“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth”.(Psalm 121:1-2).
Signals received from every nook and cranny of the country are sending shivers down the spine of everyone.
With bewildered amazement ,innocent Nigerians fall into the rough hands of evil men generating shocking news.
Vicious wild wind blowing across communities, and voices calling for help that seems far away and unattainable.
ln the Northern part of Nigeria , one word resonate frequently from everyone is “ help”.
They want salvation from the grip of marauding terrorists and bandits who ravage their communities and abduct their children and blatantly demand for ransom.
Regrettably , those in the South , West and East , are not immune to these calamities. As news of hostile invasion of farmlands , dozens of police stations and correction facility centers by local terrorists groups mistakenly referred to as bandits and their collaborators in vicious violence known as herdsmen. The bandits and herdsmen were said to had infiltrated into Nigeria from Libya,Chad and Niger republic. Many were reportedly fingered to had impersonated and were involved in the last presidential election in some northern states.
They speak fulfude,Hausa and practice moslem religion . Others were dislodged and defeated members of the Boko Haram terrorist group that have networked with local criminals with similar ideology.
The people continue to scream to high heaven for help, and it seemed no help is forth coming. Help is far despite repeated assurances from both the federal government and the security agencies. Their assurances now sounds like broken record.
The cacophony of depressed voices across the country speaks volume about the sad commentaries emanating from every state in Nigeria.
Indeed, when people are engaged in simple discussion, the summary of what you hear is the biblicalquotation above. It is a sad commentary. Such heinous criminality had never been visited on Nigerians in such frequency as we behold in recent time.
A sorrowful situation we deliberately inflicted on ourselves due to complete carelessness and lack of political will on the part of the federal government plus the attendance carefree nonchalance of security agencies.
There is palpable fear in the air, on the streets and in the communities. No where is safe. No where can be classified immune to safety around the country despite all the security assurances . Across the length and breath of the country, the people are faced with different types of insecure situations. While the North and East have turned the operational field of these local terrorists, the people and the police are on the receiving end
Even the head of the police seemed to have been caught unprepared and incapable to arrest this spiraling insecurity. The cry in every part of the country is that of an unarmed man sleeping in his house and was rudely awaken by the sound of gun shots from hoodlums who have surrounded his small house. All he could shout is ‘help’, ‘help’, ‘help’. Because the word “ help” is an exclamation of a drowning and needy man. It is the last word of a dying man. Indeed, it is the last word that ooze from the mouth of a dying man who wants to be rescued. Nigerians want to be rescued. They want to be helped from the vicious hands of killers that invade their communities and anihilate their wives and children. They are shouting for help from the police whose renumeration are drops of their daily sweat. The people are crying for help because they have no other country to call their own as assured them by the president. The people are crying for help because they no longer find it safe traveling on the high ways. This fear transverse all levels of the society. While Governor El Rufai of Kaduna is shouting for help over the abduction of students of private Greenfield University in Kaduna state , killing one staff member and
took away twenty students captive. In the same vein is the Governor of Benue State is screaming over the killing of eleven Soldiers , while IMO State Governor also raised his voice for help when local terrorists invaded and set ablaze his village home in Mgbidi, Oru East Local Government Area of lmo State . killing two police men on duty. Truely, the rich also cry for help. Apart from the Benue State Governor, other Governors have sequel to the increasing violence in their states, have had cause to cry to the office of the President of Nigeria for solution to all their calamities and woes. But is the President listening as the political father of the nation. Is the President feeling the pains of the people that voted him into office and power, The question on the people lips is
Why is the President mute in time like this. It is time like this, that the people know the stuff their President is made up of. Concerned Presidents show their worth when the country is enveloped with insecurity. ln 1981: a criminal group headed by a kingpin Lawrence Anini gave the people of Edo State and surrounding States sleepless nights. The robbers were vicious that even the police were hiding their identity. It took the boldness and will of President lbrahim Babangida to look into the face of the lnspector General of Police to demand for the whereabouts of Anini the robber. That singular “presidential” demand changed the tide and Anini was arrested. Buhari has not put his foot down on this issue, even his body language means absolutely nothing to all the service chiefs and especially the police. lmagine, lGP Adamu had to be boothed out of office when Buhari was out of circulation, by the Vice President. Now that he is back, Nigerians no longer want to hear any romancing order. All they want is military order that cannot be disobeyed without penalty. Help must not be too far, to reach their doorsteps and communities.
Even in the cities, their safety are not guaranteed. For instance, the internally displaced persons ( lDP) who were rescued and moved out of the Boko Haram invaded local governments in the North East, to the fedederal capital territory instead of moving them to other northern states, are now becoming security problems to residents of the federal capital terroty.
Today the uncatered for young men in these camps in the FCT have turned to street robbers, attacking car owners and operating at lonely and dark parts of the capital.
Snatching ladies bags and phones from unsuspecting pedestrians . They steal batteries from vehicles parked in estates or on the streets. Motorists held up in traffic are crying out for safety because hoodlums forcefully attack and cart away their belongings like smart phones and bags contains valuables and laptops or l-pads.
Even the highways are no longer safe. With millions of unemployed angry youths roaming angrily around the streets and no job to engage them, with the recent disclosure of former military leader Abdusalam Abubakar that over six million illegal guns are in illegal hands across the country., and politics around the corner.
All these are traits of insecurity and signs of the collapse of our internal security. One wonder why hundreds of armed policemen would be deployed to quel ordinary student demonstration , but the same police would shy away from facing bandits terrorising innocent citizens crying out for help.