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Alan Paton was a prolific writer who, in his novel, “Cry, the Beloved Country,” captured the muderous events during the apathied era, graphically bringing to light many of the heinous atrocities perpetrated in South Africa when bloodshed meant nothing, just like the dark barbaric days experienced by the Tutsi minority ethnic group and some moderate Hutu and Twa, who were killed by armed militias in the land of Rwanda. Coincidentally, last Sunday, at about midnight, I received another frantic distress call from Mr. Obasanjo Omale in Niger State. This time from another village from where he alledged that hundreds of armed hooligans believed to be bandits (terrorists) have overrun his village and other villages. He was shedding tears because the bandits were on a killing spree. The same day, the news broke that bandits had attacked an Abuja-Kaduna train, killing nine passengers and abducting an unknown number of passengers, including a whiteman, leaving scores injured with bullet wounds. Two days before to the train attack, there was an aborted attack on a commercial plane at the Kaduna Airport that claimed the life of a worker at the airport and the bandits number over 200 retreated.
The day after, Nigeria hosted Ghana to a World Cup qualification match at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Despite the national tradegy in Kaduna, the football federation did not deem it appropriate to honour the dead passengers by directing the Eagles players to wear black bands on their arms as a sign of respect. Even the man whose name the stadium bears, who was killed by government, is yet to be adequately honoured so that his spirit can rest in peace. Indeed, the country is crying. The land of Nigeria has been soaked with innocent blood of over a million citizens. From Independence to the Nigerian civil war to date, the country has not known peace, yet the country continues as if blood is manufactured in the country. Today, children are kidnapped for rituals or sold away for modern-day slavery. Adults are either killed mercilessly or are kidnapped for ransom. Painfully, there are many war fronts against diverse internal and external enemies. While Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists are warring against the country along the Lake Chad and North-East and North-West fringes, killing and making life unbearable, another dangerous sect, the bandits, lately, are on rampage all around the country.
Meanwhile, heads of security agencies and government are as usual paying surprise condolence visits to the killing venue. Yet, it took the Presidency a day later before issuing a condolence press statement signed as usual by one of the presidential spokespersons. A national tragedy that ought to attract the attention of Mr. President to personally visit the scene of the killings and further issue strongly-worded and definite presidential statements. As the President of the United States, Mr. Donald Trump, a septuagenarian, accompanied by his wife, visited high school students in Florida at a hospital after their school was attacked by gunman that left 16 students dead with several others seriously wounded.
The President had visited the hospital to see the patients and also to thank medical professionals who helped the wounded in a horrific high school shooting.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived by motorcade at Broward Health North Hospital to pay their respects to doctors, nurses and others who responded to the shooting in nearby Parkland. They also met with law enforcement officials at the Broward County sheriff’s office. President Trump noted that his visit was to meet first-hand with people “whose lives have been totally shattered.”
Unfortunately, the same was not what we witnessed in Nigeria with the Minister for Transport, Mr. Rotmi Amaechi, and Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai boosting the shedding of tears to further attract public sympathy.
There seems to be more to what Nigerians and security agencies are seeing than meets the eye. In other words, all that is playing out looks like a calculated chess game. It is important to retrace our recollection by remembering the staccato type of attacks unleashed on the heart of the nation, the FCT, Abuja. On June 16, 2011, terrorists carried out a dastardly bombing of the police headquarters, killing six people, while several vehicles, including the official jeep of this writer, were burnt and mangled. During the same period, the United Nations headquarters was bombed, so was a Catholic Church in Madala, with the army cantonement and Nyanya motor park were all bombed, setting the nation’s capital into confusion. Security analysts are of the opinion that the attacks in and around the federal capital should be of utmost concern to security operatives. First, the terrorists commenced by targeting the villages around the surbubs of neighbouring villages in Niger State and Abuja, creating a chaotic atmosphere and heightening their vicious act with the bombing of the train. That not surficing, the terrorists have moved to some surbubs of Abuja, like Mararaba, where it was reported that gunmen have been attacking residents of the area that is in Nasarawa, a neighboring state. There are also reports of gunmen storming Bukpe community in Kwali Area Council, Abuja, kidnapping the mornach, Alhaji Hassan Shamidozhi, under darkness, that is already affecting activities in Abuja. The insecurity being created sequel to inability of the government to provide adequate electricity in and around the federal capital after over 20 years of its creation, some security institutions are experiencing blackout. Same with many government buildings. It is very worrisome, just as the inflow of non-citizens from Chad and Niger republics.
Question from many observers is: “Why was the federal qovernment quick in constructing the highway and rail line to neighbouring countries in the north just to ease illegal human traffic into the country, when many federal roads in the country are still death traps? In as much as many Nigerians have surrendered their personal security to God, the government should not abdicate its constitutional responsibilities, especially as it concerns the security of the people, even as its efforts are being appreciated, though not enough.
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Ideas that could have stopped insecurity
Through the channel of the brain, ideas are conceived and these ideas help in bringing solutions to major problems of the world. Leaders with great ideas leave lasting legacies in the sands of time. According to Wikipedia,“In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can be mental representational images of some object.” So, leaders that births ideas are regarded as game-changers. Oftentimes, these ideas are either derailed or killed or truncated before full implementation. Ideas are like a newborn baby, its growth is largely dependent on the feeding and environmental circumstances. In the security community in Nigeria, there are security leaders whose ideas would have helped in nipping our present insecurity that has bedeviled our country since 2002. These great security leaders came up with different wonderful ideas, commenced their implementation, but the negative system that had over the years truncated every noble idea caught up with their great ideas.
(To be continued)
