The New Telegraph newspaper on August 24, 2020, reported Amnesty International as affirming that “Bandits kill 1,126 Nigerians in 6 months”. This is scary! The headline had riders indicating that “thousands displaced in Kaduna, Katsina, other states; IPOB, security agents clash claims 21 in Enugu?
The report pointed at recent happenings, posting half-year statistics. Unfortunately, killing had been going on for close to a decade unabated. It had been a kind of report one finds in the news media every week. Terrorists attack at will, bandits unleash mayhem on people unequivocally,herdsmen abduct and rape unsuspecting citizens without even a slap on the wrist. Ethnic killings and violence occur like recurring decimal across all the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Why has life becomes so cheap in Nigeria? It is unheard of; human life that should be considered sacred is being sniffed out like that of killing fowls.
The unrepentant terrorist group called Boko Haram had not ceased fire in Borno-Yobe States axis. Killing in Southern Kaduna is fast turning out to be a recurring decimal in the land. Dark clouds engulfed the region recently. Majority of the Northern States are in the grip of the purveyors of violence and death; it is quite unacceptable. In the last five years, human life had been degraded. Violence and banditry had been visited relentlessly on states like Beune, Kebbi, Plateau, Kaduna, Katsina, Nasaarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Kano, Zamfara, among others.
Hitherto, the nation’s main challenge had been how to squarely tackle the dreaded terrorist groups, Boko Haram but ethnic killing, banditry and violence of all sorts are rubbing salt on the injured peaceful coexistence of the country’s diverse people.
About two years ago, it was announced that Boko Haram had been technically defeated; as the military was basking in that euphoria, that joy was short-lived. The story got even worse thereafter. Where then do we go from here? Who will put out the darkness of violence and killings?
The nation needs to come to the end of the tunnel of killing, violence and banditry to experience light. Who will make this happen?Itis the citizens themselves; the leaders and the led. The leaders must exercise their political will while the citizens come to term with taking caution. Everyone must be ready to face the truth – speak it and practice it.
Nigerians had never been as ruthless as they are now what had gone wrong? Unimaginably, sanctity of life is being held with the pince of the salt. It must be understood; no nation develops destroying its human capital but must unreservedly cherished and nurture it.
Catholic Bishops in Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province, which include the prelates of Kaduna, Kano, Kontagora, Minna, Sokoto and Zaria Dioceses, converged on Kafanchan for meeting soon after the last massacre there. They were so kept aback with what they saw and heard. Like other Nigerians, they expressed their heartfelt condolences indeep sorrow and pain as they heard report of mindless slaughtering of hundreds of innocent citizens in varying communities in the area. The clergymen could not ask their people to pick up arms in retaliation. They channeled their anguish into praying with faith for the merciful God to intervene for restoration of peace.
Quite painful, the bishops had similar experience in 2018 when they visited Kafanchan. Also in 2019, they were in Kajuru for close-same mission. So, the stories of the tragedies are not new to them. They made the people realize that “no amount of revenge, bitterness, calumny, hatred or name calling can bring back those who have lost their lives in the senseless and unnecessary blood lettings.” The Bishops expressed their displeasure with the happenings. “We’re pained by the trauma that has been inflicted on our collective psyche. We are pained by the culture of death that has made life so cheap for the most vulnerable in our society. We are pained by the fact that we are losing our common humanity,” they submitted.
How do we end the seemingly endless tragic stories? The nation is in dire need of rebuilding and refocusing leadership and followership. The mindless slaughtering must stop. The dare-devil killers who have totally lost the right to be called human beings must be caged and separated from communities of sane people. They must be made to sheath their swords. The question is: When will the killings stop? The answer is not blowing on the wind. It is with us; it is in us.
I feel bold to join my thought with that of the Catholic Bishops, reiterating the fact that no amount of revenge, bitterness, calumny, hatred or name calling can bring back the lives that have been lost in the senseless and unnecessary killings. Love must be sown and nurtured to grow to the status and stamina that can withstand the ‘storm’ in our country. This is because love for God, love for fellow being and love for our dear country will go along way to put an end to the calamitous and unimaginable killings. Love conquereth all! We need to rally round one another. The concern should be what is right and what is wrong, not who is right and who is wrong. It is needless bulk-passing the blame, leaders at varying levels need to collaborate and step in. they must stand together and protect the vulnerable. No justification for the innocent lives that had been lost. There is need to act decisively and uprightly to pull the country back from the brink.
Adurotoye, a journalist, writes from Ilorin, Kwara state
