Benue State: Ex-Governor Suswam’s Trial by Ordeal

If one were to go by the accounts of some bloggers, online critics and news outlets the former governor of Benue State, Mr Gabriel Suswam [image above] has already been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment or at least that was the impression they struggled to make their readers go away with.

Between Wednesday and Thursday the cyberspace was awash with headlines like: “EFCC Arraigns Former Benue Governor, Suswam Over N3.1bn Fraud Today”, “Suswam To Appear Before Abuja Court For Money Laundering”, “N3.1bn FRAUD: EFCC to arraign Former Benue Governor Suswam” and other headlines that were almost conclusive in their pronouncement of guilt.

The malicious intent behind the gloating headlines is better appreciated with the realisation that the said arraignment did not take place as reported. The few people that bothered to cross check their facts easily confirmed from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that there was no such activity planned. Apparently others ran with the story since a decision has been reached to kick off the ‘crucify him’ camping.

Perhaps the time worn concept bears repeating again, that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Furthermore, an arraignment before a law court by the EFCC does not constitute guilt. The anti-graft commission will present file its charges, tender its evidence and argue its case against the accused person, who has the right to prove that he did not commit the offence he was charged for. It is then up to the law court to pronounce if the accused person is guilty.

It is instructive to note that this is not the first time that the EFCC would be charging anyone before a court. In fact, former governors are statutory fixtures on the list of high profile persons that the commission has arraigned in the past. Those with mathematical or statistical tendencies can easily figure out the frequency at which the trial of ex-governors returned guilty verdicts and the reason is not farfetched. Oftentimes, the petitions that the EFCC act upon are politically motivated such that the accused persons were easily able to defend their tenures in office hence the need for the anti-graft agency to arraign in court before shopping for additional evidence.

Some of such cases, dating from the post-Obasanjo years, are nearing a decade in court without concrete progress made towards securing a conviction or the affected persons being discharged. It will thus seem that the driving force is not to get the judiciary to pronounce a commensurate punishment, since conviction is a remote possibility anyway. The purpose is more sinister. The political enemies behind such travails are driven by the desire to erode the towering stature of opponents through the abuse of public institutions.

Those who have paid close attention will understand that the leading purpose of arraignments is to create negative photo ops of former public office holders in the dock so that the resulting photographs can be used for de-marketing campaigns should the individuals involved offer themselves for public service in future. The practice is also driven by the twisted desire of estranged associates to humiliate political leaders who failed to pander to their selfish interests while they held sway. A nasty angle to this scenario is that the development is reported and analyzed in a way that can tarnish the reputation of the affected individual.

This is why  bloggers, online critics, online news outlets and media organisation should be wary about the kind of coverage and analysis around the supposed prosecution of former public office holders to ensure they do not unwittingly join those using such prosecution as persecution. Previous experience has shown that the trend is injurious to the anti-corruption drive as the media and the public eventually lose interest in the case once the political taint becomes apparent.

What Suswam’s opponents have going for them is thus a trial by ordeal taking place not in the law courts but on platforms that have decided he is guilty even before the EFCC has arraigned him. Those with access to communication platforms that have not openly declared their affiliations, relationships and interests have held their own versions of witch hunt and they have given their verdict that the accused is guilty. This is really sad as it clearly showed that not much has been achieved by way of intellectual and mental growth in the past decade when the EFCC was first accused as a tool for hounding the opposition.

Sadly, when lynch mobs set out to hold trial by ordeal, the outcomes are seldom pleasant – in some cultures in the dark past, a person accused of a grievous crime is given a concoction of poisonous roots or herbs, if he succumbs to the toxins he is innocent if he does not succumb he is guilty and consequently gets mobbed. Such is the fate detractors wish for the former Benue state governor. One can therefore only hope that the judiciary somehow remains insulated from the public opinion that those with vested interest have used mainstream and new media to manipulate against Suswam.

Agbese, a trainee lawyer, researcher and activist is based in the United Kingdom.