The most disturbing video that I accidentally saw in a long time was from Saturday morning’s sordid events on Rukuba Road in Jos. “Accidentally” because, I long ago advised my contacts on WhatsApp not to send disturbing videos to me without warning, in order to safeguard my [fragile] mental health. The one sent on Saturday was part of a bunch; after opening one, I did not look at the others.
A young thug moving together with a riotous crowd came upon the corpse of a man in white robes lying face down on the street, either already dead or nearly so. He lifted a huge stone high up and smashed it on the man’s head. My stomach revolted at the sight. This cold-blooded murderer was at least in his late teens. Nearly two decades of nurturing by parents, uncles and aunties, years of value-laden tales told by grandparents, many sermons by pastors, careful steering by school teachers, wise advice from traditional rulers, daily admonitions by government and political leaders, enlightenment programs by radio stations, warnings by security agents, threats by International Criminal Court and even visa restrictions by foreign powers, all failed to reign in this young man in that moment of insanity?
Plateau State police said the ambushing of travelers on the strategic Jos-Bauchi road, the killing of 33 persons profiled as Muslims and the wounding of a dozen others was carried out by Irigwe youths from surrounding communities. For many days previously, there had been attacks and counter attacks against people they believe to be Muslims, so they blocked the highway and attacked anyone they identified as a Muslim. This was what happened on many occasions in Plateau State up until about two years ago, culminating in the killing of retired Major General Idris Alkali, whose car soldiers fished out from a deep old mining pond at Du. Add to the litany of failures, Irigwe youths’ failure to learn lessons from Du, in the aftermath of which the Army laid siege to some towns, conducted thorough searches and mass arrests, brushed aside protesting nude women while they drained a pond and fished out the missing General.
It was a case of ethno-religious profiling of the worst kind because these travelers were from Ondo State. They were returning from a Tijjaniya religious festival in Bauchi. Quite likely, most of them were travelling to the North for the first time. Quite likely too, most of them knew nothing about ethno-religious problems in Plateau State. Even if they did, they certainly had nothing to do with it and quite likely felt that it had nothing to do with them either, being from Ondo State.
It is bad enough that neighbouring communities in Nigeria still engage in senseless wars, sometimes for ridiculous reasons. It is even worse when they indiscriminately profile other citizens and kill them in cold blood for things they know nothing about. Irigwe thugs who did this atrocity happened to be Christians. They did not care a hoot that the murders could invite so-called reprisal attacks locally and nationally.
Muslim thugs are by no means innocent of similar offences. In 1992 when the Tafawa Balewa violence spilled over into Bauchi metropolis, I went there to report the story for Citizen magazine. I heard the story of an Imam of a Bauchi mosque who noticed that thugs congregated there and were planning to launch so-called reprisal attacks. Tension was high in Bauchi because corpses and injured persons were brought in from Tafawa Balewa.
So the Imam hurriedly preached to the youths. He said the Shari’a allowed for revenge but in seeking revenge, one cannot just attack anyone he profiles. He must first go Tafawa Balewa and even when he goes there, it is not every profiled person that could be attacked; no, you must properly identify the person who killed your kinsman before you act. The Imam became the first casualty.
