The name Judas was first mentioned during the selection of the 12 disciples of Jesus, the saviour of the world.
Wuth the full name Judas Iscariot, it was recorded that he died 30BC by hanging himself after betraying his master, Jesus.
Record shows that Judas’s surname was most probably a corruption of the Latin sicarius (“murderer” or “assassin”) than an indication of family origin, suggesting that he could have belonged to the Sicarii, the most radical Jewish group, some of whom were terrorists.
Always the last on the list of the Apostles, he was their treasurer.
John 12:6 introduces Judas’s thievery by saying, “As he had the money box, he used to take what was put into it.”
After the resounding acclaimed peaceful election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on February 25, 2023, many Nigerians went home satisfied that the country was once again “on the march again” (apologies to MKO Abiola’s political jingle) to a truly free, fair and transparent election. Unfortunately, it is turning not to be so. The name Judas can be abscribed to as one or more persons who are current representatives of the electoral commission, security agents and even ad hoc staff of the electoral commission.
Religious history recorded that Judas once sneaked out of the meetings held with Jesus just to hold secret meetings with some Jewish leaders who were not comfortable with the popularity of Jesus. As it was in those days, so it is today. Money, they say, is the answer to all things. If 30 pieces of silver could betray Jesus, then the Judases in Nigeria’s INEC, police and other stakeholders would be ready to sell their consciences for mouth-watering amounts.
This act of corruption needs to be seriously examined, as it has become the cankerworm that is eating deep into every fabric of our system.
The question that needs to be answered points at the electoral body that repeatedly assured Nigerians and the international community of its readiness and transparent disposition to truthful elections, yet its staffers were either very late to carry out their mandatory assignments on time or did not even show up at many polling centres, thereby disenfranchising innocent and patriotic Nigerians.
These unnecessary hiccups are a painful reminder of previous elections that gave the country a very bad image in the comity of nations. Even at that, there is no record of official punishment for these erring staffers.
There were reports of INEC staffers using items not recommended, like correction fluid used to delete figures. Despite commendations from well-meaning Nigerians and international observers of INEC’s outing, unfortunately, some of the newly introduced Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) were unable to upload or transmit election results from the polling centres to the headquarters. The painful aspect of the entire exercise was the “Judases” in police uniform who looked the other way when thugs reportedly carted away many ballot boxes and more than 10 BVAS machines, yet these “Judases” in the police uniform were mandated to provide security to both the voters and the equipment belonging to INEC. One expected the state police commissioners under whose jurisdiction these criminalities were perpetrated to be held responsible for such unpardonable offense. Yes, it is said that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Supervision of the men on the field is very important when carrying out such a national assignment. What is the role of electronic wireless communication gadgets (walkey-talkie)? How come many of the policemen on duty were not assigned with these gadgets to ease communication when there is danger? After all the operational plan disclosed to Nigeria was that the police would be on the front line to watch every incident, while armed military men were to be the last line of observation purposely to arrest any bad situation like thuggery and violence. The massive police presence should have helped to provide the needed peaceful atmosphere during the elections. Even while Judases in the police were busy tarnishing the good image of the police, the election monitoring officers drafted from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission rejected the spirit of Judas, which is the spirit of corruption, as they patriotically exhibited the stuff they were made of.
Reports indicated that officers of the EFCC embarked on an enlightenment and sensitization against vote-buying and all forms of electoral fraud. Impressively, operatives of the EFCC monitoring the presidential and National Assembly polls arrested Dr. Cletus Tyokyaa, a lecturer with the Sarwuan Tarka University (formerly known as the University of Agriculture), Makurdi, Benue State, for allegedly attempting to buy votes. He was arrested at the RCM polling unit in Daudu, Guma Local Government Area of the state, in possession of the sum of N306,700 in various denominations stashed in his car, he was released after volunteering a statement to the operatives. Also, a man was arrested with N194,000 at Gidan Zakka polling unit, Goron Dutse area of Kano Municipal Local Government, Kano State, while a party agent buying votes through bank transfers was arrested in Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory. Also, two persons, Stanley Nsemo and Eno Amponsah, were arrested in Calabar, Cross River State, with the sum of $450 and N156,800 on suspicion of alleged vote-buying.
In addition, a woman with 18 voter’s cards was intercepted in a sting operation at Badarwa, Kaduna, Kaduna State.
Mrs. Maryam Mamman Alhaji, a member of the support group of one of the leading political parties, also had in her possession a 17-page list containing names of eligible voters, their bank details and phone numbers as accredited under Badarwa/Malali Ward 01 and 08, Kaduna North Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
She was arrested while negotiating with an EFCC undercover agent.
Even while Nigerians are raising their thumbs up for the police and other security agencies for providing a peaceful atmosphere for the elections, one is not completely carried away in such euphoria of praise singing. The question on the lips of observers is, how come these hoodlums and thugs were able to snatch away a total of 11 electoral machines from various polling booths across the country? What where the policemen drafted to where these criminal acts were perpetrated doing to have warranted these actions? These policemen can be described as the “Judases” in the police election team. These are the officers whose consciences have been sold for money. They are controlled by evil spirits. Once a person is not in tandem with the good works of their colleagues, such person or persons are under the control of contrary spirits that can easily be described as “evil spirit”.
The election proper has been adjudged as very peaceful by well-meaning Nigerians. This peaceful election was miraculously blessed with showers of rain.
It is very evident that what spurs security agencies to optimum performance are up-to-date training, provision of necessary equipment and adequate remuneration. These three major factors played out in the total preparation for the 2023 elections. First, it was President Muhammadu Buhari who promised the members of the United Nation Assembly of his government’s determination to leave office with a record of free, fair and transparent elections. That was supposed to be his retirement trump card. He did not stop there, he also told the world that he had provided everything necessary for INEC, the Nigeria Police and other stakeholders, thereby exonerating himself and his government of any blame.
In fact, what the initial outcome of the presidemtial election had shown was that the effectiveness of any security agency largely depends of the tripod stand of training, equipment and remuneration.
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SECURITY TIPS
Ensure that cartons of newly purchased cell phones are not carelessly thrown away, because security information about the phone is carefully written on it for easy tracking when lost or stolen. Carefully open it and file it away like a document, instead of disposing of it.