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May 29, 2022, marked the seventh year since they happened to us. They barged into us. They made an ugly mess of our lives.
Since they came, we have not been the same. It was from bad to worse, 2015 to 2019. They refused to relent. They are determined to do us in.
The reason they are seeing us through from worse to worst. And 2023 is their utmost. They’re the rulers, we remain their ruled. They are the governors, we the governed.
Sure, they are the devourers, destroyers in our midst. And they have succeeded in ruining us this far. Put it more succinctly, they represent the height of wickedness. We are the stubborn survivalists.
Yes! We made it, to their disgust. We survived their uncanny vileness. It was rare determination on our part. The feat is out of the ordinary.
They were shocked we did it. They were curious. It was irritating to them. We achieved it with every pint of our blood. The end justifies the means.
One more horrible year to go! We are adamant to see ourselves through this evil. We the survivalists of this calculated wilfulness.
Nothing shocks us anymore. But we shock the world the more. It’s our own weird clime. You can’t find it anywhere else. We are proud to have the patent right. To the rest of the sane world, we remain amazing and amusing at the same time.
We’re an eerie species. We walk on our heads. Why, how? We are a misplaced priority. Even George Orwell’s fairy “Animal Farm” is far more humane than our awkward clime.
All their actions and inactions are fraudulent. Heavily fraught with mistrust and built on emptiness and deceit!
These past seven years, so excruciating. We have never had it that worse. They were the darkest in our collective national life. We wished those years never crossed our path. They nearly sent us into extinction.
What did we not see? What did we not go through? Practically nothing. Before our very eyes, they derailed on their promises. They made a huge bungle of themselves. It was extremely difficult for them to stick to their words.
They changed their Change mantra even before it took off. It was executed in utter reverse: From top to bottom. They shamelessly returned to their stinking vomit.
Yet, these wicked souls feigned complete ignorance of these past seven years. It was intentional. They cherished playing God, revelling in blatant self-denials.
They didn’t pretend they were callous. Daily, they draw blood from us. They dwell richly in policy summersault. It is wanton display of a thoroughly confused government.
They refuse to admit their guilt. Always striving hard to shift responsibilities. Blame game is their trademark. It’s the only type of change they know. Their strength is in falsehoods, fictions, fabrications, lies and the likes.
Largely, all that they promised were fulfilled fully upside down. This government of seven years has done a great disservice to this country.
We cannot be convinced otherwise. We have lost it as a nation state. Do we still have a country? The systemic failure is frightening, direful, scary and horrendous.
Prelate Samuel Chukwuemeka Kanu-Uche is head, Methodist Church, Nigeria. His recent kidnapping ordeal is a graphic sampler:
“These people came from the bush. They divided themselves into three. Some people fired at us and there was another group in front to make sure that we didn’t run away. They fired shots at our vehicle and, eventually, they abducted three of us.
“They abducted me, the Bishop of Owerri, Rt. Rev. Dennis Mark, and my chaplain, Very Rev. Abidemi Jeremiah Shittu, and took us to the bush and were torturing us.
“It was in the process of that torture that I hit my right eye on a tree. Even when blood was flowing and I was soaking my eyes with handkerchief, they didn’t feel like anything happened.
“All they said was that we should follow them. That they were not actually against Nigerian citizens but against the government, that the government is a bad government.
“They are Fulani boys. All the eight are Fulani. They said the day they see the President or any of his representatives, they will chew them raw. That he is their brother but he has disappointed them and has disappointed Nigeria.
“I said even though I am part of government, I am a church man, I am not a government official. They said, ‘okay, that is what saved you. We would have killed you outright without asking for any ransom. But now that you are a church man, let’s go inside the bush.’
“I trekked up to 15 kilometres. But I knew they were taking us through rigmarole, going up, going down. Eventually, at 11pm, they said, ‘now, we can negotiate.’ Each of us would pay N50 million and we were going to pay N150 million.
“I thought it was a joke. I said we were going to pay N10 million and they said, ‘what? Don’t say that.’ They lifted up their knife to cut me. I said, ‘please, hold on.’ The leader of the group is about 35 years while the others are about 18.
“I said, ‘we will pay you N100 million.’ After some time, they asked, ‘where is the money?’ I said, ‘this is Sunday night, how can we get money this night? And you know there is this sit-at-home in Igboland. We can’t afford the money now. Be patient till morning, we will make contacts.’
“I was afraid when the terrorists lost patience, laid Bishop Mark down, raised a knife to cut him. Another pointed a gun at me to show that they were serious. I told them we would raise the money.
“But the irony of it, where they were situated, the soldiers, all of Fulani extraction, Nigerian soldiers, they were there at Lomara Junction and these boys were going behind them.
“Meanwhile, they kept their cows somewhere, numbering about 200. Some people were taking care of the cows while the abductors were parading us around the bush until we settled at a place.
“They asked, ‘when are you bringing the money’? I said, ‘by 12 noon. I will call the people I’ve contacted whether the money has been raised.’
“I called them. They said they were gathering the money. They heard it because they said I should use my phone. They would not use their phone they didn’t want to be tracked.
“Their leader was born in Igboland but his parents are dead. He said he was born around Umuahia Amuzukwu. His father was a cow dealer, the boy understood Igbo Language.
“The leader asked them to buy five Ghana-must-go bags and put N20 million in each bag. They left to pick the ransom while four others waited on us with guns.
“Around 5:30pm, the youngest boy who I think is a younger brother to their commander said, ‘oga congratulations. You are free you can go now. We have got our money you can go. Let me show you the road.’
“They took us to old road, where they wrote ‘Welcome to Imo’ and ‘Goodbye from Abia.’
“They told us that after buying enough weapons, they are going to bring all those people driven away from Zamfara, Katsina, Sambisa Forest. That they are all coming to locate themselves in Igbo and and deal with us.
“He said, ‘do you know Ibadan Expressway? We are in the bush there. We are also in the South-South, we are waiting for the slightest signal. We will finish you people and take over this land.’ They claimed Nigeria belongs to Fulani.
“Military personnel of Fulani extraction are aiding the kidnappers who disguise as herders in the daytime but are kidnappers at night. Government should take decisive action, otherwise, what is happening in the North will be a child’s play.”
Prelate Kanu-Uche and others were abducted on Sunday in Umunneochi Local Government, Abia State, and released on Monday. He told his story at the Methodist Church, Yaba, Lagos. He insisted they did it all alone. Government cared less for their lives:
“All efforts made to ensure that we were released were of the Methodist Church and members and not security personnel or government.”
That is how government has been failing its citizens when it matters most. And this became more pronounced in the past seven years. It was like a deliberate policy to Fulanise every one of us.
Now, we’re in the last leg. Lord, let May 29, 2023, be the end of our Dark Age.
We’re still on our knees.
