While the killing of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi saddens hearts, the way leaders of the world have reacted and audibly spoken against it warms hearts. Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. It shows that these leaders place high premium on human lives; it shows they care about the cost and worth of any citizen on any soil. It reinforces confidence in many a man and infuses the despondent with a ray of hope.
One would wonder Khashoggi isn’t an American citizen, yet his death worried American President Donald Trump. Tump was so concerned he said “What had happened was “unacceptable” but added that Saudi Arabia was a “great ally”. Trump said the arrests were an important “first step”, and praised the Kingdom for acting quickly. He said the official explanation was “credible”, despite many US lawmakers expressing disbelief over the Saudi account.
He stressed the importance of Saudi Arabia as a counterbalance to Iran in the Middle East, and pushed back against the need for sanctions against the country in light of the new information, talking about the effect of such a move on the US economy. Earlier this week President Trump warned of “very severe” consequences if Saudi Arabic was proved to have killed Khashoggi.
Trump was not a lone voice. The US Congressmen condemned the killing, including a Republican highly critical of the Saudis, Senator Lindsey Graham, who said they were sceptical about the report on the journalist’s death. Democratic senator, Dick Durbin, has called for the Saudi ambassador to the US to be expelled over the case.
Speaking to the NBC’s Meet the Press, the Minority Whip said he did not accept the Saudi government’s story as credible and called on “civilised countries” across the globe to take action. The UK Foreign Office described it as “a terrible act” and said the people behind the killing “must be held to account”. Turkey has vowed to reveal all of the details of the killing, according to a spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development party quoted by Anadolu news agency.
Australia announced it was withdrawing from an investment summit in Saudi Arabia later this month — joining a growing boycott that includes the US, the UK, Dutch and French finance ministers over the killing.
The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has called for a “thorough investigation” to make sure “all relevant facts will be clear as soon as possible”.
The acknowledgement follows two weeks of denials that Saudi Arabia had any involvement in the disappearance of the prominent Saudi critic when he entered the consulate in Istanbul on 2 October to seek paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.
The Saudi kingdom had come under increased pressure to explain Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance after Turkish officials said he had been deliberately killed inside the consulate, and his body dismembered.
A joint statement by Britain, France and Germany has said “nothing can justify” the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate, as the nations demand “credible facts” over the death.
The Scottish Government has scrapped plans to appoint an energy specialist to help boost exports to Saudi Arabia in the wake of the killing.
There is a sharp and sad irony, however, between the Khashoggi case and the numberless killings of innocent citizens in Nigeria, my home country.
In the former’s situation, a life is lost, yet cry against it was loud. In Nigeria, killings happen in torrents and thousands — with impurity too. Between January 2018 and now, for instance, no fewer than a thousand persons have died in different parts of the country.
Even at this time when the world is mourning and condemning the killing in Saudi Arabia, agents of the State seem to have licence to kill without repercussions.
Officers and men of the Nigeria Police open fire on unarmed and innocent citizens with history showing that the police can go to any length to protect their own from sanctions for such killings. For instance, nothing substantial has been done in the prosecution of the officer who killed Ms. Linda Angela Igwetu, the NYSC member killed last July.
Last week, Anita Akapson, a UK returnee daughter of a former Minister of Finance was killed while sitting in her car.
Scores of lives are being wasted in Kaduna State. Killers, on a daily basis, invade communities, open fire on some young men and women. Insurgents and herdsmen take human lives at will with impunity.
It’s therefore rather unfortunate that the same world leaders who reacted almost instantly and audibly have pretended this far not to see or feel.
It’s the business of a sovereign government to ensure security of lives and property of its citizenry. While the needless and countless killings happening in Nigeria signal abysmal failure on the part of government and crass lack of capability on the President, it does not suffice for the world powers to feign indifference or to snub the most populous black nation of the world. Injustice and rights abuse anywhere in the world should worry leadership equally, irrespective of individual’s stomached economic or political sentiments.
Kayode Ajulo is founder of Egalitarian Mission Africa, Abuja
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