When we hear stories of mindless killings around us, instead of taking appropriate steps, we allow the suspects go scot-free…

Ben Okezie

As each day goes by, so are our newspapers filled with gory news of killings in every part of the country, from the village square to the bustling township streets. Killings have become a pastime, where our human value system has been completely eroded despite the strong language of condemnation by our religious leaders.

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Killings have become upgraded with modernisation, and human life is weighed a little above that of a chicken.

The secret rituals with human heads that were 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, killings are carried out in colleges, universities, offices, streets, highways, farmlands, bushes and even in the house 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 killed would be killed in return. Even the holy books specifically stated: “suffer not a witch to live,” and it went further to say “an eye for an eye.”

A killer deserves no mercy and sh should be paid in his own coin. Lowering the stiffness of the law of justice has further ignited the height of killings in our society. People now take the law into their hands to execute barbarian justice without any recourse to the security agencies. Mere misunderstandings on simple issues attract death by lynching. More pronounced are business misunderstandings, land issues, family squabbles and political differences. These have witnessed the arbitrary taking of life, and the trend is on the increase. Our youths no longer have respect for human life. When we hear stories of mindless killings around us, instead of taking appropriate steps, 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 Christmas goats. More painful is the nonchalance on the part of the government at the centre during the killings perpetrated by herdsmen in the Middle Belt region of the country. At the last count, over 5,000 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 Nigeria.

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The situation has got 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 another person. Just for mere political disagreement, we employ thugs and arm them to kill opponents. The spate of mindless killings in our society must be stopped. It is believed that the job of our security agencies is to protect life and property. That seems not to be so as even security personnel are culpable in wasting innocent human lives.

The recent outcry by embattled Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom and Senator Dino Melaye, at separate forums, about alleged plots to kill them on the road by unidentified persons ought to be weighed seriously. These are not common, ordinary people. They were voted for and are representatives of their people. As I write this column, the world has heard their cries of death threats and it would be unfortunate if nothing is done to avert their fears.

Only last week, 60 years old Mr. Chris Obioma Chikwendu, a retired lecturer of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, lmo State, and a native of Amaogwugwu in Umuahia, Abia State, was accosted and was about to be abducted by some mindless 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.

Friends and colleagues of Mr. Obioma, described him as a gentle fellow though from a family of top-flight politicians. 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 government not mete 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 in effect, there is discipline and orderliness. The people value 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 a pool of blood in the heart of Abuja just because the gangsters wanted to forcefully collect my Blackberry phone. I would have been dispatched to the world beyond, for no good reason. How many families have lost their breadwinners and loved ones sequel to mindless killers on the trail everywhere in society?

Mindless killers are everywhere, but more disgusting is when they are found in police uniform. They are the trigger-happy cops who help to attract nauseating attention and bad publicity to the police. They cock their guns at the slightest provocation and shoot without blinking an eye.

The list of their extra-judicial killings is endless. Many have bought back their freedom at a cost to the detriment of the institution.

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It is only a few weeks to the political campaigns for 2019 and not much is being advocated against mindless killings that may resurface when politicians who want to win by all means would engage youths as thugs, arming them against their political opponents and enemies.

The consequence of such this act is mindless waste of lives. This should be stopped.