NIGERIA: Igangan, a new slaughter slab

Once again, Igangan, in Ibarapa North Local Government, have come under frenzy attack by the men from the cockpit of hell which has left the community torn apart with blood flowed on nook and crannies of the town, with houses ransacked and burned by the gun wielding bandits , shooting anyone at sight and setting ablaze people’s property.

I grew up and spent the first eighteen years of my life in Eruwa, Ibarapa East Local Government Area of Oyo state. While growing up in Eruwa, a man could be assured of his safety by sleeping outside till day break without trepidation and fearful agony of being kidnapped. These things were a given we thought not until the herders discovered that there is an easier means of making money than charging through the thick forest with cows, hence many abandoned their pastoral life  for kidnapping for ransom, highway robbers, banditry among others.

Last year,  similar scenario played out between seriki Fulani boys and Igangan people  which led to the emergency of Igbohoism and put the whole of Ibarapa, a region known for her suzerainty atmosphere on the world map for a reason we did not wish, but couldn’t help.

Unfortunately, this attack was a child’s play compared to the incident of the attacked experienced in Igangan in the last few days, as the town now attracted bandits from the cockpit of hell killing people at will without anyone to put a stop to their nefarious activities.

The Igangan attack was one violent too many. The mode of operation (where siege was laid to a whole town for more than an hour  by the bandits numbered fifty (50), who came in through Iganna, a border town  between Nigeria and Benin Republic on bicycle. This mode of operation is not different from how bandits operate in Katsina, Zamfara  and other banditry enclave state, and  boko-haram prone towns. The number of causality, the number of those men from the cockpits of  hell involved,  and the  horrific proportion scale of the loss of lives and property,  made it probably the worst attack in ibarapa land in recent times .  He, who feels the pains, knows the pain.

The pictures coming from Igangan  broke me down . Sadly, by the time the men from the cockpit of the hell left through thick forest  Ofoki river, lifeless bodies were  liters all over the place, with dead body of more than 50 people have reportedly picked in the surrounding forest and very many sustained injuries while running away from the hullabaloo .

Will all of us abandon our homes because of these provocative attacks by the bandits ? Not possible!

There are many dimensions and ways in which these incessant attacks could be laid to rest. We can’t continue to wait for the government while our people become a cow being slaughter by Fulani herdsmen on a daily basis. It’s time to write to  the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for establishment of a well equipped special mobile police unit in the region.

Also, as forms of immediate safety net, the state government should outlaw the uses of motorcycle beyond 5:00pm in the region, as this will enable necessary preventive measure against the enemy of the state.

But far more critical, is the need for the establishment of state forestry guild trained and empowered with sophisticated weapons that could counter that of  the bandits and not embarrassed  guns carried by the much celebrated Amotekun.

In many of these insecurities brouhaha, government has lost people’s confidence, if not, how could bandits penetrated a town like Igangan without any wind of the news for counter measures even when the intelligence report suggested possible reprisal attack. To avoid bloodshed, government must demonstrate beyond statement that they are on the side of the people.

In the long run, it is never too late for structural readjustment in confronting issues tearing us apart and this lead to the issue of restructuring. The country need reorganization, the dominance of power at the center has proven to be a fail model. Since 1999, that Nigeria has returned to democracy, despite oil boom; there has not been much gain compare to when Nigeria was practicing regional system of government.

Every successive governments have not been able to rally her citizens toward harnessing our greatness. The alternative we abandoned for life of easy oyel money has proven to be much more effective owing to our diversity. From the North, to the South, each state of the federation has one advantage over the other, the practice of waiting for ‘Abuja order’  before the state government can go after criminal elements is a miscalculation model that will kill this country if the country did not kill it.

According to Mrs. Bamidele Ademola Olateju, every miscalculation based on the old order will move us towards plebiscite and fighting to hold on to the last vestige of privilege is not a strategy at all, it’s a loser’s mindset. It’s time to use this period of constitutional review to push  for dismantle of this system that had kept us away from one another on account of mutual suspicion that make it impossible to live together  peacefully.

A country like ours is too big for central policing system; the national assembly as a matter of urgency needs to heed to the cry of Nigerians toward amendment or total overhaul of 1999 constitution to allow for a constitution that reflect and promote our diversity. For instance, creation of state police and restructuring has generated mutual suspicions between the South and the North, this mutual suspicion can be resolved to promote security of lives of citizens which is the first indices of good governance.

Unfortunately, we have been let down by the government at all levels . I do hope government will put on her thinking cap to find a lasting solution to this incessant attacks, if not it is a matter of time before people resolved to self help .

A trying time for us in Ibarapa, may God console the families of the victims; indeed, it was a day of horror in Igangan and the whole of Ibarapa.

 

 

Adediji Wasiu, writes from Ibarapa , Oyo state, Southwest Nigeria.