culled from facebook wall of a brilliant Nigerian Journalist Adetokunbo-Edmund Akintayo Must Nigeria continue this marriage of convenience? For all those who still get fooled by the one Nigeria slogan, pls read this message I got from a fan a few minutes ago. It is horrendous:
A week ago today, I took my close friend and neighbour to the Park, he was leaving for Abuja from Maiduguri. He was supposed to go by Air but was looking to save about N25,000 by going by taxi. About 300km from Maiduguri, in a town called Damagum in Yobe, Soldiers were battling terrorists so the road was closed off for more than 5 hours. Most of the vehicles stayed on the road waiting. Between 1 and 2 when it was time for prayers, the driver of the Vehicle left the road and drove into a nearby village and parked in front of a mosque and most of the passengers got off and went in to pray. My friend, who is from Enugu state by the way, remained in the Vehicle, there was also another vehicle with 4 non-Muslims inside. A few minutes later some Youths from the mosque came out and asked 'why are these ones not praying', and this lead to some argument, my friend and the 4 other people were dragged out of their vehicles and taken into a Siena bus waiting nearby, they were taken a short distance away and Macheted. My friends had his head cut off and placed between his legs and his body was left on the side of the road. The others were not beheaded but died anyway.
The driver and the rest of the passengers continued on to Abuja and when they arrived, they called his wife the next day from her number given on the Manifest and she was informed. Some people tried calling his line and someone speaking Hausa picked and informed them that the owner of the phone had been killed because he refused to convert. That they could come and get his body from the side of the road.
The police retrieved the body the following day and it was brought back to Maiduguri by some soldiers, the Commander asked the Morgue attendants to do what they could for the body and they sutured the head back to the body so it wouldn't arouse violent sentiments back east, and he was flown home yesterday. Rest in Peace J.
Now I have slept poorly since j was told, kept wondering how he must have fought with them before succumbing, how unnecessary his killing had been. I'm still devastated, also I'm sad for myself cos I was supposed to have left this town last week but I couldn't get my Visa because of a simple clerical error. Now I'm stuck here for the next few months, living in a state of constant fear and watchfulness, and now having to deal with bereavement.
It is easy to hate because of something like this. and incidents like these increase the divisions and Xenophobia ( fear or distrust of strangers or foreigners) amongst us. There used to be a time when I used to feel sad for my people travelling on the roads of southern Nigeria, anytime I have to go to Lagos or Port Harcourt by road, I would be in a state of constant terror from the possibility of attack from armed robbers, and when I crossover from Abuja, I am relieved because the roads in the north were much safer. But in the last few years things have changed and depending on your religion, it isn't safe to be in certain parts of Northern and north central Nigeria at certain times. It would be easy to place the blame on northern Muslims (People in the south especially the Yoruba are very tolerant of peoples religious practices, I doubt that there is a single reported instance of religious genocide in Yoruba land), and indeed they have to shoulder some of the blame, but every religion has also contributed to the situation.
Things like these happen not because there are plenty evil people around, but because 'we' the so-called good people allow them do whatever they want. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, "The only thing needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" and too many of us are doing nothing.
Northern Muslims, you people sit back and allow preachers of hatred and dissension to talk unopposed, and there have always been plenty of them, from Maitasine thru El Zazzaky to Mohammed Yusuf, you might not buy into their philosophies but by doing nothing you are also a part of the problem. Like the driver and other passengers who kept quiet and continued on to Abuja, when there were Soldiers less than a kilometer from where evil was happening.
Christians, you people also allow pastors who preach messages of distrust and disunity to preach on, it is preaching like these and blaming of people of another religion for all of societies problem that made the German People keep quiet while 6 million Jews were killed in 6 years of Nazi rule, or more recently the burning to death of more than 25 vehicles with Muslims along the Abuja - Kaduna road
The Truth is that the most dangerous evil of all is when it is done in the Name of God. Because you cannot reason with it or question it, the will of God is always final and thus whoever controls the Will of God can do just about anything they damn well please. And the truth is not only the people on the receiving end, but everyone suffers, in Borno today hundreds of young people are been killed weekly as a result of BH, no one takes prisoners anymore. The soldiers are tired. Thousands of people have left and businesses have collapsed and there is intense poverty here. At the village where my friend was killed, there's a rumour that more than 30 villagers lost their lives before they could produce the killers. Kaduna city is now unofficially divided into Muslim and Christian Zones and you dare not be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The same is true of Jos and now people who have lived together for years build up tall fences and watch each other with eyes of fear and hatred. Elections in Nigeria are now all about making sure the person in power is the same religion as you, damn everything else. Millions of children in Northern Nigeria no longer receive life saving vaccinations because some clerics said there is a plan to sterilize their offsprings, now mothers run away when they see health workers coming and husbands beat up their wives when they allow their children to be vaccinated and thousands of children suffer and die from diseases which should have been eradicated by now, and all of this is being done in the Name of God.
I know I shouldn't talk about religion because I am a professed Agnostic, but if you are a religious person and what I have said here offends you, most likely because you feel you are a 'Good' person, then that is alright, just make sure you open your mouth the next time you hear someone of your faith preaching hatred.
This is Gangsta101 signing out.
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