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The recent killing of Nigerian Muslim pilgrims travelling to Senegal in Burkina Faso deserves a thorough investigation and appropriate action from the Burkinabe government. The travellers, who were going for a religious ceremony in Senegal, were said to have been waylaid by gunmen who attacked the buses they were travelling in, killing 16 of them. The Medina Baye Mosque in Koalack, Senegal, said apart from the killing of the passengers, the assailants also robbed most of the survivors.
It is not very certain who committed this heinous crime. Some reports indicated that Jihadists affiliated to al Qaeda and Islamic State carried out the brutal killings. The terrorists have continued to cause serious havoc across the Sahel. They spilled over from Mali in 2015 and have killed thousands of people and displaced over two million others in some towns and villages.
However, the Jam’iyyatu Ansarudden Attijaniyya of Nigeria alleged that it was Burkinabe soldiers on patrol that shot and killed its members. The national secretary of the Islamic group, Sayyidi Yahaya, was quoted to have said that Ansarudden members were “randomly selected and shot to death in a most horrendous display of bestiality.” Already, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has condemned the barbaric act. In a statement, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NIDCOM, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, described it as callous, criminal and unjustifiable. She called on the Burkinabe authorities to fish out and prosecute the killers accordingly. According to her, President Muhammadu Buhari has resolved to ensure appropriate sanction against the culprits.
It is unfortunate that Nigerian citizens have had to contend with attacks in different parts of the world. Since 1998, for instance, Nigerians have been suffering xenophobic attacks in South Africa. In 2018, a number of Nigerians lost their lives and shops following xenophobic attacks in Hillbrow, Central Johannesburg. Last year, about three Nigerians were reportedly killed in South Africa between 14 and 17 November. Available records indicate that since 2019, no fewer than 128 Nigerians have been killed in South Africa.
In Ghana, the attack is of a different hue. In the recent past, Nigerian traders in this West African country had alleged constant harassment, intimidation, torture and threats to their lives. They have endured years of arbitrary and discriminatory charges in the levies and taxes they pay to the authorities. In 2018 and 2020, for instance, Ghanaian authorities closed some Nigerian businesses in that country for their inability to show evidence of $1 million Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) registration to remain in business. Some of them had their goods seized. In December 2019, Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA) reportedly shut down about 1,000 Nigerian shops. Outside Africa, reports of Nigerian travellers going through hell to pass the immigration formalities of different countries are rife. Once it is discovered that you have a green passport, the antenna of immigration officials is raised. Sometimes, they detain the travellers and thoroughly search them for reasons best known to them.
In the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, reports had it that Chinese authorities evicted about 100 Nigerians from their homes and hotels in Guangzhou because of the disease. It was distressing seeing images of Nigerians in the streets with their possessions. This was despite the fact that China was the epicentre of the pandemic. Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, condemned this maltreatment of Nigerians then.
It is disturbing that the worst of these experiences occur in Africa, especially West Africa. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol presupposes that citizens of West Africa should live anywhere in the sub-region without molestation. The killing of Nigerians is against the spirit of this protocol. Good enough, the Burkinabe authorities have commenced probe into the attacks. Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister, Olivia Rouamba, however, disapproved of the accusations that its defence and security forces were behind the attacks. Nigerian authorities are said to have vowed to provide justice. The Nigerian presidency said it was in talks with its Burkinabe counterparts and would take action once the outcome of the probe was released. We join President Buhari to condemn the killing and commiserate with the families of the deceased.
Nigerian government should begin to give travel advisory for its citizens like the Western countries usually do. Were the advisory in place, it would have served as a warning to people against travelling to the Sahel region which is enveloped in conflict. Authorities in Abuja should also find solutions to the internal security crisis in the country. It will be hypocritical to condemn and threaten action against the killing of Nigerians abroad when worse killings take place inside Nigeria. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have been killed and millions of others displaced by insurgents and bandits who have no respect for human lives. Let there be a halt to these incessant killings of Nigerians both at home and abroad.
