By Emmanuel Ojeifo
I knew it
would come to this. I knew that the murderers of Mrs. Bridget Agbahime, the
74-year-old Igbo Christian trader killed by irate Muslim youths at Kofar Wambai
market in Kano
would not be brought to book. I knew that the typical political Nigerian-speak,
“We will ensure that the culprits of this
dastardly act are brought to book,” is only a euphemism for intrigues,
betrayals and cover-ups. I knew that the political, religious and traditional
powers that be would ensure that the case is silenced and that nothing comes
out of it.
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| *Late Mrs. Bridget Agbahime |
I knew all of these
when I wrote my article, “The Media and
Extrajudicial Killings” published in Thisday of September 12, 2016. In that piece I
argued that the Nigerian news media ought to stay on course and, with patience
and persistence, pursue issues regarding human rights violations to their
logical conclusion in order to hold political leaders accountable. I spoke in
favour of what I termed ‘protest writing’ and ‘protest broadcast’ in media
practice in order to bring to the consciousness of media practitioners the huge
moral obligation that they have to “to
take sides with the powerless against the depredations of power.”
Thus, when the news
filtered into the public domain some days ago that the five Muslim culprits who
were arrested and arraigned for the gruesome murder of Mrs. Agbahime, have been
set free – “discharged and acquitted” – on frivolous grounds by a Kano
Magistrates Court, I wasn’t any bit surprised. That has been the pattern of
gross human rights violation in Nigeria.
The sad part of it is that in the eyes of many Nigerians, tragedies claiming
multiple human lives have become “one of those things.”
Like a national ritual,
whenever tragic incidents happen we talk about them soberly. Our security
agencies run around and get busy for a few days. Political leaders come out to
assure us that the culprits would be brought to book. They then pledge that
every possible effort will be made to forestall a repeat of such tragedy. End
of discussion! We return to business as usual, and wait until something tragic
happens again.
Has anyone heard
anything about the killers of Mrs. Eunice Elisha, the Redeemed Christian Church
of God (RCCG) pastor who was murdered in Kubwa, Abuja, during the early hours of June 9, 2016
when she went out to preach? Has anyone heard anything about the eight students
of Abud Gusau Polytechnic in Talata Marafa, Zamfara State,
who were set ablaze on August 22, 2016 by some fanatical Muslim youths on
allegations of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed? Fifteen years have
passed since a famous Nigerian Minister of Justice was murdered in cold blood
in his Ibadan
residence.
