Must Read: Hell is empty..

            Hell is empty; and all the devils are here.’ – William Shakespeare, The Tempest

The increase in the rate of random violence in Nigeria is disturbing. But then, one must wonder if indeed there is really an increase in violence or just increased access to information via social media and what not. Whatever the case may be, it is still disturbing. Just when we’re trying to recover from the horror of
one, another news headline, even more shocking, comes up that makes the other one seem like child’s play. The uproar of each one is drowned out by the uproar of a fresh one and before we know what’s happening, we forget.
Justice is not served. Investigations go on till eternity. Police and the Ugo Ozuah killing, Maiduguiri killings, Mubi killings, Aluu Massacre, Queen Akindeleni and the metal object that was brutally inserted into her vagina by police officers. Who knows what it will be tomorrow? Who knows when it will end?
If indeed violence is on the increase, perhaps this is an indication that Nigeria is reaching the tipping point and the government needs to pay attention. Any organisation, community or country without effective law and order cannot last. Crime and punishment is essential. Until the government realises that its primary function is to maintain law and order, every other thing it does is a waste of time. The crime and punishment system has to work!
This method of carrying out never ending investigations and setting up committees until something worse happens and the people forget is going to crash on all our heads soon. It is not sustainable. I cannot and will never justify what the Aluu people did but if they trusted the justice system to work, they wouldn’t have felt the need to take laws into their hands. They would have reported the matter to the police and handed the boys over, trusting them to do their job. But how could they?
The government needs to step up and get this right before we all give in to animalistic tendencies and start killing each other on the streets. I am sure they know this already. They also know that getting law and order right means that they’ll need to clean out their own house first. Therein lies the rub. They cannot cast stones because they are not without sin.
There is fire on our mountain and if no one starts to run soon, we will get to a point where we no longer have the opportunity to run and this fire will consume us all.

-Dania Idam


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