Life Is Our Most Valuable Gift: We Need Swift Actions To End Bandits Attack In The North

By Ado Umar Lalu
One of the most important obligation of the government is the provision of adequate security to protect the citizens against the threats of crime and criminal. In the absence of security nothing can be achieved in terms of development in all aspects of societal life.
Northern Nigeria is the most peaceful region before and after indepence that has less records of crime both property and violent crimes. The relative peaceful coexistence in the north attracted people from other parts of Nigeria and overseas to settled without fear due to the accommodative nature of northerners.
Disagreements, disputes and conflicts arises from time to time as a result of human nature. Some maybe resolved peaceful and others ends in violence conflicts. Unlike conflicts that occurs periodically, the violence and fear associated with crimes in all it’s ramifications occurs frequently almost on daily basis. However, the conflicts in the north gradually transformed into criminal enterprises thar wrecked havoc on innocent citizens and puts their lives and properties susceptible to criminal attacks in the north.
The emergence of boko-haram insurgency, cattle rustling and rural banditry makes the northeast the most dangerous and dreaded region as a result of daily campaigns of violence of boko-haram, while northwest suffers from banditry in addition to the boko-haram attacks that makes lives valueless.
The violent attacks of insurgents and banditry resulted into the deaths of several thousands and loss of property worth billions of Naira without any hope of an end to these security challenges that makes northwest a high risks place to live.
The silence of our politicians, traditional rulers, business men and our regional association like Arewa Consultative Forum and others to demand for an immediate end to these senseless killings, theft and destructions of properties of northerners contributed in a number of ways that makes bandits, criminals and insurgent to feels that the government and security forces are unable and weak to confront them.
However, if we look at Afenifere and other regional and tribal associations in the southern parts of the country, we can clearly see their concerns anytime police or criminals anyone of them, they came out enmass wholeheartedly to condemned it and demand for justice and immediate end to killings of their tribal/regional men and women. They launched series of campaigns in print, electronic and social media. The government quickly response by sympathizing with the victims and threats to punish the culprits. One may terribly feel sad as we are losing hundreds on daily or weekly basis but the government do not send the kind of condolence messages usually sent on occasion of losing single live through criminals or extra-judicial killings in the southern parts.
The selective sympathies between the southern and northern makes northerners to feels our lives do not matter most despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the APC votes 2015/2019 came from the north.
In the present predicament without any doubt, Hon Muhammad Gudaji representing Kazaure, Gwiwwa, Roni and Yankwashi Federal Constituency became our hero and golden voice of the voiceless masses affected by banditry and other security challenges. His boldness to tell the authority the bitter truth on the realities on ground is highly commendable.
The popular opinions of the common man on the streets is that, insecurity threatening northern parts of the country is a money making business among the security operatives who do not want to see it’s end, that is why they failed to take swift actions to approach the matter holistically to deal with crime and security threats from all angles.
Another popular opinion and believe of the masses is that the insecurities in the north mostly affected the poor and less-privileged Nigerians not our elected and appointed politicians and those holding strategic positions in government.
Be that as it may, Hon Gudaji have took the bull by the horns as an elected representative who is concerned with the security of lives and properties of the people in his constituency and the entire northerners. We hopes all the stakeholders from the President downwards should critically and objectively analyze the submissions made by Hon Gudaji with open minds and intention to do the needful to end these bloodsheds that turns the once peaceful northwest becoming a graveyards for the indigenous people of the area who the matters only when election is around the corner. Had it been our Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Director-Generals, SSA/SA, Senior Military Officers and other security forces, Governor and Commissioners with their immediate families are falling victims of boko-haram, bandits and other criminal gangs all hands will be on deck to deal with them ruthlessly.
People are now gradually becoming hopeless in the system as a result of living constantly under the fear of violent attacks from the bandits. There is nothing you can tell or give someone who lost his parents and their belongings. We can replace the lost properties but cannot bringback their dead ones to please them. Time is really running out but security, prosperity and stability remains difficult or impossible to achieve. I do hopes very soon everybody will smile and sleep with our eyes close.
Ado Umar Lalu
08060306089
adoumarlalu57@gmail.com