The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fear

  • Fear grips Ondo community over ritual killings

    There is apprehension in Arigidi, Akoko Northeast local government area of Ondo State following incessant ritual killings in the community, the recent  of  which was that of an octogenarian, Mrs. kojusola Mogaji of Imo Quarters.  Arigidi-Akoko who was killed on Thursday night.

    Her death made it number six women to be killed and their breasts removed clinically in the community in the last few weeks.

    Two cases reportedly occurred opposite Ecobank, Ikare, one at Okeagbe Ikare ,another at Agbaluku Arigidi with the recent one at Imo Arigidi.

    Sources said anxiety and fear had pervaded the community, as women are afraid of going to churches and mosques for morning  prayer sessions.

    Also, people are no more ready to open doors of their houses to anybody knocking for fear of being attacked.

    The daughter of the deceased, Mrs kehinde Adewumi,  a local government official appealed to the police to unravel the sudden death of her mother.

  • Fear in Osun communities over political attacks

    •Five houses, car burnt, politicians injured •APC, PDP trade blame

    Residents of Igangan in Atakumosa East Local Government Area of Osun State now live in fear.

    This followed the violent attacks on the community last Sunday evening.

    During the attacks, allegedly carried out by political thugs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), five houses and a car were burnt.

    Since the attacks on Sunday in Atakumosa East and another on residents of Kajola in Atakumosa West Local Government Area, on the eve of the presidential and National Assembly elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP in the state have been trading blames against each other.

    At Igangan, five houses, a car and other valuables valued at millions of naira were destroyed.

    At Kajola, the incident, which reportedly happened between 8 p.m to 9 p.m, allegedly affected some APC members who were said to have been injured during the attack.

    Narrating her ordeal, a victim and member of the APC, identified as Iyaloja of Atakumosa West Local Government Area, Mrs. Iyalode Adegboku, alleged that they were attacked by “PDP thugs” while holding a meeting on Friday at Kajola on the eve of the postponed February 16 presidential and National Assembly polls.

    According to her, those at the meeting were thoroughly beaten.

    Mrs Adegboku said she got a machete cut on the leg while the finger of her son, Olalekan Jimoh, was cut with an axe while she was defending her.

    Describing the incident as barbaric, callous and wicked, the businesswoman urged security agents to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice.

    APC Chairman in Atakumosa West Local Government Area, Francis Famurewa, who said the incident had been reported to the police, wondered why politics degenerated into maiming and killings.

    Early last week, APC candidate for Osun East Senatorial District, had accused his opponent in the PDP, Chief Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi, of procuring arms ahead of the last weekend’s postponed polls.

    Famurewa, who addressed reporters, accused Fadahunsi of buying and importing 100 guns (60 AK-47 and 40 pump actions).

    He also alleged that Fadahunsi used political thugs, led by some known criminals, to unleash terror on Ifewara, Iwara, Olowu, Atorin, Temidayo, Tobalase, Lapaide, Faforiji communities in Atakumosa East Local Government Area.

    But Fadahunsi accused the APC for the attacks.

    Threatening to sue Famurewa over the allegation, he said: “I give him (Famurewa) seven days to prove where he saw me importing guns into Osun East Senatorial District to attack residents. And if he fails to do so, I will not hesitate to institute litigation against him.”

    Addressing reporters in Ilesa, Fadahunsi, who denied the allegation, said: “I don’t need to purchase guns to arm my people. I am rather interested in developing my people.”

    The politician insisted that those Famurewa named were people who worked for the APC in the previous elections.

    He said: “I can say boldly that the thugs were those who have worked for the APC in the previous elections. They were popularly called ‘State Boys’. When they were working for the APC, they were not called thugs, but when they renounced their past deeds and stopped working for the APC, they are now called thugs.”

    Police Commissioner Mrs. Abiodun Ige, who visited the affected communities for on-the-spot assessment, said investigations had begun to unveil those behind the incidents.

    She assured that whoever is found culpable for the attacks, not minding his or status, would not go unpunished.

     

     

  • Fear, lamentations as Cross Rivers groans under the weight of cult killings

    One of the factors that stand Cross River out among other states is its peaceful atmosphere. It is widely reputed as one of the safest states in the country. But this reputation has come under threat with the growing menace of insecurity in the state, most significant of which is the scourge of clashes between different secret cults, which appears to be getting out of control.

