Job Osazuwa
In the past few days, Senator Elisha Abbo has been in the eye of the storm. And it is not for any edifying cause.
The lawmaker representing Adamawa North in the Senate has been the recipient of venomous verbal attacks since a video showing him brutally beating up a defenceless woman surfaced. He has, since then, continued to receive intense bashing from every part of Nigeria and beyond.
Of the senator, Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia, wrote: “Elisha Cliff Abbo is a Nigerian politician. He is widely known as a violent politician notorious for physically assaulting two females in a sex toyshop in Abuja, Nigeria. In the CCTV video that has been widely circulated on social media, Elisha Abbo is aided by a Nigerian police officer who also participates in assaulting the females. Once looked upon as a new face of the youth in politics, Elisha has been shamed and disowned for such a behaviour unbefitting a public office holder. There are protests ongoing for his arrest. He is the senator representing the Adamawa North Adamawa State senatorial district in Adamawa State at the Nigerian 9th National Assembly.”
But even within Nigeria, many are united in castigating the lawmaker. Politicians from different political parties, celebrities, human rights activists, lawyers and other concerned Nigerians have condemned the act and called for a full investigation into the matter. Many want the senator appropriately punished while some want him recalled from the National Assembly.
In the video that has since gone viral, the embattled senator, a member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was seen slapping a saleswoman at an adult sex toyshop in Abuja.
Speaking with the reporter, a lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Kunle Adegoke, said nothing justifies anybody taking to violence in reaction to any action. He stated that the Senator should have restrained himself, no matter the level provocation if there was any in the first place.
“Considering the fact that he is someone who occupies or hoping to occupy a high position of responsibility, he should not have assaulted the woman. His action is a barometer to gauge his sense of responsibility. I believe that the law should take its full course and no one, no matter the placement in life, should be allowed a leverage of impunity,” Adegoke said.
A lawyer, who is based in Calabar, Cross River State, Mr. Chukwu Hygienus described Abbo’s deed as incredible. He said the senator, regarded as the youngest man in the 9th Senate, doesn’t have the power to beat up his own wife, let alone another woman.
“It is even more grievous to beat up a nursing mother. In this instance, the Senator is not protected by law or immunity. The law should take its course, especially considering the fact that he has committed violence against a woman.
“If we deviate from the law, his action also goes against the dictate of morality. Anyone who beats a woman is not fit to occupy a seat in the Senate, if Nigeria were to be a reasonable country like others. There are lots of abnormalities in Nigeria. The senator should be arrested immediately and be tried. No one should do things against the rule of law. In fact, the law should be used against him as a deterrent to others. Since, his action is equal to the behaviour of a mad person; he should be used to set a good and bad example as the case may be. It will be good in the eye of the law but very bad because a senator has done this,” Hygienus said.
Also speaking with Daily Sun, the former chairman of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Dave Ajetumobi, said any public officer that is being paid with taxpayers’ money must respect the people.
His words: “I don’t regard anyone man that beats up a woman as a human being. A senator is supposed to be seen as an icon and ought to act as such. This shows the rot in our political space. Our politicians don’t campaign based on issues and surprisingly, Nigerians will queue behind such empty candidates during elections. If the women in his constituency were asking questions that are germane, I am sure he would have respected them. Women from his constituency are supposed to be protesting by now. Women really need to up their game. Apart from of going to Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) church to demonstrate, this is another serious issue they should take up, because this victim is helpless.
“My joy is that our law doesn’t have immunity covering for members of the National Assembly. The police need to do their job and thoroughly investigate the matter. I will be happy if he is disgraced at the end of the day. I don’t know what the woman would have done to merit such beating from the senator.”
In a telephone chat with another angry lawyer and human rights activist, Dele Igbinedion, he said the senator was in for trouble. He stated that it was unfortunate that a serving senator could degenerate to that level to have allegedly committed such an act.
He joined others to call on the relevant authorities to investigate the matter and ensure that justice prevails at last.
“But I will love everyone to be patient to allow the investigation to be carried out. I am calling on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to immediately commission a team to handle the investigation in an unbiased version. And if anybody is found to have contravened any law, he should be immediately charged to court for prosecution. It is a matter that should not be swept under the carpet; that will not be acceptable,” he said.
Similarly, the Director of Prisoners’ Rights Advocacy Initiative (PRAI), Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem said: “What the senator did is a daily occurrence between the mighty and the weak in Nigeria. It only trended because it was perpetrated by a senator.
“We must begin to make people accountable for their actions no matter how highly placed they are. There is no better way to start than ensuring that the young senator is charged and hopefully jailed and also made to pay compensation through civil suits by the victims.”
Angry over the trending video, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday called on the embattled Senator to present himself to the police to investigate the allegation.
Atiku stated that it would be a display of leadership example if Abbo publicly apologised and voluntarily submit himself to the police. While condemning the Senator’s action, he charged his party to take necessary disciplinary action against him.
Said he: “I have seen the alleged assault video involving Sen. Abbo. The video is sad, inexcusable. I know the senator quite well. But the law is clear and leaders must lead by example.
I advise him to publicly apologise, voluntarily go to the police and show a good example expected of a young leader. I also call on our party, the PDP to take necessary disciplinary action and the Nigerian Police to ensure the law takes its full course.”
A Global rights body, Amnesty International (AI), has also called on the police to immediately take action against the 41-year-old lawmaker.
In a Facebook post, AI said, “Senator Elisha Abbo (Adamawa North) who took three ladies shopping for sex toys in Abuja, assaulted a nursing mother, in the presence of policemen. This must be investigated. The lawmaker must face justice. The victims must be protected from his promise of more violence.”
On his part, human rights lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), said the police could arrest the senator immediately given the available video evidence and arraign him accordingly.
He tweeted: “The case of Senator Elisha Abbo is very straightforward. The police must immediately take three steps: first arrest him (no formal complaint is needed with the evidence on tape). Secondly, obtain his statement (if he’s willing to make one) and that of the victim, and thirdly arraign him in court.”
Mr. Peter Okoye, a member of the defunct P-Square group, called for the immediate arrest of the senator and called on the National Assembly to bar him from occupying a seat in the upper chamber.
Okoye said on his Instagram page noted: “I am so mad right now after watching this video clip of our representative assaulting a woman. People like Elisha Abbo do not deserve to hold public office. This is disgusting. He needs to be arrested and prosecuted as soon as possible.”
In the same vein, popular musician, Adekunle Gold, said: “I am so angry. I want to say a lot of things but I am at a loss for words.”
Meanwhile, the Senate on Wednesday set up an ad hoc committee headed by a former governor of Ebonyi State, Sam Egwu, to probe the alleged assault on the lady.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, constituted the panel after the Senator representing Kaduna Central, Uba Sani raised a point of order.
The Senate Leader, Abdullahi Yahaya; Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, and Senator Opeyemi Bamidele supported Sani by condemning Abbo’s action.
The President of the Senate confirmed that he had been inundated with calls from concerned Nigerians within and outside the country asking the Senate to explain what happened. Lawan said it would be unfair on either the Senator or the assaulted lady if the Senate should pass a judgment immediately based on the viral video clip, hence the need for the investigation.
He, therefore, asked the ad hoc committee to probe the issue critically by inviting both parties and submit its report within two weeks. Other members of the panel are, Senators Oluremi Tinubu, Mathew Urhoghide, Stella Oduah, Dauda Aliu Jika, Sani Musa, and Danladi Sankara.