Whilst you slept peacefully and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, the President of Nigeria was surprised by the incessant killings and growing insecurity in the country resorting to curse words to justify why he shouldn’t resign from office and ignoring calls for the removal of his incompetent service chiefs, at least 222 persons were killed in violent attacks across Nigeria in January 2020 alone.
Really? 222 Nigerians who crossed over from 2019 did not make it through the first month of the New Year for no fault of theirs but that they expected to be protected by a handful who have decided to turn the positions of power to a retirement home justifying the Expat Insider Survey of 2019 that Nigeria is the third most dangerous country in the world due to widespread corruption and insecurity.
The deafening silence to the killings across the country from the Boko Haram terrorizing the North East to the activities of armed Bandits and Fulani herdsmen is the shame that did not spare these lives.
Seriously speaking, these deaths do not mean a thing, how could they? When the Christian community in what should be a clear protest to demand an immediate end to the killing of most of its members was tagged a ‘prayer walk’. It is very disappointing and I am too angry!
How did we end up with a government that tells us to be grateful that the number of deaths is not as bad as it was before they came into power?
“We know what the situation was as of 2015 and we know what it is today. Despite the reversals in security, it is still not as bad as it used to be in this country,” the presidency says.
We should be ‘grateful’ that on January 4; suspected gunmen killed 23 people at the Tawari community in Kogi Local Government Area, LGA, of Kogi State.
On January 6; No fewer than 30 persons were killed in Gamboru, Borno State after Boko Haram exploded an improvised device on a bridge. We should throw a party!
On the same day, four Nigerian Navy officers were killed by suspected pirates. While in Niger State on the same day, an army officer and three soldiers were killed during a routine patrol by bandits in the Gwarm village, Munya Local Government Area of Niger State. A Call for celebration right?
It is ‘not as bad as 2015’ that on January 9; Plateau State Police Command confirmed the death of 12 persons killed by suspected herdsmen. On January 11; Four Air force officers were shot dead by bandits in an ambush at Unguwan Yako, close Kaduna.
On January 14; two died in farmers and herdsmen clash in Sobe, Owan Local Government Area of Edo State while four naval ratings trying to rescue three foreigners from pirates were killed in Gbagira Village, Ilaje LGA of Ondo State.
On January 16; Bandits killed at least 29 people after storming a village in Gummi LGA, Zamfara State; also unknown gunmen attacked the convoy of Emir of Postikum, Umaru Bubaram, killing six people.
What ‘we know’ is that on January 18; One soldier was killed during an attack on an aid facility in Ngala, Borno, and at least 20 internally displaced persons were killed whilst waiting for assistance at the facility. Boko Haram also killed four soldiers in Bama in the same state.
On the same day in Kogi state, sectarian violence led to the death of four people in Igalamela-Odolu.
On January 19 – Five were killed in Alimosho as a result of vandals busting a fuel pipeline in Lagos. A video also surfaced online of a suspected Boko Haram indoctrinated boy executing a man identified as a Christian hostage, Daciya Dalep.
In what the presidency tagged ‘reversals in security’ at least 17 soldiers killed in two confrontations between the military and Boko Haram insurgents on Bama-Gwoza highway on January 20.
January 21 was a bloody day as at least, eight soldiers were killed during a battle with Boko Haram insurgents in Kaga, Borno.
Also, unidentified gunmen killed four in Keana, Nassarawa. That’s not all; Boko Haram insurgents killed the Chairman, CAN, in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Lawal Andimi. And Gunmen also killed one in Batsari, Katsina.
On January 23 – Boko Haram killed 10 loggers in Dikwa, Borno. Whilst worshiping, three were killed after suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers attacked a mosque in Gwoza, Borno State on January 25. Gunmen also killed 13 people at Kwatas village in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State while bandits killed 11 people in Niger communities.
Suspected herdsmen on January 29 – killed two in Ovia North East LGA of Edo State.
The National Assembly’s call for the sack of the service chiefs whose tenure has expired in the face of glaring incompetence has fallen on deaf ears.
A meeting was called playing to the gallery and the status quo remains. A minority leader found the voice of families who have lost their loved ones when he said the Buhari government should resign.
Does your name or that of your loved ones need to be in next month’s statistics before you care?
