As each day comes on, so are our newspapers filled with gory news of killings in every part of the country, from the village square to the buzzing city streets.
Killings have become a part time phenomenon where our human value system has completely been eroded despite the strong languages of condemnation by our religious leaders.
Killings have become upgraded with modernization and human lives are weighed a little above that of a chicken.
The secret rituals with human heads that was the bane of our forefathers have today been executed in the open before our very eyes with no qualms or fear of the law.
Today there Killing is carried out in the colleges, universities, offices, streets ,
highways, farmlands, bushes and even in the houses of God. So far, no tenable statistics could be found to help in buttressing this trend. A Nigerian problem that no one wants to rectify just like many other problems facing the country. How can a country be bereft of statistics?, how can a country not have correct data on any one particular issue.
Many years before the Nigerian war with Biafra, the law was stringent and firm, that whosoever kills is killed in return. Even the holy books specifically stated ” suffer not a witch to live” and it went further ” an eye for an eye”. A killer deserves no mercy. A killer should be paid in his/her own coin. Lowering the stiffness of the law of justice has further ignited the height of killing in our society. People now take the law into their hand to execute barbarian justice without any recall to the security agencies. Mere misunderstanding on simple issues attract death. More pronounced are business misunderstandings, land issues, family squabbles and political differences. These have witnessed the arbitrary taking of lives and the records are on the increase. Our youths no longer have respect for human lives. We only shrouded when we hear stories of mindless killings around us and instead of taking appropriate step we allow the suspects go scot free as if nothing happened. We hear of how university cult members kill one another as if they are slaughtering a Christmas goat. More painful is the nonchalance on the part of the government at the center during the killings perpetrated by herdsmen in the middle belt region of the country. At the last count over five thousand innocent men, women and children in the Benue, Taraba and Zamfara states are estimated to have been mindlessly killed by marauding Fulani herdsmen. The country is gradually building a community of mindless killers prowling through the nooks and crannies of the country. The situation has gotten to a stage whereby members of the public watch killers in action and only shake their heads, shudder and look the other way. We have taken life to be a common commodity that can be dispensed with at any time. No wonder just for simple business disagreement , we take up arms to snuff out the life of the other person. Just for mere political disagreement, we employ the services of thugs, arm them to kill opponents. The rate of mindless killings in our society must be stopped. It is believed that the ob of our security is to protect lives and property. That seems not to be so as even security personnel are culpable in wasting innocent human lives. The recent cry by embattled Benue Sate Governor, Mr. Samuel Ortom and Senator Dino Melaye, at separate forum, by crying out loud about an alleged plot to kill them on the road by unidentified persons ought to be weighed seriously . These are not common people in the society. They were voted for and therefore are representatives of their people. As l write this column, the world have heard their cries of death threat but will be very unfortunate if nothing is done to avert their fears. Only last week, 60 years old, Mr. Chris Obioma Chikwendu , a retired lecturer of Federal Polytechnic, Nekede in Imo State and a native of Amaogwugwu in Umuahia, Abia State, was accosted and about to be abducted by some mindlessly killers in Army uniform. Reports said he had gone to inspect his farm when the men accosted him. He was first shot in the leg before he was clubbed to death in the pool of his own blood. Friends and colleagues of Mr. Obioma, described him as a gentle fellow though from a family of top flight politician . He was only a retired lecturer well beloved with a friendly disposition. To kill a man is touching the spirit of God. If God the creator of man sees killing of his handiwork as evil and punishable, why would governments not met out death penalties to every killer, be they armed robbers, kidnappers or serial killers either via cultism or otherwise. A killer is a killer and should also face the same agony of death. In countries where death penalty is not abolished, there is discipline and orderliness. The people valu human life. They teach their children what the sanctity of life is all about. Three months ago, this writer was attacked and was left in his own pool of blood in the heart of Abuja just because the gangsters wanted to forcefully collect my Blackberry phone. l would have been dispatched to the world beyond, for no good reason. How many families have lost their bread winners and loved ones sequel to mindless killers on the trail everywhere in the society.
Mindless killers ware everywhere, but more disgusting is when they are found in Police uniform. They are the trigger happy cops who help to attract nauseating attention of bad publicity to the police . They cork their guns at the slightest provocation and shoot without winking an eye. The list of their mindless killings are endless. Many have bought back their freedom at a cost to the detriment of the institution. Few weeks more into the proper political campaign and not much is being advocated against mindless killing that may probably rear its ugly head when politicians who want to win by force would engage youths as thugs by arming them against their political opponents and enemies. The consequence of such is mindless killing. This should be stopped.