The Nation Newspaper

Tag: mindless killings

  • Mindless killings

    •The murder of five persons in Edo must be investigated and the killers brought to book

    It is alarming that cultism was mentioned concerning the tragic killing of three students and two alumni of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State.  Reports said five people were shot dead by gunmen suspected to be cultists on September 18.

    The tragedy was triggered by a fight between two persons at a bar located around Judges’ Quarters, in the Esan West Local Government Area of the state. According to an account, “One of them was said to have claimed that his shirt was torn during the brawl and left the scene angrily only to return later with a group of armed men who opened fire, killing five persons.”

    Those who were killed included a final-year medical student, Einstein Chinedum; the son of a former council chairman, Ose Abulu; a corps member, Ugwi Martha; and one Jerry Omobude.

    The state police commissioner, Johnson Kokumo, reportedly attributed the killings to “cult rivalry.” He said: “The people at war were members of different cult groups… Arrests have been made. I think four or six people have been arrested with weapons recovered.” Also, students who reportedly witnessed the clash said it involved cultists.

    But the management of the university maintained that the killings had nothing to do with cultism. The university’s spokesman, Edward Aihevba, was quoted as saying: ”This was an incident that really happened in Ekpoma, among a group of friends in a bar. It happened far away from the campus. Because it was not on the campus, the police are the ones to investigate. We were not at the spot, so we rely on what the police saw and what their investigation confirmed.”

    It is puzzling that the management of the university rejected the findings of the police, after conceding that it was the duty of the police to investigate the killings. The university’s argument that the killings didn’t happen on the campus does not mean, and cannot mean, that the killings couldn’t have been connected with cultism.

    It is understandable that the university is defensive, particularly as the police authorities reportedly described the institution as “a den of cultists.”  Indeed, the police reportedly asserted that there were statistics to show the prevalence of cultism in the university.

    It is noteworthy that, in May, the management of the university and students of the university participated in the 10km Okpekpe Road Race in Edo State as a way of campaigning against cultism. It was a reflection of the problem and the university’s efforts to tackle it. The vice chancellor, Prof. Ignatius Onimawo, explained their participation in the race: ”The campaign against cultism is to ensure that cultism and other social vices are stamped out from the institution.”

    Beyond the claim and counter-claim, it is reassuring that the state government condemned the killings and made a move that signalled a serious fight against cultism. Governor Godwin Obaseki, speaking through a spokesman, said his administration would not tolerate lawlessness around the university community. More importantly, Obaseki has asked the attorney-general to activate the portions of the law that deal with cultism.

    What happened in Ekpoma, leading to the killing of five people, should be thoroughly investigated. Those found culpable should not escape legal punishment. There is no question that such punishment has deterrent value. It is not enough to express outrage over the mindless killings without punishing the perpetrators.

    The Ekpoma tragedy has again highlighted the problem of cultism in Nigeria’s educational institutions, and even in the country at large. It suggests that there are problems at three levels: the home, the society and the government. Parental, social and governmental interventions are needed to tackle cultism.

  • Halt these mindless killings, group urges Buhari

    President Muhammdau Buhari has been called upon to halt the killings across the country and in doing this ,should sack all the service chiefs for their inability to put a stop to the unnecessary bloodletting in the country.

    This advice was given yesterday in Lagos by the Executive Director ,Centre Against Injustice and Domestic Violence (CAIDOV),Comrade Gbenga Soloki, in a press release he signed and made available to journalists.

    He described the recent mayhem in Plateau State as a sad development and condemnable in all ramifications and all peace-loving Nigerians should stand up and demand that the government must put a stop to the killings and perpetrators fished out and dealt with.

    The CAIDOV boss further said that concerted efforts on the part of government at both state and federal levels should be intensified in order to stop the carnage in our land.

    He described the present crop of service chiefs as incompetent and unfit for the posts as they have failed abysmally in defending and protecting the people.

