“Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loose upon the world”
It is a Chinese proverb that a journey of one thousand miles begins with a step. Drops of water, another proverb says, makes an ocean. The gradual echo of violence in northern Nigeria especially since the defeat of General Mohammadu Buhari or since it was rumoured that a southern Christian (Goodluck Jonathan) would want to contest the presidency has become a culture in the north.
It started with men of the Islamic sect burning churches and engaging security organization in sporadic shooting until the 16th June 2011 when they made their first suicide bombing at no mean locale but the force headquarters in Abuja.
Even Hafiz Ringim the then Inspector General of Police could not believe it was a suicide attack. Since then, it has been a harvest of suicide bombings in the whole of northern Nigeria. Over one thousand people have lost their precious lives since the senseless attack began.
However, the orgy of violence has shifted to the very main target of the Islamic extremists The church and Christians by extension. In Jos, in Kano, in Damaturu, in Maiduguri, in Mubi in Bauchi, in Kaduna and in Zaria, every Sunday during worship hours, churches filled with Christian worshippers are bombed. In the attack on the churches, Christians lost their lives, many others are severely wounded and church buildings grossly damaged.
Apart from the bombings of the churches in Jos since 2009, the renewed attack on the church started with the Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church Madalla Suleja near Abuja. The federal government made bold to say it will not compensate the victims of the Boko Haram suicide attacks as if there was any criminal content in the behaviour of these Christian worshippers who always become victims of the heartless killing.
In Maiduguri in the year 2006, over 52 churches were set ablaze, several Christians including a Reverend Father were slaughtered in a senseless religious attack on Christians. It took a reprisal attacks in Onitsha and Aba to end the tragedy.
Only last Sunday, 17th June, as if to mark an anniversary of their first suicide mission, the Boko Haram launched suicide bombing attacks on churches and Christians at three locations, in Kaduna State. Two churches in Zaria and one in Kaduna city. The aftermath was a reprisal attack from southern Kaduna Christians who felt that since government would not handle the situation, they would embark on a self-defence mechanism to protect their lives and property.
It was on this note that the government of Kaduna state issued a 24 hour curfew in the state to forest all further loss of lives and property. The moment the government relaxed the curfew, another round of violence rented the air in the state again which made the authority to return the state to Status Quo of a 24 hour curfew.
On the 3rd June, the youths of Jos have earlier embarked on a reprisal attack after a church was attacked by the sect.
I have been crying since the Boko Haram began their attack, saying it is targeted at the church and Christians but many politicians did not believe me. I am now vindicated with this every Sunday attack on the churches in the north.
Remember, these people had earlier issued a warning on Christians and southerners to leave the northern region or face annihilation from the sect. people felt it was a ranting of an ant. Today, the emasculation of southerners and Christians is at its climax. There is no Sunday that these idiots don’t attack the church.
With the attendant reprisal attacks, the impression of the people living in northern Nigerian seems to be that they would help themselves to safe their lives since government could not handle the situation.
How will a responsible or responsive government continue to offer dialogue to criminals who suck innocent blood?- The same government is busy prosecuting petty thieves in almost all magistrates courts throughout Nigeria. Yet the government is begging Boko Haram murderers to come for a dialogue.
Truly, the Boko Haram should beat its chest because the sect has won the battle and has forced the federal government on its knees.
President Jonathan is showing the world that he is a weak leader who has no competence to handle the menace. He is always seen at bomb scenes saying, “We will do something”, “we will do everything to stop a further occurrence of the incident” while another bomb explodes in another close location.
The other thing His Excellency does is to sack Inspectors General of Police and appoint another yet the orgy of violence reigns supreme. What a disappointment? This time, it has snowballed into a full religious war in the north with the reprisal implications yet the president flies away into Brazil for a conference as if to say, “You can kill yourselves if you like”.
I don’t blame the Christian youths who now decided to take their destinies into their own hands to retaliate. Okonkwo had told his friend Obierika in “Things fall Apart” that “If a stranger comes to your house to defecate what will you do? You will take a stick and break his head”. What Muslims are doing to Christians in the north is more than defecating in their houses. A reprisal attack is no crime to me. To me, it is a form of self defence.
Have the Christians not endured enough? That since 2000, churches in Kaduna State, Maiduguri, Bauchi, Gombe etc have been flaming, is enough warning that Muslims want to Islamized this country. These Muslim idiots are not acting in isolation. They have the backing of prominent figures of that religious inclination from that religion. Sad enough the presidency has declared earlier that it knows the sponsors of this religious violence yet it has done nothing to invoke the lost confidence of the masses in this administration.
The warning and statements of the president so far is akin to blowing a muted trumpet. There is no other statement than that this administration has failed woefully to tackle the security challenges in the north. The federal government is, without mincing words, too weak for my appreciation. It is a shame that President Jonathan has failed woefully to repose the people’s confidence in him. He wants to build infrastructure and Kaza, Kaza for our graves? There is no peace, no security and he is busy talking about railways etc. who will use it? Dead people?
And I feel that if the killing of Christians continues unabashed the Christians in the south-East and south-south will also join the reprisal attacks. There is every indication that the Christians in Nigeria are no longer at ease. They seem to have exhausted their patience. It has ran out- I mean their patience. There was a conference of Christians in Enugu last weekend and the Christians after that meeting did not hide their feelings. The middle belt youths and Christians are warming up for retaliation should the senseless attack on Christians not abate.
The reasons for all this desire to retaliate are as a result of government weakness, insensitivity and lack of courage to end the bigotry.
How will a sitting President be treating Boko Haram with kid gloves as if he does not care? Is he waiting for the day they will bomb or attempt to blow Aso Rock? How will he declare state of emergency on local government areas instead of declaring same on any state identified as stronghold of the sect? And since he declared the state of emergency on these local government areas what result has he got? Is the situation not getting out of hands by the day? What kind of President?
Joyce Banda, the President of Malawi, a woman was able to threaten that her government would arrest President Al-Bashir of Sudan should he attend the A.U conference initially scheduled to take place in Malawi. The conference is now rescheduled for Addis Ababa in Ethiopia because that woman is adamant and bent on arresting Al-Bashir. The ICC wanted Al-Bashir. Can President Jonathan do that kind of things?
Is it because of his ambition for 2015 that President Jonathan is playing politics with peoples’ lives like this?
He does not want to offend people so that he will win? Then he should know that the masses that went all out to cast their poor votes for him are already offended.
The human carnage is getting too high. Even the DANA HARAM of Sunday 3rd June (the plane crash) is another dimension to the insecurity in the country. Those who take a flight are now considering roads transport yet there was another historic auto-crash concurrently with the Dana crash on that fateful Sunday along Lagos-Ibadan Express ways.
Nowhere is safe again in this country. We are no longer at ease. Peace is now on vocation in this country and I guess, a Jeroboam shall soon declare “TO YOUR TENTS OH, ISRAEL!” ###
Barr. Gideon Kpoobari Girigiri
08036784327
