason.

Civic responsibility of a citizen versus freedom of a citizen to exist and reside anywhere within the country, please tell me which one comes first. Existence or Action which one presides the other. TO BE or TO DO which one is more pertinent. Before we embark upon any action we must exist, without existence no action can be carried out.

As a result, I ask for the reason why these people should not be allowed to exist. What were their actions or inactions that made them not responsible as Lagosians? What is the civic responsibility of Lagosians? Very rhetorical, I will answer that for you. The civic responsibility of Lagosians is to deny other Lagosians their right to exist. If these people violated any laws and codes of Lagos, then they should face proper prosecution and incarceration if possible; not deportation to MARS.

The only difference between the action of Lagos State Government and an Abortionist trade is murder. Lagos State Government has in every sense of humanity and logic denied these people the opportunity to exist.

Consequently, I stand on my point that this is a violation of the Nigerian citizenry.

omiobo:

Why would a state accommodate non indigenes are that liabilties to the state? Some people cannot be rehabilitated,they need to be deported to their state fast fast. Just thank God you are not one of them. And if you talk too much you will be deported.

Eko Atlantic: Asap return them to their kidnappers dungeon.

They even call them REFUGEES

Omo Igbos are affecting us with their village mentality

Apku village niggas

Dudu_Negro:

Lets start by defining people. What is a people and their relativity to other people or their habitation?

Dudu_Negro:

Yes, by legal definition thats what they are. When they were trucked out of North around February and camped in SE.....they were also called refugees. This is what they have become.....this is their own making, nobody made them refugees...they choosed to become refugees. They have a homeland...they choosed to abandon it.

saintneo: This question is rhetorical. You know the answer. You are just trying to spin it, but it won't work.

naptu2: There's something missing in the article above & that's the voice of the people that were returned (note: returned, not deported). It also seems that people do not know the details of the Lagos State policy. Nobody is deported (that would be unconstitutional), rather, people are returned (which is constitutional and within the laws of Lagos State).

I'll be back with a description of the process that leads to someone being returned.

saintneo: I don't understand the legality of this action. Let us ignore the issue of being Anambra or not.

Does Lagos State Government has the right to deport Nigerians from Lagos?
What legal data does Lagos have classify these people as non-Lagosians?
On what criteria did the Lagos decide to deport people from Lagos?
When did Lagos State start its immigration policy and immigration commission?
Do Nigerians require PASSPORT or VISA to visit Lagos?


Now responding to the tribalistic post.
Having lived in the Lagos for two years before relocating to a more relaxed part of the country, I must say that Anambra people and Ndigbo in general are numerous in population Lagos and they are gainfully employed in businesses. On one of my visits to the trade-fair complex, I noticed that all the shops I visited where owned/operated by Igbo people except for two - one by an Efik-Ibibio and the other was a Chinese. On another note, most of the less able people in Lagos (if not all of them)are not of Igbo origin; consequently, I find it beyond logical comprehension that Lagos State will convey less able people in nine buses to Anambra State without proper identification.

If Lagos is a big city as it claims, it should have started a program to rehabilitate or support these individuals rather than deporting them to Anambra state.