Though the Nigerian government said, “they are doing their best” (A politically correct term of we are not doing anything) to combat bandits and banditry in the country. “The Economist” has described Nigeria as a “Crime Scene”, which is a terrible blow to the current administration.
This is the first time this London based Newspaper has written about the facts in Nigeria, not some crazy fiction they invented. And they’re right.
Using Kaduna state as a case study, and here is why.
A few weeks ago, My brother was kidnapped from the bakery he works in (in Zaria). He wasn’t the only one. There were many others. One million Naira had to be paid before he was eventually released. He had to be hospitalized afterwards.
Sometimes back, four young men (who went to ABU Teaching Hospital Shika to pick up their father’s corpse) were kidnapped with the body of their father along Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road. The Kidnappers released the corpse, but the young men still had to be left in the hands of their abductors.
Just recently, Almajiris were caught by kidnappers along Birnin Gwari road. They were only released after an “affordable” ransom fee of N25 000 per person was paid.
Some time ago, kidnappers killed 67 people on the Abj- Kd expressway. (Yes, the alternative to going to Abuja from Kaduna if you’re not following the train) the government did not do anything about it.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the terrorists bombed the Abuja-Kaduna train, and the train service between the two places has now been cancelled for fear of further attacks. The road is not safe. Rail is not secure.
A while ago, the wife, children and driver of a family in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna state, were all kidnapped at a go. A lot of money had to be paid before they were released.
A pregnant woman was kidnapped by bandits, she gave birth to twins while in captivity and right before her eyes, her two babies were fed to the bandits’ dogs, the woman ran mad.
A staff of ABUTH that was kidnapped at Mil Goma was raped severally through her private parts to the extent that she developed a psychiatric disorder. She’s currently undergoing treatment at ABUTH.
Several other victims have been serially abused, raped, chained for weeks, brutalized and sometimes killed and fed to dogs.
Yet, these people are not terrorists.
They should be granted amnesty.
They should be negotiated with.
Please, if this is not a crime scene, what is it?