Nigeria: Descending to slaughter land

Nigeria, our once beautiful country has been transformed into the playground of evil minded and uncouth individuals who have taken immense advantage of our poorly managed and weak security. If you like, call it shameful. Citizens of Nigeria are being pushed out of their homes, villages and forced to abandon their heritage due to the lackadaisical, deceptive and compromised stands of the government towards the safety of the people which should be the constitutional privilege of the citizens.

A few days ago Plateau State was thrown into an uproar once again as some villages were attacked for 48 hours. 48 Hours! At this period of many hours, one wonders what our security agencies were doing before and during the attack. Have they negated their sniffing assignment or slept on their active watch? I believe no excuse is plausible for this dastardly act and seemingly permissive genocide. It is no longer news that the government’s official statement of arresting the perpetrators and bringing them to book are any more than political statements. These back to back killings have become a recurring decimal for far too long yet, nothing tangible has been done about it well, except for the usual throwing of well dictated words and perfectly orchestrated speeches nor has any perpetrator been arrested, not even one.

Truthfully, there is no safe haven in Nigeria anymore and it’s only a matter of time before these killings spread across all states including FCT.As a country, it is so glaring that we made an enormous mistake by voting this present government into power with the erroneous belief against the backdrop and much orchestrated propaganda and lies that security will be an issue on the top burner. How does the president of a country continuously ask his followers to keep calm, even as they are being slaughtered like ceremonial cows? What is there to be calm about? We are continuously being assured that the perpetrators of these evil will be brought to justice but our patience has waxed thin. Will they be brought to justice when Nigeria is thrown into famine because no one dares farm again for fear of being slaughtered? When mothers will rather tuck their uneducated children under their arms than send them to schools to be whisked away by armed gun men? Or when the streets are turned into a war zone because everyone carries arms for “self-protection?”

We have been promised several times the prevention of a reoccurrence of these incidents, incapacitation of criminal elements and bringing to justice all murderers and their sponsors but like everything else, this government has done what it does best; lie!Nigerians no longer need empty promises; speeches expressing regrets and statements of “deep condolences” all we need is actions! Take a step and for once let justice prevail.

Proper security is being proactive. It is common knowledge that the perpetrators would not return immediately after commiting their act so, moving security to the scene immediately after, doesnt even help matters because the evil ones will go into their hidings, celebrate their victory, re-strategize and come out again when our securities go to sleep as usual.

I encourage all the youth and the old alike not to keep calm or silent but lend their voices against this gross injustice, blinded and handicapped government and poor security. It is only a matter of time before this raging fire engulfs the whole nation and we all end up in ashes. There’s only so much hurt, pain, frustration, anger and disappointment the human mind can take. If we do not move or speak now, we will be refugees in our own country.
Evelyn wrote from Lagos.