For indigenes and residents of Plateau State, in north-central Nigeria, Gaza, in the Palestinian territory of the Middle East and Ukraine, in Eastern Europe, the year 2023 is winding down on a very sad note. For them, it is a season of blood, arson, destruction and death in their land. For them, peace has been murdered as men, women and children have been killed and are still being killed in the most wicked and barbarous ways.
In these three killing fields, pride, ego, wickedness and clear acts of terrorism have combined to shatter the peace of a people. In Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and other communities in Plateau State, gunmen swooped on villagers and unleashed maximum mayhem. With machetes and other weapons of war, heads of innocent people were severed, stomachs ripped open, limbs cut off and people killed in the most cruel manner. Buildings, vehicles and motorcycles were torched also, leaving sorrow and tears. It is the most callous and wicked act of terrorism in Nigeria in recent times.
At the last count, more than 150 people have been declared killed in Plateau State, while many people are still missing. Although no group has claimed responsibility for this attack, the killings took the same pattern as previous raids, where herdsmen pounced on Christian communities, unprovoked, in an orgy of bloodletting. It is an unfortunate fate that has befallen Christian communities in the North-Central Nigeria for years, with the government employing mere rhetoric.
During the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari, the audacity of herdsmen was unprecedented. They brazenly attacked Christian communities in Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Kaduna states in the North, just as they did in southern Nigeria. They killed, maimed and destroyed their victims. Their tactic has been to instil fear in their victims for them to abandon their land and seek refuge in other places. The deserted land is then taken over by the attackers in the absence of the aborigines.
In Gaza, Israeli forces are pounding the land with bombs, bringing down buildings and reducing previously built and bubbling cities to rubble. Adults are killed. Children are murdered. Women are made widows. Men are made widowers. Children are made fatherless, motherless and orphans. The refugee situation is so monumental that humanitarian assistance has not been able to cope.
The suffering of the helpless Gazans reminds one of the fate of the Igbo during the Nigeria-Biafra war, which was fought on Igbo land and which took a toll on Igbo adults and children. In the war, no fewer than three million people lost their lives. The image of malnourished and hungry Igbo children, with sunken eyes and cheeks, told the story of a bitter war that could have been avoided. Today, the faces of children in Gaza, dripping in blood and crying for help, without shelter, food or clothing, breaks the heart. It is the summation of the story of death caused by foolish Hamas members, who, in their illusion, think that the miracle of David killing Goliath, could come about by the instrumentality of man.
The October 17 attack on Israel by Hamas members was most unwarranted. There was no justification for it whatsoever. No matter how much Hamas hate Israel, there cannot be any justification for a terrorist attack on innocent people going about their businesses or having fun. This act of indiscretion by Hamas has brought about calamity upon Gaza and the people, which would take decades to repair. Whatever point that Hamas thought it was going to make with the attack on Israel pales into insignificance compared to the ruins the reaction of Israel has brought upon Gaza. The attack by Hamas was a dumb move by a group fighting an organised army that would not accept any apology or take hostages.
However, this is not any justification for the destruction that is going on in Gaza. No matter how provoked Israel feels, no matter how far the country wants to go to prove that it has superior military might than Hamas or the Palestinians, the ferocious and continuous attack on Gaza should stop. Those who planned and executed the attack on Israel have disappeared, but innocent people are paying the price. The time has come, therefore, for the world to say that enough is enough. The war in Gaza has gone too far. It is becoming a pogrom and should stop.
Two people who found themselves living together, by design or accident, should find a better way to coexist. Israel and the Palestinians have to mutually coexist, having found themselves sharing land that belonged to one originally. Continuous bickering, destruction and bloodshed cannot solve the problem of land ownership. It can only bring out retrogression for the two groups. Therefore, they should find a workable arrangement. They should make the best out of a bad situation.
It is also high time the war in Ukraine stopped. Life and property have been destroyed enough for the aggressors to take stock, look back and agree that there is no gain in what is going on. Russia and its leadership should come down from their high horse and accept the fact that the invasion of Ukraine was wrong in the first place. The war against Ukraine is needless. It is a meaningless exhibition of ego and strength. Russia may have the upper hand in the war, having ensure that it is fought on the soil of Ukraine, but the loss it has suffered as a country is unquantifiable. The longer the war, the rise in the losses that Russia will incur.
The killings in Nigeria, Gaza and Ukraine should stop. The Nigerian government should fulfil its duty of protecting life and property. A relentless war should be waged against killer herdsmen, bandits and criminals running riot in northern Nigeria. Irrespective of the way criminal groups or gangs may be organised, they cannot be stronger than a country’s armed forces or invincible. The Nigerian government should protect the Christian community in the North from marauding herdsmen, who appear determined to exterminate them.
For Gaza and Ukraine, the United Nations should rise up to show leadership. The world body should take measures to end the carnage and find lasting peace. There has been talk of two states in the region, with Israel and Palestinians existing as two independent states, irrespective of who owns the land or who has superior firepower. This is a workable option. However, this kind of arrangement should not give any of the states the impetus to begin to misbehave against the other.
In Ukraine, a time has come for a negotiated settlement. Reason must prevail. Ego should be dropped. The thrust of the settlement should be for Russia to pull out of Ukraine in respect of the country’s self-rule. If Crimea wants to exit Ukraine and join Russia, let it be.