‘I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”    

–Mahatma Gandhi

 

 Daniel Kanu

 Gunmen in the early hours of Tuesday, December 24, attacked the Otuoke country home of former President Goodluck Jonathan, in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

The attack has continued to elicit so much anger from Nigerians both at home and in the Diaspora, who saw the incident as a show of shame, describing what happened as senseless, callous, barbaric and inhuman.

As fate would have it, the former president was not present during the time of the attack. Jonathan who was there during the day was said to have left for Yenagoa before the killer-squad arrived by boat at his waterfront home, raising the suspicion that it was “an assassination attempt”.

The gunmen, according to media reports, came through a riverside checkpoint near the former president’s residence, on five speedboats and opened fire on the soldiers manning the area.

The gallant soldiers retaliated as they reportedly opened fire on the gunmen.

Confirming the incident, the former president, in a statement by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, said that the gunmen were forced to beat a retreat as they couldn’t stand the superior firepower of the military.

Reliable sources put the death toll recorded when the dust of the attack settled at four, three of the gunmen and one soldier.

Expectedly, President Muhammadu Buhari, on the same day of the attack called Jonathan to express his anger over the incident.

In a statement released by the presidency, Buhari expressed sadness over what he described as a “tragic and unfortunate attack” while praising the soldiers for their courage. He expressed condolences for the family, as well as the Nigerian Army over the loss of their officer.

President Buhari “assured that the protection of the life of the former leader and all citizens of the country will continue to be the major preoccupation of his administration.”

Similarly, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) called for “a swift, sweeping and thorough probe of the shocking incident.”

Jonathan’s party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) also demanded an investigation. “Our party insists that the gun attack is a direct threat to the life and safety of the former president and members of his family and as such the assailants must be tracked down,” the PDP said.

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Jonathan is known to be a man of peace. In the build up to the 2015 general elections, he declared that the election was not worth the drop of blood of any Nigerian.

He went further to demonstrate his words when he conceded defeat to his challenger, President Buhari even before the election ended and did not challenge the outcome of the election in court.

This singular action lifted his image and profile that made many to wonder why any one should plot to hurt him.

Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, angry over the Otuoke attack said that it was a national shame.

Ortom through his spokesman, Terver Akase, queried why armed men would want to harm the peace-loving former president.

While describing the assault as unfortunate, Ortom wondered what would become of vulnerable Nigerians, if an individual in the class of Jonathan, a former president, could be attacked.

Like Ortom, most Nigerians wondered what would be the fate of average Nigerians to security threat if a high profile personality a former president, with all the paraphernalia of security authority attached to him, could be confronted in such audacity and deadly efficiency.

Umma Getso, 2019, vice presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) told Sunday Sun, that what is happening in Nigeria today calls for a serious re-examination of the Nigerian condition, stressing that “it is time for the leadership to rise to the challenge of the moment if indeed it has the capacity.

“The level of security challenge now is one in which anybody can be a victim, no matter how highly placed.

“This is the sore point of where the country has degenerated into in recent times that no one is safe. There seems to be confusion in the land.”

Some observers also linked the incident to the dirty politics being played in Bayelsa, Jonathan’s state. They say it is the outcome of the negative emotional investment in politics in the state that has continued to drag its people to the far edges of desperation, cynicism and total disregard for human life.

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan GCFR, GCON, was born on November 20, 1957, to the family of canoe makers. He holds a B.Sc. degree in Zoology, an M.Sc. degree in hydrobiology and fisheries biology and a Ph.D in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt.

Before he entered into politics in 1998, he worked as an education inspector, a lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt and an environmental-protection officer.

Just as his rapid rise to power in the Federal Government owed a lot to luck, so too did his promotion to political offices.

Elected as deputy governor for his home state, Bayelsa in 1999, he was serving his term before his boss, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was impeached on corruption charges and he became the governor from 2005 to 2007.

He served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. Before that, he served as Vice-President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010.