Nigerians groan in pain on daily basis with the hope of safety and security of lives and properties not in sight, as insecurity worsens in recent times, prompting incessant kidnappings, hostage taking and ransom demands, ritual killings, armed robbery and banditry, while hardship, hunger and sicknesses drag helpless citizens to frustration and early grave
By Udoka Ekeleme, Abuja
On Tuesday, January 30, 2024, Auwal Musa Rafsanjana, wore a visible sad look and spoke with a voice full of angst in Abuja, the nation’s Seat of Power. Speaking to the media on the same day, Rafsanjana’s words were soaked in pain, anxiety, disappointment, helplessness and hopelessness. He struggled to suppress his emotions when he declared to his audience how brutish human life has become in Nigeria in the recent times.
Rafsanjana is the Executive Director of a Civil Society Organization (CSO), “Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)”. The CISLAC is one of the coalition CSOs which recently began to feel devastated by the worsening insecurity in the country manifesting in ritual killings, kidnappings, terrorism, banditry and armed robbery which combine with inflation, hardship, hunger and starvation occasioning various sicknesses that pound the majority of Nigerians.
The coalition of CSOs held a media briefing on the said day to address issues of insecurity and to advise President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resort to drastic measures to tackle the menace. The group claimed that within the barely eight months Tinubu has ruled the country as a democratically elected president, about 2,423 people have been killed, while another 1,872 others were abducted without the government doing much to rescue the ugly situation. The coalition called on the government of President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on the current state of insecurity in the country.
Addressing journalists on behalf of the coalition, Rafsanjana said, “Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria under the auspices of the Civil Society Joint Action Group, Community of Practice Against Mass Atrocities, and Nigeria Mourns, are deeply concerned by the deteriorating state of security across Nigeria and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and therefore call on the Nigerian government to take actionable steps to end the endemic insecurity, mitigate further attacks by kidnap syndicates and terrorist groups, and account for persons missing in these attacks.
“Mass atrocities fatality tracking across the country by Nigeria Mourns reveals that in President Buhari’s second term alone (2019 to 2023), after Buhari as a former military General, gained public trust to run as president by promising to curb the then fledgling insecurity, at least 24,816 Nigerians lost their lives, and at least 15,597 persons were abducted.
“This alarming trend has continued despite President Tinubu’s assurance at the beginning of his presidency in May 2023 to tackle insecurity. It has now been eight months since President Tinubu took his oath of office and yet things have failed to improve.
“Our tracking shows at least 2,423 people have been killed in mass atrocities-related incidents and at least 1,872 persons were abducted since the administration of President Tinubu till January 26, 2024.
“We are particularly concerned about the upsurge in abductions, noting that at least 230 incidents, in most of which multiple victims were involved, occurred within the first two weeks of 2024”.
The spate of killings, kidnapping and ransom demands between the last quarter of 2023 and January 2024 has become unbearable for the citizens. At the twilight of January this year, precisely Monday, 29 January 2024, two monarchs of Ekiti State extraction were murdered in cold blood by yet to be identified gunmen. The Onimojo of Imojo in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Oba Olatunde Olusola, and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin, were both murdered by the gunmen along Ipao-Oke Ako Road on their way from a meeting. Their other monarch colleague, Oba Adebayo Fatoba, the Alara of Ara Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area, was lucky to escape.
The same day in Ekiti State, no fewer than six pupils, three teachers and one driver of the Apostolic Nursery and Primary School, Emure-Ekiti were kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen. The abductors had since demanded a N30 million ransom. Tinubu had condemned the killing of the monarchs through a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale. While the Ekiti State abducted pupils and teachers have been reported released, the driver of the school vehicle that conveyed them was allegedly killed by the abductors.
On Monday, February 5, 2024, gunmen hijacked two commercial buses on their way to Abuja along the Lokoja-Abuja Expressway. All occupants of the buses were also abducted by the gunmen and held hostage. Reports have indicated that the two buses belong to ABC Transport and God Is Good Motors (GIGM) respectively. Furthermore, reports also indicate that the abductors have demanded the sum of N15 million for each of the abductees.
