by Eze Eluchie,
Those who
misinterpret sounding the alarm on the drift towards apocalyptic conflagration
that the Nigerian contraption is sliding as being to alarmist, will bear responsibility for the dire
consequences ahead since appropriate remedial action is not being pursued.
In the
build-up to the Rwanda genocide, when more than 10 times the normal import of
machetes were being imported from France, some writers opined that something
sinister was afoot – all such writers were referred to as ‘spreading
hate-speech’, ‘stoking the embers of fear’. A few weeks later, Rwanda was
consumed.
All
indicators for the onset of mass mayhem has been surpassed in present day Nigeria:
1) Regular
seizure of container loads of weapons at the seaports {even the Customs admit
that for each container they seize, several others could have slipped through};
2) Militarized
ethnic militia;
3) Sporadic
killings of persons in public places based on ethnicity – the unfortunate
killing of some Fulani travelers in Benue State, obviously in retaliation for
the mass killings of Benue State indigenes that has gone on for too long without any
meaningful actions by Nigerian security agencies to bring the Fulani Herdsmen
perpetrators to justice.
The Ostrich-like
approach and complicit non-intervention of Federal security agencies greatly compounds
the situation. Recent directive by Nigeria’s Head of Police, Idris Ibrahim,
that all Vigilante groups be disarmed further exposes the dubiousness of the Muhammadu
Buhari administration in addressing the issues as Fulani Herdsmen continue to
patrol villages armed with AK-47’s and assault rifles, ostensibly to protect
their cattle from so-called ‘cow thieves’. Some communities which had heeded
calls to ‘disarm’ had lived to regret doing so – as soon thereafter gangs of herdsmen
militia had descended on their communities in unrestrained killing orgies. One
such copious example had been when military and police authorities were
enforcing a dusk-to-dawn curfew which had been imposed in the Southern parts of
Kaduna State, and despite such tight security framework, gangs of Fulani herdsmen
numbering in their hundreds had been able to decimate several communities
across the Southern parts of Kaduna State.
Suspicion on
the real intents of the Muhamadu Buhari regimem is further heightened by the
repeated release from custody of captured Boko Haramm terrorists after a phase
of what the regime refers to as a ‘de-radicalization’ and ‘normalization’
process – earlier comments by Mr. Buhari, whilst he was out of government, that
attacks against Boko Haram was attacks against the North readily comes to mind
after each such inexplicable ‘release’.
The willingness
of the Buhari-led administration to unleash Nigeria’s military might against
unarmed groups agitating for the fundamental right to self actualization (such
as the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra – IPOB) coupled with an unwillingness to
deploy security agencies against a group that not only publicly threatens ass
atrocities but goes ahead to unleash same and admit ownership of the commission
of mass killings (such as the Meyetti Allah Association of the Fulani), serves
to buttress allegations of bias and ethnic coloration in deployment of lethal military
fire-power against Nigerian citizens.
The recent
outpouring of public show of lack of confidence in the leadership of Federal Police
and Military institutions by political leaders from across the Nigerian polity
is merely one step further down the abyss.
We simply
have to watch it. We are at the stage where a mere spark of anger, anywhere in
the contraption, can lead to an avalanche of violent blood-consuming show of
discontent.
We are on
the edge. One now wonders if there is yet time for a holistic Restructuring and
Renegotiation of the Nigerian contraption to stem the catastrophe ahead.
.
Picture: A common sight
across volatile regions of Nigeria.
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