    Soloki said: “The ongoing reckless killings across the nation are worrisome to some of us. They are tragic and condemnable in all ramifications as the government has not been able to come up with a reasonable account of events leading to the mindless bloodletting in the country. On this note, we want advise Mr President to, as a matter of urgency, sack all the service chiefs as they have proved incapable of protecting the people. They should be shown the way out. We can’t achieve success in the fight against insurgency with the crop of service chiefs in place.

    “The state and federal governments should intensify efforts in combating the menace of insurgency and mindless killings across the country, especially in the North East and North Central. The government must live up to expectations and halt these killings.

    “We commiserate with those who lost their loved ones and call for vigilance from all Nigerians”.

  • ‘Mindless killings, anarchy must be defeated’

    ‘Mindless killings, anarchy must be defeated’

    The threats that confront us as a nation and as a planet have evolved and continue to evolve. Forty years ago, a speech like this would have been situated firmly within the context of the Cold War, with its well-defined ideologies, and distinct warring parties.

    Today, we speak of non-state actors and of asymmetric warfare, and are confronted by enemies whose identities are as nebulous as their motivations.

    It feels like yesterday when the earliest high-profile Boko Haram suicide bombings happened in Nigeria. It was a surreal moment, something that no one associated with Nigeria. It was not uncommon, at that time, to hear people argue that the perpetrators had to have been of foreign origin, as it was not in the nature or personality of Nigerians to be suicide bombers.

    This was only about six years ago. Since then, we have grown accustomed to suicide bombings and by Nigerians no less. The targets evolved rapidly, from symbols of authority like the Police Headquarters and the United Nations (UN) Building in Abuja, to encompass soft targets – bus stations, religious houses and markets. And again very quickly, we started to see a trend of female suicide bombers.

    It is worthy of note that until about 2013, the phenomenon of female suicide bombers was virtually unknown in the Boko Haram insurgency. A short four years later, it is one of the defining elements of the insurgency – young girls, some not even teenagers yet, laden with explosives and sent off as harbingers of death and destruction.

    This swift evolution in suicide bombings is a perfect illustration of the nature of the threats that nations face today – unpredictable, asymmetric, constantly adapting to changing conditions, driven by a compulsive need to inflict maximum damage with minimal effort.

    This is therefore the question we ought to be asking ourselves: Are our Armed Forces evolving with a similar speed and urgency, are they adapting with a similar nimbleness? How do we evolve rules of engagement in asymmetric warfare situations? Should we be redefining the borders of the Geneva Convention in the light of military engagements with armed militant combatants? Can we observe the same human rights rules where suicide bombers and persons determined to die and take with them as many innocent lives as possible are the enemy we must confront? What are the borders of the right to privacy and freedom of expression on the internet? What is the responsibility of nations of the world in policing the internet which has become a virtual training ground for much good and as much evil?

    Some of the early analyses of yesterday’s bombing in a London tube (on Friday) suggest that tutorials for making the explosive devices used are available on the internet. How can the military get ahead of the curve on communications in the age of the fast, cheap and available communication for all? We must also answer the question of how to defeat the ideologies that promote mindless killings and anarchy.

    But just as important as these issues around conflict are the issues around how the military can in the process of innovating or thinking through the use of science and technology to add real value to the society and nation it has sworn to defend.

    Let me speak briefly about the relationship between the military and scientific innovation, and how both have historically shaped and influenced each other.

    Centuries ago, inventions like the wheel, and gunpowder, forever changed the nature of war. National armies wasted little time taking advantage of these innovations in the endless battle to gain an edge over existing and emerging enemies.

    In a similar manner, the military has also spearheaded technology and practices that civilians have latched on to, to alter human civilisation as we know it. The one that comes to mind most readily is the Internet, originating from the 1960s Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) of the United States Department of Defence.

    Five decades on, the Internet has turned out to be perhaps the most definitive invention in the history of mankind, creating unprecedented social, economic and political opportunity. The American military has also been credited with the invention of  Global Positioning System (GPS) now so common that every smartphone and cars use it to ascertain location.

    But this network of satellites was originally set up by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1970s. President Ronald Reagan ordered GPS to be made available to civilians once it was completed, while President Bill Clinton later declared that the highest quality GPS signal should be available as well.

