WHEN WILL THE KILLINGS END

by Mitong Dapal

Sometime last week it was in the news that the President, President Buhari visited a market in Bauchi that was gutted with fire. This is the same President that has never set foot in Plateau State for the killings that have been going on in rural areas since he came to power. Not only Plateau State, so many of the states like Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Kaduna etc have not seen the President at their communities when they are on constant attack by ‘Unknown Gunmen’ whom have later been identified as ‘Armed Fulani Herdsmen’.
We do not see the President hurrying to Court to declare this group a terrorist organization as was the case when the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) came up. We do not see the urgency of the President through the Nigerian Army declaring and engaging fully an operation as the Operation Python Dance which was orchestrated in the South East Region of the Country, all disguised to clean that region of IPOB members and it’s self exiled leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
The killings around the country have now taken the form of a genocide, the President on his state visit to Plateau some months ago was in Jos and people were attacked in a village and he did not extend his visit to these persons. The impunity at which these attacks have been done and the refusal of the leaders of this country to address this issue is quite heartless on their part.
It only brings to memory the remark made by Late Dictator, Sani Abacha, when he said if insurgency persists, the government definitely has a hand in it.
Because raising the pertinent questions as to how a herdsman would be able to gain access to purchase high calibre firepower is dumbfounding, how many 100s of cows did he sell to make such a purchase, from who did he make such a purchase and how comes they always and constantly evade the Nigerian forces all the times.
Someone once remarked that people like myself now can only come and rant on the internet but am doing nothing to help the situation, the truth is this is the only thing I can do now. Albert Einstein once said, ‘all I have is my voice through a pen’ I cannot come out to fight the terrorist on the streets, I do not have any ammunition, I can only talk hoping someone somewhere would listen or would read it.
The impunity displayed by these insurgents is not just disturbing but its as if they hold more stakes in this country or to qualify George Owell’s statement, ‘all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others’, We are at a brink of a nationwide revolution because as has been noted, today it maybe me and not you but take note tomorrow maybe your turn. We cannot relent speaking against these form of misuse of office, people are dying to be specific more minorities and mostly Christians are been killed on a daily basis with no one saying nothing about it. While in London, the President remarked that these Herdsmen were trained by Late Libyan Dictator Ghadaffi, these were the same people that the Police Chief of the Country while dismissing the threat they constitute noted that these were mere communal clashes, (which communal, how did they become members of the community to even be clashing with the owners). Today there is still a clamour for the provision of grazing lands within every state in order to stop the killings, imagine we are not arresting these persons for the atrocities they’ve committed but Government wants us to give them lands to live amongst us as a bargain for them to stop killing Nigerians.
Whenever we get up to defend ourselves (minorities) that is when the Police and Security Forces know they can work, they would so gallanty leave the invaders to get away and then arrest us and many of our own people do not return.
It is high time something drastic is done, it is high time our leaders wake up to know that they may also be victims because when this genocide continues it will one day knock on your door. If you fold your hands in the face gross injustice, it always have a way of coming back to give you your own share.
I still believe in Nigeria but we need to do more, we have done far little, this carnage must stop.
Nigerians must wakeup.
Our Government must wakeup.
Our Country must be saved.

– Mitong Timothy Dapal
(Seriously Concerned Nigerian)

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WHEN WILL THE KILLINGS END? – Mitong Dapal