    In every two to three months, the clashes rear their ugly heads, leading to many deaths between rival groups while innocent citizens are also caught in the crossfire. The latest clash, which occurred about two weeks ago, claimed about 10 lives.

    Investigation revealed that the clash between two rival cult group—Vikings Confraternity and Black Axe—was a reprisal over an attack on a member of one of the groups in March this year. The renewed fracas started penultimate Sunday but was put under control. However, residents are apprehensive about the likelihood of another outbreak of violent confrontation.

    The brutal killings that attended the recent clash have led residents to believe that it might be the worst the state has ever experienced.

    Many businesses, particularly those that operate mainly in the evenings, count their losses each time there is a clash of cults as the streets are virtually deserted in the evenings, especially in Calabar-South where the problem is more intense.

    Traders in the various markets like Watt, Mbukpa and Atakpa start closing shops as early as 3 pm, as sporadic shooting and violent killings often occur during the clashes.

    A resident who did not want to be named said: “Whenever these boys start killing themselves in the name of cult clash, no day passes that you would not hear someone was killed. The cultists just walk on the streets armed with guns, axes and machetes, looking for their rivals in order to In the process, they rob people and vandalize vehicles. We no longer feel safe.

    “They kill very brutally also. It is usually a massacre. Most of the pictures we see show how they hack and shoot their rivals in the most gruesome manner. They spill brains and blood as if they are nothing. They chop off body parts and even behead their rivals as if it is nothing. It is a terrible situation.”

    A resident of Calabar South, who identified herself simply as Faith, said she was traumatised by the experience she had when cultists killed her neighbour suspected to be one of them.

    She said: “The young man was always looking quiet, but some boys just came into our compound, shot him dead and cut him into pieces with their axes. There was blood everywhere. It was so horrible. I have not slept in my house since then.

    “I had to beg a friend to squat with her in another part of town. I have not been able to sleep again. I cannot believe that young man is gone just like that. Somebody I just saw and the next thing, they killed him like an insect. It has affected me so badly. I hope I would recover from this experience.”

    Another resident, Mr Effiom, urged that something be done urgently about the situation before it gets out of hand.

    “The situation is not good at all. We are supposed to be the safest in the country. investors, this is not good at all. We call on Governor Ben Ayade and all the security agencies in the state to do something about the situation which appears to be getting out of hand,” he said.

    Chinedu, another resident, also complained that “whenever these cult clashes happen and we don’t know when the next one will occur, we always live in fear. We are very worried the way these cultists operate freely when they start fighting. They kill brutally on the streets in the glare of everyone, including children. You can imagine how this would affect the psyche of witnesses, especially children.

    “I beg that the issue of security should supersede everything else at this moment in the state. The government should urgently do something. This is not the Calabar we used to know.”

    An elderly citizen, Chief Essien Effiom, urged the youth in the state to rather invest their time in fruitful ventures instead of killing themselves in what he described as unnecessary clashes.

    Effiom said repeated killing of young people in cult clashes had become a source of worry and should be given top attention by the government and security agencies.

    He said: “No doubt, security is everybody’s responsibility. But the security operatives in the state must sit up and be proactive to ensure that this menace is addressed.

    “For the young men, I have just one question for them: what is really the benefit they get from joining these cult gangs? If you say it is for security, then it is ironic and laughable, because whenever they clashes begin, they are always the ones with targets on their backs. They need to rethink and set their priorities right.”

    However, the Cross River State Police Command has assured residents that they will continue to ensure that the activities of cultists in the state are checked.

  • Ambode allays Ojo community’s fear on demolition of houses

    Ambode allays Ojo community’s fear on demolition of houses

    THE Lagos State Government will not demolish the houses of trespassers on its university’s land, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said yesterday.

    Ambode gave the assurance during a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the government between the Lagos State University (LASU)  and the affected communities.

    Represented by his deputy, Dr Idiat Adebule, the governor said his administration would continue to protect the public interest.

    The governor noted that though it was painful that the  landlords were deceived by the omo onile,  his administration would resolve the matter amicably in the interest of both parties.

    “Despite that available document on the land clearly indicated that it belongs to the government, many landlords have encroached on it through the deceit of omo oniles, government will not demolish your houses, rather we will go for amicable resolution,’’ Ambode said.

    He said the White Paper on the matter would soon be released by the  land bureau.

