OP-ED Opinions 

Murder In Kaduna By Achike Chude



Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. –W.E. Yeats

Again, again, and again, they come in the middle of the night. Not because they fear recognition and exposure, but because the dead of night is a more effective period  when the demons of death come calling. It is a time when the shouts of fiendish exultation by deranged killers complement and accentuate the devastating complicity of the accompanying fires of hell that light the way for another mindless mayhem in Kaduna. The confusion of the night is good for the business of killing.

No! They are not afraid of the day. Have they not always shown that they are masters of both day and night? Have they not shown their superiority over territories they conquer at will? They strike during the ungodly hours of the night, they strike by dawn, they strike at noontime, they strike by dusk. Who will stop them? The army? Police? DSS? 

They have goaded the anger of the Nigerian state and survived. They have made fun of the impotence of the president and are thriving. They have dared the will and expectations of the Nigerian people and have come out unscathed. The consequence of their defiance are the body bags of innocent Nigerians killed in manners as gruesome as only the most heinous acts of pogroms can be. 

Now they have grown in their numbers. And because the good book has warned us about the consequences of allowing an evil to go unpunished, they have equally grown and multiplied Boko-Haram is in bed with ISWAP, and together they have become herdsmen and herdsmen have become bandits and bandits have become kidnappers and our country and people are no longer safe. 

What does the president think of when he hears news of these persistent and violent killings of our people, including the aged, children, and vulnerable? Does he still eat and enjoy his meal with relish, knowing that he is secured and immune from the madness that consumes the lives of Nigerian by day and by night? Does he sleep well, knowing that for others eternal sleep has been imposed on them against their will? 

What do the service chiefs think? That they are doing a good job, despite what we think and see? What do they say about our young soldiers under their watch and supervision being killed daily, sometimes without adequate combat gear for protection and ammunition to confront, repel and confound the killers? People have speculated on the nature of all conflicts – that it is an avenue for money making. Are our generals making money over the blood of our soldiers and people, or is it simply that our famed military ability in the battlefield has been demystified? Do the service chiefs sleep well at night? Do they eat well, knowing that they have let our country down? 

What do the politicians think? Are they salivating about their re-election in 2023 while parts of our country are burning? Are those in the National Assembly thinking about the 400 brand new state of the art cars they are buying for themselves in the midst of absolute griding poverty while a local car manufacturing company (Innosons) seeks for buyers of their vehicles to help secure the jobs of their workers? Are our National Assembly members thinking of the Bill for the rehabilitation of Boko- Haram terrorists for killing and maiming and uprooting Nigerians from their homes while their victims in IDP camps have been totally abandoned?

How can President Muhammed Buhari fail us and this country in such a spectacular manner? Did he not promise us safety and peace? Did he not tell us that he knew how to confront and confound the terrorists and killers ravaging and assailing our land? 

Now Boko-Haram and ISWAP have become herdsmen and herdsmen have become bandits and bandits have become kidnappers and we are no longer at ease because the centre can no longer hold.

And Muhammed Buhari is the President of the Federal Republic.

Many tears!

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