Earlier on Thursday night, February 1, 2024, a bride and 30 other women accompanying her from her wedding ceremony to her new home, were all kidnapped by gunmen along Gamji Road in Dandume Local Government Area (LGA) of Katsina State North west Nigeria. The 30 women and the just-wedded bride were said to be traveling on a truck to Ungwan Murjiya Village at about 8:30 am when the gunmen ambushed them and kidnapped them.
Among the most recent gory incidents that are still chilling the spines of many Nigerians, is the gruesome killing of Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, a 400-level student of Ahmadu Bello University, Department of Biological Science, Zaria, Kaduna State. Nabeeha was abducted alongside her father, Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriyar and her five sisters from their home at Zuma 1, on the outskirts of Bwari town in Abuja on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. The brutal abductors impatiently murdered Nabeeha when they released her father to go and source for N60 million ransom to secure the release of his daughters. But when her father was unable to provide the huge amount of money within the stipulated time frame given to him by the terrorists, the latter raised the ransom to N100 million. Al-Kadriyar being unable to raise the money, they gruesomely murdered his daughter, Nabeeha.
Last January, Nabeeha sisters regained freedom, but that was after their father claimed to have paid a ransom of N54 million. Across the country, chilling stories of terrorists attacks, of kidnapping and ransom demands dominate newspaper headlines on daily basis. This is even as the economic situation in the country gets worse on daily basis, making citizens to live daily in fear, anxiety and hopelessness.
Late December 2023, blood of innocent citizens flowed on the Plateau. The murderous gang of terrorists visited mayhem on Plateau State’s Bokkos, Mangu and Barikin Ladi Local Government Areas on January 24, the Christmas Eve. At the end of the murderous attack, over 212 citizens of the state had been sent to early grave.
The Plateau State attack attracted the ire of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) which embarked upon a protest in Plateau State on Monday, January 8, 2024 to call the attention of Tinubu government to react to the ugly incidents. The protesters dressed in black clothes were led by the Plateau State CAN Chairman, Rev Polycarp Lubo.
Speaking during the “Plateau Peace Walk”, the theme of the protest, the ECWA President, Rev Stephen Panya who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said, “The entire Christian community in Plateau State, once again condemns in the strongest terms the unprovoked, wicked, satanic and genocidal killings of innocent and homeless Christians on Christmas Eve in over 20 communities in Bokkos, Barkin Ladi local government areas of Plateau State.
“The timing of these killings has shown that the attackers had clear objectives which were to target Christian communities, take them unawares and inflict maximum casualty on them”.
While insecurity pounds Nigerians in all the states of Federation and Abuja, living conditions are getting tougher and tougher by the day. Just last week the official exchange of naira for dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX Window rose to about N1,560 to $1 as against the N1,540 to $1 in parallel market. Nigeria being an import dependent economy, the incessant rise in dollar exchange for naira indicates more rise in the prices of imported goods which also affect the prices of locally made goods. As Nigerians struggle with the ever rising price of food items, local manufacturers are crying that their businesses are facing hard times.
Last January, the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), cried out to Tinubu that inflation was squeezing businesses to extinction. The President of
ACCI, Dr Emeka Obegolu lamented that the present inflationary rate is driving down businesses and pushing entrepreneurs out of business.
While calling on Tinubu to embrace pro-business policies, fight insecurity and achieve a stable power supply, Dr Obegolu said, “These measures are anticipated to alleviate the cost of production, ultimately positioning the country as an attractive investment destination.
“As Nigeria grapples with a historic surge in inflation, the ACCI’s plea serves as a timely call to action, urging the government to implement robust strategies that will mitigate the economic challenges faced by the nation and pave the way for sustainable growth and development “.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, insisted that Tinubu government is engaging in profligacy and unprofitable borrowing when the economy is going prostrate. Obi further condemned the Federal Government’s securitization of the Ways and Means borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which was against the law and the CBN Act. Obi in a statement he titled “Debt and Waste as Economic Policy”, said the current trend of Federal Government’s lavish spending backed by equally lavish borrowing was unsustainable and would wreck the economy in due course.
But the Federal Government has its own solution strategy for both insecurity and hardship facing majority of Nigerians. For example, on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru inaugurated an eight-man Committee for the provision and installation of security surveillance system along the Abuja-Kaduna Express Way and the rail line. According to Badaru who inaugurated the committee in Abuja, the provision of the surveillance system was to checkmate the frequent security breaches along the routes.