    The community’s demands, he said,  would be taken into consideration before decision is taken on the matter.

    Baale of Igbo Elerin,  Alhaji Aina Taofeek, who spoke on behalf of the landlords, urged the government to consider their economic condition in determining what to pay for the land.

    He also requested:

    that every discussion should be between them and the government not LASU; and that they would abide only by the government’s policy on the matter.

    LASU Vice Chancellor Prof Olanrewaju Fagbohun said the meeting was  scheduled to find amicable solution to the problem.

  • Strange deaths cause fear in Abia community

    The death of Mrs. Emereole, a retired headteacher, and a yet-to-be-identified woman, at Umuala Nsulu village in Isiala Ngwa North Area of Abia State, is causing ripples in the community.

    The deceased are co-tenants, it was gathered.

    According to a source, Mrs. Emereole’s mutilated body was found in her room; her neighbour’s at the backyard.

    “We didn’t know what happened until members of her church (Faith Tabernacle) raised the alarm. They came to visit her since she was absent in church.

    “After knocking without getting response, they were forced to break the door. They saw her body in a pool of blood.

    “They went round to see if her neighbour was aware of what happened. They also saw her dead body in a plantain farm at the backyard,” the source said.

    He added that residents now live in fear, as more people have gone missing without trace.

    They called on the Commissioner of Police, Anthony Ogbizi, and Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, to intervene.

    The matter, first reported at the Isiala Ngwa North police station, has been transferred to Umuahia, the capital, for further investigation.

    Efforts to reach police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonna were unsuccessful.

  • 2019: APC has nothing to fear over Atiku’s exit, says Faparusi

    2019: APC has nothing to fear over Atiku’s exit, says Faparusi

    Former member of the House of Representatives, Hon Bamidele Faparusi, has said the exit of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not affect the party in 2019.

    He added that President Muhammadu Buhari’s mass appeal in the northern  and southern parts of the country would continue to soar.

    He said: “The President needs no support from Alhaji Atiku to return to power in 2019. In the 2007 presidential election,  Buhari came second with over  7 million votes as an individual while Atiku, a sitting Vice President came third with over two million votes.”

    Faparuti noted that the call by  Governor Rochas Okorocha and other APC governors to accord the President the right of first refusal  ahead of  of 2019 was to underestimate  Buhari’s electrifying acceptability.

    He explained that the President enjoys immense popularity within and outside APC. He added that the prudent lifestyle, anti-corruption posture  and masses-oriented policies of the nation’s leader was unquantifiable.

    Faparusi said  Buhari and APC remain solid and acceptable to Nigerians with or without Atiku, describing the noise over  his defection as mere fantasy hinged on old glory.

    He said: “President Buhari will win free and fair in APC primary in 2019, that was the principal  reason why some over- ambitious APC stalwarts  may want to leave the party to pursue their ambitions. Any other reason given for defection was  a fallacy and cheap blackmail .

    “Nigeria can’t criminalise defection ,  it is however, a  right which I believe should be exercised responsibly. We can only have one President at a time and there  is no reason aside selfish motive, to want to change a focused, sincere and performing President like  Buhari.

    “I urge other still nursing the ambition of displacing the President to do that responsibly by facing the President in a free and fair primary in 2019, instead of leaving the party or sowing divisive seeds”.

    Faparusi said those calling for automatic ticket for President Muhammadu Buhari are only playing to the gallery.

    “People calling for automatic ticket for the president are only playing to the gallery, as such idea will neither serve the overall interest of the party nor the President.

    “To the best of my knowledge and understanding of politics, asking for automatic ticket for the President is tantamount to playing down his  popularity.

    “Going by records, Buhari remains an enigma being the first Nigerian to defeat a powerful sitting President.  That is why I support the call for a free, fair and transparent primary in the presidential poll, the way I want it in Ekiti governorship”, he said.

    Faparusi said a free and fair primary is the only tonic the APC needs to win next year’s  governorship poll in Ekiti, adding that imposition will wreck the party and render its candidate useless at the poll.

  • Fear in Ibadan over OPC bloody attack

    Some residents of Ibadan, Oyo State capital, have expressed concerns about alleged security threat to their life and property following reported plans by a faction of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) to carry out reprisal attacks to avenge its member.

    They urged security agents to tighten security and ensure that those behind the bloody attack during Saturday’s Yoruba Summit at Adamasingba Stadium in the city were brought to justice, to avert a recurrence.

