Globaltimes 
Life ebbs irrespectively. Nigeria as a country has been experiencing her worst insecurity case since independence and what started as a communal clash in 2011 has grown into worst monsters with different outlooks and effects – gangsterism, terrorism, extortion and exploitation – with many ugly heads like an ancient demon.
Nigerians can no longer sleep with both eyes closed. The cities are in turmoil, the towns are boiling, and the villages are on fire. It is no longer safe to travel on Nigerian roads in daytime, not to mention in the night.
Series of kidnapping, killing, gang raping, molestation and harassment are going on – and the government have been pretending to the outside world that one of the most corrupt nations in the world is a safe haven for citizens and foreigners and lying to its people that all is well. They hide the figures of kidnapped and killed nationals and foreigners, and as at today, Nigeria government has paid more than 20 Billion Naira to Boko Haram terrorists and other terror groups as Ransoms and settlements for lives and properties.
How then can everything be alright when herdsmen have taken over most towns and villages, killed able bodied men, maimed old ones and took their virgins and ladies as soothing balms?
How can there be peaceful coexistence in a nation where politicians steal and stash monies as if there is no tomorrow and tens of millions of people are begging for food to eat.
It is difficult for Nigerians to come to terms with the fact that that there is equality in the country where cattle rustlers openly carry AK 47 and peaceful demonstrators of #EndSARS were termed saboteurs, killed by military gunmen who masked as they massacred innocent youths who were demanding their right of access to freedom and good life.
Recently, the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom accused President Muhammadu Buhari of being too lackadaisical towards security issues and blamed him for nepotism towards the Fulani people of the country, his kinsmen, who have been majorly accused of causing havoc in different parts of the country.
Governor Ortom made this statement during the mass burial of military personnel and seven others killed in IDP camp in the State. The killed people were some of the people whose land and livelihood have been taken away by armed bandits.
The major fact remains; for every killing and kidnapping reported, there are nine buried cases. Whilst the whole world knew about Chibok girls kidnapping case and everybody clamoured on #BringBackOurGirls, none has ever said anything on the attack of a small settlement called Ewohim in Esan South East LGA, in Edo State where in the middle of the night, Fulani rustlers invaded when everybody was asleep, killed their young men except for few ones that escaped.
Most of the young chaps killed were graduates and skilled workers who were adding values to the development of the nation – and yet everybody in government quarters have been silent about it.
Returning home was disturbing for most of the escapees in that part of the world and in other areas where these hoodlums had carried out their enterprise – as some of the escapees that fled have vowed not to return to their villages.
When a territory is invaded, their land is grabbed; the people are denied access to work on their farms, and the people are captured as slaves to pay tributary to whoever is a tyrant controlling their land – and in order to live away from oppression, they seek solace in the city, most especially Lagos and Abuja, which are supersaturated with people without jobs.
Although, it is majorly believed that there is no place like home, but this can never be real for the likes of Alfa Salimonu Tijani who was attacked by Fulani herdsmen as he was taking a nap in his farmland after a series of argument concerning the ravaging of his crops by cattle. He would have been brutally murdered if not for his ability to outrun the assailant in the thick forest of Baba Olode in Oyo State, Western Nigeria but his escape did not happen without the payment of his left hand being chopped off at the wrist.
Although Alfa Salimonu is alive today but he can neither go back to his shoe making business nor visit his farmland as his effort to get judgement, even with the support of Association of Oyo West Farmers, proved abortive as the Court claimed it could not hold any session due to Covid 19 pandemic restriction. Although some people felt there was a hidden finger working behind the curtain to ensure nothing happened and they could not be less sure as the culprit who amputated the man’s hand, who should be serving a jail term is walking freely on the street.
In the same vein, Henry Aghedo, a Business Administration graduate whose mother was abducted by unknown assailants, only to be freed after a ransom was paid and his younger sister who was preparing for her wedding was killed in the mayhem with herdsmen.
If Nigerian government refuse to tackle the issue of insecurity head on, the country’s potential builders will be killed and the surviving ones will seek sojourn in peaceful nations where their right of access to life and living is not challenged.
The issue of banditry has led to closure of many businesses located in rural and less developed areas and most able body men now scavenge and struggle for the little or next to no jobs in town.
“Insecurity, violent attacks, kidnapping, assault are now the new order of the day in our nation – and nobody can freely travel from one state to another again.” Cried out Senator Smart Adeyemi on the floor of the Nigeria Upper House as he wept openly on the plight of our nation, and he was of the opinion that Nigeria as a country at this moment, needs the help of international countries.
That means the pretence is now being confronted. The birds are returning home to roost. Nigeria is no longer safe, and should anyone escape this fiery furnace that has been consuming all the lives and valuables, getting back in the fire becomes more difficult.
It is high time for Nigeria government to come out into the open and ask for help before all its potential developers are wiped out.
