The video was as gory as they come when it was posted on social media uncensored. You have to be very bold and have a “thick skin” to watch it to the end. I could only watch for a few seconds. Four undergraduates from the University of Port-Harcourt, Biringa Chiadika Lordson, 20, Ugonna Kelechi Obusor, 18, Mike Lloyd Toku, 19, and Tekena Erikena, 20, were murdered in cold blood at Omuokiri village, Aluu community, in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
I was actually writing my piece on the Mubi massacre – another painful event – when the Aluu news broke. The “crime” of these young men – who were murdered on Friday 5 October 2012 in their prime – was an alleged theft of a laptop computer and Blackberry phone. I dedicated my column to the painful event on October 18 2012. At last, justice has been served and the families can now put the unforgettable event behind them and the souls of the departed can finally rest in peace. On Monday, a High Court sitting in Rivers found three persons guilty of the murder of four students who were lynched in the most brutal way imaginable.
The court, presided over by Justice Letam Nyordee, also discharged and acquitted four others. According to the Judge, the prosecution failed to prove its case of murder against the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th accused persons beyond every reasonable doubt. He, however, found the 1st to 3rd defendants guilty of murder.
As I watched the video clip against my will in 2012, the question that popped in my mind was which of them “stole” the laptop and phone? Or was it the four of them that jointly “stole” the gadgets? These questions were necessary because listening to the background conversation points to the notion that it may be something other than the “stealing” of a laptop and phone. It was therefore not out of place to feel despondent.
What makes this story unbelievable and shocking was the fact that it was filmed; some of the “spectators” that witnessed the gory incident could be seen with their mobile phones recording every bit of the spectacle. In a premeditated and calculated act, the Aluu 4, as they were later known, were stripped naked, marched through town, beaten to a pulp and set ablaze by the mob.
I later read an account of the sister of one of the victims which I found instructive; she alleged that while her brother and his friends were being killed, three policemen had reportedly arrived and had, instead of intervening to save the lives of the “accused persons,” urged the mob to “burn them alive.”
There was obviously nothing that the mob, the policemen and those filming with their mobile phone saw as untoward or dastardly in taking human lives which they could never give. It must have appeared very “normal” as the mob jeered, ululated and savoured what they had witnessed and regarded as a good spectacle to spice the start of their weekend! This was nothing short of the collective loss of our common humanity.
This barbaric and highly condemnable act that is reminiscent of the Stone Age came only a few days after the Mubi killings where several students of three tertiary institutions were killed. The killings – and other extra judicial killings – raised, and continue to raise, serious concerns over off-campus residences for undergraduates. Would these undergraduates have been so gruesomely murdered if they had residences within the four walls of the ivory tower?
The emergence and growth of commercial off-campus students’ hostels across mainly Nigerian public universities towns are recent but significant phenomena stimulated by student population explosion and prevailing lull in on-campus Students’ housing development. In the past, students’ hostels were traditionally and almost exclusively on-campus. With time, however, student population explosion and paradigm shift in university on-campus accommodation policy combined to give rise to spontaneous development of commercial off-campus Students’ hostel in university towns across the country.
This development is further compounded by the growing shortage of funds in the university system. The government, over the years, has not been meeting the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recommendation of 26% of the total budget allocation to education sector. Little wonder some have called for the declaration of a state of emergency in the sector.
The paucity of fund available to the university system has been responsible for declining library, accommodation, social and laboratory facilities in recent years. This, in no small measure, makes the governance in the university system a herculean task. As a stop gap, private developers and home owners in university towns rose to the occasion and started providing houses to fill the shortfall with its attendant repercussions.
Since almost all of the off-campus residences are not seen as the extension of the universities, most became safe haven for criminal activities both from undergraduates and those associated with them. Some of the incidences of cult activities that take place emanates from such off-campus residences where security is often lax. In addition to the question I posed earlier, I’d like to add: Given our present predicament of shortage of on-campus residences, is there anything university authorities can do to closely monitor these off-campus residences and see how they can be viewed as an unofficial extension of the campus?
I strongly believe that the probability of the incidences happening on any campus in Nigeria is slim. No matter the gravity of the “crime” one or two voices of reason would have been able to calm the nerves of any blood thirsty mob on campus. I would like to see a situation where Vice Chancellors take it upon themselves to open constant channels of communication with communities that host large proportion of their students. Measures should also be put in place to regularly gauge the student-host community relationship to nib similar incidences in the bud. But in the midst of this, we should not be lost to us that what we read and watched in the past was not an isolated incident; we see it happening to date. Stories abound on how of six-inch nails are driven into the head of alleged thieves caught in action; I’ve also heard from witnesses how thieves and pick pockets were summarily executed in major cities in Nigeria. So, rather than crucify the entire Aluu community, it cannot be said that extra-judicial executions are the cultural or behavioural preserve of any part of this country. There are still good people in Aluu. This notwithstanding, the horrible video of the killing – and other current killings – in a country with a government and security agencies is a big shame to Nigeria. The judge said that much in his ruling. It is a painful confirmation that human life is of little or no value in the country. It also shows that all those responsible for security and administration of that area did not play the role expected of them. The excuse given by former IGP Abubakar that “Attempts made by the police patrol team to take over the suspects were met with stiff opposition from the mob, who chased the team with stones” is both absurd and preposterous.
As we flashback, it is really painful that life has simply lost its sanctity. Unfortunately, this is the sad lesson that Nigerians, including the youths, are taking away from the mindless killings going on in the country. This type of barefaced, extra-judicial murder will not happen in any country with conscience. But, in a country where people assume they can get away with crime, no matter how serious; incidents like Aluu are bound to occur. It is high time that everyone who desires to see the good of this country and stem the steady slide toward bestiality stand up and be counted.