    The residents are in Ibadan North West, South East, Ibadan North, Ido and Ibadan South West.

    Areas considered the strongholds of the group have expressed fears over the threat to their security.

    An octogenarian, Alhaji Ismail Adejare, told The Nation that except urgent actions were taken to prevent the attack by some OPC members, the lives of the residents might not be safe because others were planning to unleash reprisal attack on the city.

    He said: “In a city where we have laws and law enforcement agents, it is still a shock that such a bloody attack could happen at a very important function by prominent Yoruba leaders. Yet, nothing has been done to ensure that the perpetrators face the full wrath of the law.

    “It is in the absence of that the same OPC members are threatening the lives of the people. Let the government come in and perform its role to the citizens. We have a responsible government that will not fold its arms and allow vagabonds to take over the city. It must not allow anarchy. I hope all those planning to attack the people should also prepare to face the music.”

  • Fear grips UNIMAID after Boko Haram attack

    Fear grips UNIMAID after Boko Haram attack

    University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) students are yet to recover from the shock of a Boko Haram attack in the Borno State capital a fortnight ago. They are calling on the government and the school to improve security around the campus. FALMATA KYARI AHMAD (300-Level Mass Communication) reports.

    Maiduguri, the Borno State capital – one of the epicentres of Boko Haram insurgency – came under a vicious attack by insurgents penultimate week. The attack left bloodshed and destruction in its wake. The armed insurgents invaded the city and opened fire on residents. The attack, which came after a lull, preceded Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s visit to the state.

    Days after terror, a pall of fear has enveloped the city, as the beleaguered residents still reel with apprehension. Members of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) community are also frightened, having witnessed a similar scene of horror last January when a suicide bomber invaded the campus to blow up the school’s central mosque.

    Although, the security situation is not new to members of the school, students are worried by the pockets of attack aimed at the campus by the Boko Haran insurgents. Tension is high among students and members of staff over the security measures on the campus.

    Some of the assailants, who previously carried out successful attacks on the campus, either disguised as students, or sneaked into the campus through the bush.

    Usman Maina, a 200-Level Biological Science student, said he is concerned about the measures put in place by the school authorities to secure the campus. According to him, the management must ensure there is no laxity in measures put in place to secure the campus.

    He said: “Some of the attacks on our campus were not expected, because security guards usually vet people coming into the campus through the usual entrances to the school. Despite that they verify Identity (ID) Cards or other means of identification before allowing the people in, suicide bombers and criminals still found their way into the campus. So, we don’t understand how the attackers find their way in to launch attacks.”

    Usman urged the school authorities to step up security screening of all vehicles visiting the campus, adding that the school security personnel must stop the habit of allowing VIP vehicles into the campus without being screened.

    He added: “Some students come into the school in VIP vehicles. They are allowed into the school without being subjected to security screening. This is a dangerous practice. The terrorists can easily come in through that way.”

    Reliving the last attack, Malam Amiruddeen Muhammad, an employee of the school, said he escaped being hit by stray bullet by the whiskers, as he left the school for his home.

    He said: “I was on my way home from work when I heard sporadic gunshots. Initially, I thought it was a military exercise, because soldiers usually do their training with gunshots and residents of Maiduguri are used to that. I discovered it was Boko Haram attack when I got to NNPC Depot Bus Stop, where I saw people running in different directions.

    “I had no option than turning back to the school immediately. I saw some of the Boko Haram terrorists in polo-shirts, shooting at residents. People from different parts of the town and those around Damboa Road fled for safety. It was traumatic for me, seeing so many wounded people.”

    Muhammad said the incident indicated that Boko Haram still posed a danger to the state, noting that the school is a constant target of Boko Haram attacks because of the sect’s abhorrence for western education. He urged security agencies to invest in intelligence gathering and sharing to nip potential attacks in the bud.

    Abdulfattah Usman, a 300-Level Language and Linguistics student, noted that suicide bombers found their way into the school because of sloppy security measure. He said security should be strengthened at strategic points around the school, noting that securing only Gate One of the school will be counterproductive to efforts being made by the school.

    He said: “I would advice that surveillance cameras be mounted in all important locations on campus so that people entering and leaving can be monitored. There should be an electronic alert gadget that will alert security men,whenever a bomb is been planted.”

