By Chuks Eke
A human rights activist and lawyer, Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor Esq.(KSC) has said that history will never be kind to our past and present political leaders and their security appointdes who saw signs of bloodcurdling rampage of suspected Fulani herdsmen, turned away their eyes and allowed it to continue unabated till date.
He lamented that the blood curdling rampage has metastasised into a national cancer, systemic, widespread, and nearly unchecked, adding that this time around, what began as isolated tensions in the Middle-Belt has morphed into a full blown security and humanitarian crisis, consuming entire communities with chilling impunity.
In a press statement titled: “A nation burning from within -the monstrous trail of suspected Fulani herdsmen, issued on Monday, Ejiofor declared: “There comes a time in the life of a nation when silence becomes betrayal, betrayal of the living, the slain, and generations yet unborn. We have reached that moment”.
“The situation now bears all the hallmarks of an ethnic cleansing campaign: calculated, methodical, and unapologetically brutal”.
Reeling out a graphic details of where these ethnic cleansings are currently taking place in full force, Ejiofor further declared: “Just days ago, a family of five was brutally murdered in Imo State by suspected Fulani herdsmen. In Benue, the massacres have become a recurring nightmare”.
“From Guma to Logo, blood flows so frequently that even mourning has grown weary. In Plateau, death moves with rhythm and precision, leaving behind scorched villages and shattered lives”.
This is no longer a religious war or tribal conflict. Even Muslim communities are not spared. It is not Christian versus Muslim. It is life versus annihilation. The monster respects no faith, no ethnicity, no age. It spreads with vicious intent into every nooks and crannies of our towns and villages”.
“We are living atop a keg of gunpowder. These are not random acts of violence. These are acts of war. Yet we carry on; numb, divided, distracted, a nation sleepwalking toward catastrophe”.
He asked rhetorically: “When did human life become so cheap in this land of promise? And now, we must confront the questions that cut to the bone: “How do these heavily armed herdsmen move undetected across state lines? Who is supplying them with sophisticated weaponry? Who is leading them to fortified hideouts, shielding them with silence, or complicity? Has our security architecture been compromised?”
“Let us stop pretending we don’t know. The harsh truth is that some state governments are becoming overwhelmed, helpless, and increasingly paralysed”.
“In Amanasa, Awka North LGA of Anambra State, eyewitnesses report that the killers brazenly approached the community to “negotiate” – entering into an agreement with their devastated victims and issuing an ultimatum. That is the level of audacity we now face”.
“In Uzo Uwani, Enugu State, once a vibrant farming region, entire communities have abandoned their ancestral lands. Farmers no longer go to the fields. Fear now till the soil. Crops rot in place as children cower behind shuttered windows. Uzo Uwani is fast becoming a ghost town, a haunting emblem of a nation too weak to protect its own”.
“And in a most disturbing twist, just last week, the Enugu State Police Command reportedly invited Hon. Chijioke Ezeugwu, the Executive Chairman of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, for questioning. His “offence”? setting up a local security measure to support overstretched law enforcement agencies combating the marauding herdsmen terrorising his people. The implication is clear -a chairman who dares to protect his people is perceived as having crossed a line”.
“We must ask: Is self-preservation now a crime? Is this the Nigeria we have become; where terrorists roam freely, and those who resist are reprimanded? May God help us”.
“These herdsmen now move with impunity -beyond arrest, above the law, emboldened by a system that either looks away or has lost its will”.
“What we are witnessing is not just a security failure. It is a collapse of our moral foundation. A nation that cannot protect its farmers, mothers, and children asleep in their ancestral homes has forfeited its legitimacy. And nations that lose legitimacy do not endure”.
“So, this Monday, let us reflect, not just on what is happening, but on what lies ahead if this dangerous silence continues:
“How many more villages must be razed before we act? How many more children must be orphaned before we raise our collective voice? What will remain of Nigeria if entire regions are left to bleed in silence?”
“The time for passive observation is over. The time for mourning must now give way to action. Let this Monday awaken our national conscience. For history will not be kind to those who saw the signs, and turned away”.
