Ahead of the scheduled June inauguration of Nigeria’s leaders elected this March, the capital city of Abuja is in full cinematic mode.
President Muhammadu Buhari is in London once more for a 10-day private trip. He has not officially handed over to his deputy, Vice-President Yemi Osibanjo.
While he is away, the country’s legislators are arguing over the choice of leaders, and trying to sideline political “godfathers” from the ruling party who want to impose their choice of candidate on the national assembly. Behind closed doors, politicians and businessmen across the federation are earnestly lobbying to plant their feet – or ears – in the corridors of power.
One who has a lot to play for is Mohammed Bello, the minister in charge of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and Abuja’s equivalent of a mayor.
He is believed to be behind a spectacular police raid at the weekend targeting nightclubs and strip clubs, in which dozens of women – and a two-month-old baby – were arrested, accused of prostitution. Witnesses say some were raped using discarded water sachets as condoms.
Lawyer Martin Obono broke the news on Twitter:
It rapidly spread with the hashtags #AbujaPoliceRaidonWomen and #PoliceBrutality. Several commentators suggested Bello’s moral policing was a last-gasp stunt for the struggling minister.
Prostitution remains illegal in Nigeria even though there are commercial sex workers in most of the major cities and many other towns. Nigerian security outfits are particularly zealous in their enforcement of this law, routinely doling out brutality towards women and wrongful arrest.
During most of these raids the women’s male customers or companions are rarely if ever apprehended.
A Case of Physical and Sexual Abuse
Several social media reports suggest that the women were not only physically abused but were raped by the policemen wearing ‘pure water’ nylon sachets as condom.
The video below was shared on Twitter by an eye witness.
Former minister, presidential candidate and activist, Oby Ezekwesili also shared her angry thoughts about the incident.
Grasping at straws?
Since 1991, when Abuja replaced Lagos as the nation’s capital, there has been a time-honoured populist ritual of FCTA ministers authorising similar raids, and Bello is no exception.
Yet his performance in the past four years has been so abysmal that residents joke on social media about his invisibility and not even knowing his name.
The number of functional traffic lights in Abuja has declined, while petty crimes and car hijacking have increased. But there has been no action on that from the minister, who rarely makes public appearances but sensationally suspended the city’s fire chief after a commissioning ceremony went south.
Bottom line: As the theory goes, Bello is now prioritising quick wins to get himself back into the president’s good graces enough to secure a recall or another position in cabinet.
Main reporting by Eromo Egbejule for The Africa Report.
Additional reporting by Ojonugwa Felix Ugboja.