    Mustapha Modu Bama, a Postgraduate Mass Communication student, said the recent attack in Maiduguri showed that the school is not immune to similar incidents. He advised the school authorities to rise up to the challenge and secure the campus.

    According to Halima Abba Waziri, a 300-Level Management student, the school’s security men are taking students’ lives for granted.  She said: “I commend the courage of the VC in his efforts to make the campus safe, but I do not trust the security men at the gate. They only conduct checks on vehicles randomly. They don’t do proper checking. All they do is to ask students to display their ID cards even at a distance. Losing a llife will not be tolerated, because the kinds of security measures we have in place is not enough.”

    Zara Abba Lawan, a 300-Level Public Administration student, said security is the basis of survival of any society, adding that the school cannot afford to sacrifice security of lives and property on the campus.

    She said the school needed to deploy “highly trained” security personnel to ensure safety within and outside the university.

    He said: “There should be improved security on campus. They should ensure strict security checks at mosques, churches and other places of worship. The government needs to do something about the insurgency and the deadly attacks, because lives and properties are being lost and people are always living in fear. I think it is high time a new strategy was applied to prevent attacks, especially on educational institutions.”

    Another student, Ruqaiyya Yusoof, said: “We live in fear every day and we face a lot of threats, because the university is considered a soft target for violent attacks. Government needs to take all threats seriously.”

    Although the government said it had reduced the sect’s power to launch large-scale attacks, Boko Haram’s capability to launch attacks on soft targets seems underestimated. If the government’s security strategy is not reviewed and improved, students fear that there may not be an end in sight to the violence within and around the campus.

     

  • Obasanjo’s (not unfounded) fear

    Obasanjo’s (not unfounded) fear

    The ruling elite had better listen to the ex-president

    Like the proverbial bad child that has his good day, I say it with all due respect, that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s warning that the country risked being consumed by fire if its leaders did not do something about our neglected youths is very well founded. One does not have to be a seer to know that. “We have the Boko Haram in the North, the MASSOB and IPOB in the South-East, the militants in the Niger Delta and the Oodua Peoples Congress in the South-West. All of these are the expression of anger and frustrations,” Obasanjo said at the Youth Governance Dialogue, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta. The lead speaker at the occasion was former Minister of Aviation and former Federal Road Safety Corps Marshall, Mr. Osita Chidoka, who spoke on the theme, ‘’Towards a Guiding Political Philosophy for a Democratic Nigeria.”

    Listening to Obasanjo, who apparently was in his element at the occasion, one would think he never had the opportunity of leading the country before and that if given the chance, he would leave an indelible mark on the subject-matter. But, here we are, Chief Obasanjo  had led this country twice; first as a military head of state, and then as a democratically elected president, the only Nigerian, living or dead, to so do. Cumulatively, Chief Obasanjo had served as Nigeria’s First Citizen for over 11 years (February 13, 1976 to October 1, 1979; and May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2007). No other Nigerian has beaten that record. Chief Obasanjo is always nostalgic about his achievements as military head of state, particularly the number of ships his then government left in the defunct Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), the number of airplanes it left at the defunct Nigeria Airways, among others.

    Therefore, the question to ask is: what did Chief Obasanjo do for the youths in his time? While this is not illegitimate, it is not enough to obliterate the fundamental point that he made about the country’s neglected youths. Indeed, to insist on an answer to the question of what Obasanjo did during his two shots at the presidency without reflecting on his message would amount to throwing away the baby with the birth water. In other words, it is Obasanjo’s message that we should preoccupy ourselves with because, if we focus on the messenger, the impact would be lost on us. And that will be disastrous.

    As the former president noted, a time there was, when jobs waited for students, school certificate or degree holders: “During my own days, there was one university to attend when I finished from secondary school and I got five appointment letters when I finished. Now you have about 152 universities to attend but do you get any letter of appointment when you are done”? I still remember in the ‘80s when I was in the university, some blue chip companies used to come to the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, to recruit final year students.

    So, if and when what Obasanjo feared eventually comes, there is no doubt that he would be consumed alongside his colleagues that Nigerians, particularly the youths, feel brought us to this sorry pass. “If we have youths’ explosion or anger because of lack of opportunity, it will consume all of us”, he said.