    How about RADAR? (an acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging), this system uses radio waves to find speed, altitude, range, and direction of moving objects such as planes, ground vehicles, missiles, etc. Radar was developed before World War II for military purposes.

    Today, it is used for a variety of purposes, both military and civilian, including air traffic control and weather forecasting. Inadvertently, it was discovered that microwaves transmitted from radar equipment during WWII could also cook food, which led to the post-war creation of the microwave oven.

    The use of Unmanned Aerial devices or drones today for surveillance, photography (and in Rwanda), the delivery of blood to rural medical facilities originated from the development of the devices by the military in the early 20th Century.

    The world I have just described is the one that today’s cadets are graduating into. Placed side-by-side with this contemporary context, the Cold War era into which your predecessors – today’s generals and commanding officers – graduated, almost feels like a model of orderliness and predictability.

    At this point, let me say that I am pleased to note that the NDA has been positioning itself as a hub for innovation. I am already aware of inventions such as an Automated Pop-Up Target System, a Multi-Purpose Combat Mobile Robot, and a Perimeter Surveillance Robot, which the NDA has showcased at various science and technology exhibitions in the recent past. This is laudable and I urge you to sustain the culture.

    I would also like to urge you to collaborate more extensively with the private sector, for research and innovation. All around the country, technology hubs are springing up that are attracting our Nigeria’s brightest talent and breaking new technological ground. I am convinced that the military should make its presence felt in this area.

  • Enough of the mindless killings

    SIR: To state that the Nigerian government has a colour-blind approach to the suffering of her people is stating the obvious. And until the government can actually begin to acknowledge the suffering, hurt, and death- preventable death, then Nigeria will become desensitised and numbed to the gripping suffering across country all the time. The government needs to understand that human security which is simply freedom from fear and threat of crime and war, want, poverty, illness and environmental degradation is not guaranteed in this country.

    Where did we miss the step as a nation? My heart bled on the reading of the news of the second Nyanya bomb blast on May Day. After the first Nyanya bombing of April 14, which was described as national embarrassment given its proximity to the nation’s capital, Nigerians were thrown into anguish with the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls by the Boko Haram members in Chibok.

    Why I am not underestimating the efforts of the government in addressing this menace, I am forced to ask: “How is the country winning the war on terror”? There are massive checkpoints in most parts of the country today, but children are abducted in their hundreds, conveyed in not less than five vehicles unchallenged to unknown destinations. Where were the Joint Task Force operatives or was the school located in the forest?

    Since the April 14 bombing, it has become easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than to drive from Mararaba, one of Abuja’s adjoining settlements to Area 11 in the city due to massive checkpoints on this route. Just adjacent to the exact point where scores were killed two weeks ago, dozens have again been massacred.  Where are the CCTV cameras that Senator Bala Mohammed, the FCT Minister promised to fix when he visited the scene of the bombing last time?

    It has been reported that the federal government spent $7billion in the course of stemming the insurgency since 2012, yet this has done little to safeguard the lives of the citizens. Instead, our mourning continues to grow in geometrical progression from recurrent incidents.

    It is high time government at all levels get under the situation to uproot this menace called Boko Haram. My candid opinion is that the government should provide Special Security Intervention Fund for all the local government areas in the federation because most of the attacks and other criminal activities are carried out in the rural areas but unfortunately, local governments lack financial strength to aid security operatives because what they receive as allocation is not even up to allowance of some top permanent secretaries in Abuja. Many of the local government can’t even pay full salary to their staff due to the drastic and constant shortfalls in their allocations.  With such fund, the local governments should be able to provide patrol vans and other security gadgets to security operatives, fund a formidable vigilante groups for proper community policing.

    Today, our politicians have dozens of police escorts and guards around them while the masses are unprotected.  Government should understand that real security flows from placing the poor, vulnerable and marginalized at the heart of her development and security policy. Enough of the mindless killings.

     

    • Onogwu Muhammed,

    Lokoja-Kogi State.