There Is Genocide in Your Country: My Lord, Res Sua!
Editor's note: In this piece, David Bassey Antia, a budding legal scholar, challenges the misuse of sovereignty to justify inaction amid Nigeria’s ongoing killings. He calls on leaders and pastors alike to prioritise the protection of Nigerians over political or ideological posturing.
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The res sua argument is a legal shield, available in many circumstances. In contract, it is regarded as a type of mistake where a contract is void because the subject matter being sold already belongs to the buyer. This may occur when both parties are mistaken about the ownership of the goods, and because the buyer already owns the item, they cannot purchase it from themselves. But that is not the only context in which it finds meaning. A proximate illustration for present purposes is the accused charged with vandalising a motor vehicle who may assert:
“Res sua, My Lord, the vehicle in question is mine.”
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The underlying maxim, quilibet dominus est, every man is deemed master of his property, succinctly captures this defence.
Some persons amongst us, who seem intoxicated by a facile and, if I may, a vainglorious interpretation of sovereignty, have allowed that maxim to ossify into a defence for the indefensible.
Such persons, being sédùcèd by the profligacy of thought and ignorant of the true meaning of patriotism, expend their intellectual energies agitating for a sovereignty that they elevate above the fundamental sanctity of human life. Their blithe disregard for the slaughter of innocent, unarmed Christians renders their sophistry about sovereignty morally bankrupt and legally hollow. At least that shouldn’t have been the first port for the arrival of their thought in the circumstances. Whether expressly or by implication, they seem to intone:
“Mr. Trump, hold up - there is no genocide of Christians in our country; and even if there were, they are our citizens, so res sua!”
That is the kind of patriotism Reno Omokiri and some Nigerian pastors understand.
This gut-wrenching logic, deployed by some Nigerians like him in response to the recent designation of our Nation as a “Country of Particular Concern,” by the United States President, Donald Trump, betrays a grotesque misunderstanding of patriotism. It is a gross misreading of the doctrine of sovereignty. To those who indulge in such insensate prattle, I return the simple, searing question: Is your argument that because the victims are our fellow citizens, they are therefore ours to slaughter?
Why are you more concerned about sovereignty than the lives of many who have been lost to terrorism and the extremism of some sects?
I mean, it has been alleged that well over 100,000 Christians have been killed and thousands of churches destroyed since 2009. Despite the many gruesome pictures and videos that have circulated in the media, a motley throng of courtiers within the corridors of power, together with certain pulpit voices whose pastoral duty should make them foremost defenders of the vulnerable, have, in too many instances, denied or minimised the allegations. The facile rejoinder in some quarters that Muslims also die does nothing to erase the particular suffering described; at best, it confirms that many unrestrained hands are terrorising the people of this country. The salient question is this: What has the federal government done to check these terrorists?
The sovereignty of human life at all times must be apotheosized far above the abstraction of political sovereignty.
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Section 14 (2)(b) of our Constitution enjoins the government to direct its policy towards ensuring that the security and welfare of the people are the primary purpose of government. Internationally, Article I of the Genocide Convention establishes genocide as a crime under international law and binds signatory States (Nigeria acceded on 27 July 2009) to prevent and punish such acts. Article III enumerates punishable acts, including conspiracy, incitement, attempt, and complicity, while Article IV makes clear that individuals, irrespective of official status, are liable for acts of genocide or related crimes.
Yet, despite the scale and persistence of the killings, no single person has, to public knowledge, been prosecuted and punished for acts of terrorism that manifest as the daily slaughters of Nigerians by terrorists and bandits.
Until very recently, the President displayed a studied nonchalance, an imperturbability bordering on abdication, until a gust from abroad disturbed the placid waters. Only after external pressure did the Executive stir; this belated response reads less as contrition for leadership failure than as apprehension at the prospect of foreign intervention that might imperil power and prestige.
To those pastors whose discourse diverges grotesquely from the exigencies of reality and from the moral responsibilities of their office, I say this: such complicity, whether of omission or of eager denial, is utterly shameful. It reveals a polity in decay, where the conscience of society has been rent asunder.
The Tinubu government must awaken to its constitutional duty and secure the lives of Nigerians. Banditry and terrorism must no longer operate as de facto ministries of violence, exploiting resources in hideouts such as Sambisa and other ungoverned spaces. The time for excuses is over. He should act urgently and with a sustained effort.
When a foreign State expresses intent to assist in countering terrorism in Nigeria, let us not hide behind a perverted res sua. The sovereignty of humanity, to my mind, transcends the sovereignty of territorial boundaries. The true measure of sovereignty is the protection of life; the lives of Nigerians, all Nigerians (whether Muslims or Christians), constitute the real sovereignty that must guide every response, every policy, and every act of governance.
David Bassey Antia writes from the Faculty of Law, Topfaith University Mkpatak
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng.
Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.
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