    But, whether the youths share the former president’s belief that, they (youths) should not wish the leaders death is a different matter entirely. “Don’t wish us dead; don’t wish us to disappear because you will need us. You need us to mentor and prepare you for the future. You need our experience and the assistance of some of us to guide you through life. You should not lose hope, you should not feel frustrated”. The point is; when the youths needed the elite, they were not there for them. If they had been there for them, if they ever spared a thought for the youths, they would have left legacies that would be speaking long after they are out of power such that the youths would be the ones praying for God to grant them longevity. Leaders who did this when they had the opportunity do not have to be begging for relevance, or begging not to be wished dead. It is doubtful too if the youths would want to be guided or mentored by people who led a failed state.

    Just as I also wonder how people who graduated and continued to roam the streets four, five years after can believe in themselves. The point is that the way our education curricular are programmed, there is little room for self or personal development. It is even doubtful if we take national needs into consideration when establishing universities or other tertiary institutions. Without doubt, a few graduates manage to lay their hands on something after searching for the non-existent jobs to no avail only to end up frustrated due to lack of adequate capital. Our economy leaves little or no room for such facilities and where there is a semblance of it, it is either politicised or bastardised. The programme either benefits politicians and their cronies or the funds are embezzled.

    So, it is beyond merely advising the youths to believe in themselves; governments at all levels must facilitate that process. A ‘veteran’ jobless graduate is without self-esteem; he has no say at family meetings where they are discussing money matters. If at such meetings he says he has ideas, people would tell him to perish with his ideas; that it is money they are discussing and not ideas. So, he should only raise his hand to speak when he is in a position to monetise the ideas!

    The truth is; the social upheaval that Obasanjo is fretting over may come now; it may come later. No one can say for sure when it will come. What can be said for sure is that it will certainly come if we do not change our ways. There is so much inequality, so much unfairness, so much ungodliness in the land, with a few haves and many have-nots in a country that is literally flowing with milk and honey. As a matter of fact, when the ruling mafia decided to allow General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) to come on board after three failed attempts at the presidency, something told me this was done for enlightened self-interest. It was better to allow change under a situation where looting of the public till was democratised. Unfortunately, things have not improved much since the Jonathan government was rejected at the poll in 2015. Although the Buhari administration has its own shortcomings, it cannot be blamed for the slow pace of recovery because what has been damaged in the years of the locust was quite huge; it can’t be mended in two years.

    This is what is giving Obasanjo some apprehension, and rightly so. Students of history have to be concerned about the state of the nation, particularly the youth unemployment that is ravaging the land. It is a bomb waiting to explode. And when it comes, the ruling elite are about the first line to face the fire. The elite owe us explanations on how and why we are like this despite God’s kindness to us as a nation.

    Indeed, those of them who might have died by the time the seed of the trouble they planted begins to germinate should count themselves lucky because those of them who are still around by then are not likely to live to regret it.

  • Fear in a free world

    Fear in a free world

    There is fear everywhere because the threat of political, religious and racially-motivated violence is alive. It shows on the faces of people who are otherwise cheerful and lively. Persons with a natural endowment of warmth, who ordinarily would open their arms wide for a bear hug, have become unusually reticent. They now wonder who to trust.

    It is a season when God’s children are supposed to bask in the generous warmth of the sun, having fun in the park or around town in tour buses. Now, they must consider and calculate the new risk of becoming an innocent victim of a sidewalk vehicular weapon or a hand-held dagger in the bus.

    A people who consider themselves to be born free, and who resent the chain of law monitored by elected representatives, now find themselves subject to the chain of terror controlled by foreign and domestic agents often beyond the monitoring capacity of any government. How has it come to this?

    The irony is brutal. Political philosophers take great pain to provide a moral justification of the obligation that citizens owe to their government. They contend that losing the absolute freedom of the state of nature, where there is no political authority breathing laws down our throats, is worth it because we will gain limited but tangible freedom under the constraints of the law. For this reason, we feel safe to give up our natural rights to self-protection because the state can protect us more effectively. This is what freedom under the law means.

    We readily agree to let go of our weapons, putting our utmost trust in the state to the dismay of anarchists. However, unfortunately, it turns out that the state is no more the Leviathan that ubiquitously checkmates the intrigues of the crime-inclined, while protecting the innocent. Have we given up absolute freedom only to be enslaved to the whims of the lawless?

    The free world is being victimised by at least three shades of hate and terror: political, racial and religious, none of which can survive thorough moral scrutiny. Needless to add, the perpetrators of terror are moral degenerates who could care less about the verdict of morality. Still, while none of the three is morally defensible, the difficulty of defensiveness increases as we move from terror motivated by politics to one motivated by race to one motivated by religion.

    Political terror is perpetrated by those who harbour a political grievance against the state. They want a territory. Or they seek to overthrow a government. Whatever their objective, they would rather set about achieving it by means of terror and anyone and everyone is target. The immediate aim is to terrorise all. The overriding aim, however, is to realise their goal when everyone would have been exhausted and would have given up the battle.

    That it has never happened that way does not come into the reckoning of the political terrorist. It does not matter to young and upcoming terrorists that their seniors in the business never achieved their overriding goal using the tool of terror. Meanwhile, the arbitrariness of the tactic and the randomness of the victims make free movement in free world a challenge of immense proportion.

    With racial terror, belonging to a different race is the only basis for being a potential victim. Not what you do but who you are and how you appear. It does not matter that you are not responsible for how you appear. Or that your creator gave you your skin colour as he gave your violators theirs. Coming out of the same creative genius of God does not appear to impact the warped reasoning of perpetrators of racial terror.

    With its hateful message of white supremacy, Ku Klux Klan (KKK) emerged as the loathsome racial terrorist in the last century. And while reasonable people thought that enlightenment has taken hold, rationality has prevailed, and the ideology of hate has been buried in shame, it only morphed into something that is subtle but certainly not less sinister as a new White supremacist movement in the 21st century.

    White supremacists have dealt a blow to the proud portrayal of the land of the free where all of God’s children pursue dreams of the good life. This cannot be good for the image that we send out to the world. Concerned about the damage to that image, minority populations have sought to bring the nation back to reason.

    “Black Lives Matter” does not deny that all lives matter. But in the context in which black people are routinely violated and demeaned, they seek to remind the violators that their (Black) lives matter too. It is a message to the New York assassin of a Black homeless man and his ilk. And to the White police officer who killed an unarmed Black driver without provocation.

    Religious terror is most probably the least defensible. A victim is targeted because he or she is of a different faith or of no faith and the perpetrator wants us to believe that he is doing the bidding of God and that there is ample reward for him in the afterlife. This is not a new development as there are ample examples of the same reasoning throughout history. All religions have been equal opportunity offenders at various times. But if we can dismiss past errors as born out of ignorance, how has modernity been different?

    The hate-filled suicide bomber in Manchester, United Kingdom, did not know any of his victims. Many of the dancers at Ariana Grande concert probably have no ideological beliefs. He did not care who they are. Some of them may even share his faith. Some were probably of no faith. They were just out for fun. Teenagers and children were among the victims. They were all God’s creatures. It did not matter to him. They were random collection of souls. Their killer did not profile them. Imbued with a self-conviction about what his “God” demands of him, and a chilling self-righteousness about his action, he blew up innocent souls.

    How possibly can anyone defend that action on religious ground? Does piety obligate the killing of innocent people? In other cases where responsibility for such attacks has been claimed, the motive has been attributed to revenge for the actions of Western forces in Iraq or Syria. But how can you claim a morally-justifiable revenge against innocent people who have not in any way been responsible for harming you? Some of the people killed may have even opposed the involvement of their government in the war effort! The logic of terror justification is curiously distorted.

    In an Oregon commuter train ride, a human creature of God with “Christian” as his last name, stabbed three fellow human creatures, two of them fatally, while a third was sent to the hospital with serious injury. He did not know their faith. But he was enraged that they intervened on behalf of two girls, one wearing hijab, which gave her out as a Muslim. Christian had engaged in angry rants against the girls telling them to go back to Saudi Arabia. The Good Samaritan intervention of the two men ended their lives in a jiffy.

    One of the two who died was a recent college graduate. He was looking to a bright future. The other victim was a family man with a wife and three children. He was a veteran who had served his country for 23 years in the military. What insanity has overtaken the world?

    As tragic as the commuter train gruesome killing was, it also demonstrated to us that humanity can still rescue itself from terror and hate. That was what the intervention of the three men meant. Convinced that the ranting hater did not represent human values, and that innocent women riding a train deserved protection from a White Supremacist terrorist, the three chose the side of virtue. They taught us that when our common humanity is debased, we have a duty to courageously summon the better angels in us. That is how the human race can survive and prosper.

     

     

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