THERE is no gainsaying the obvious that many Nigerians are convinced that the country is going down every blessed day and Nigerians are getting frustrated every day because of the failure of our government to do the needful. The economic climate is so harsh that so many Nigerians have lost hope, while the light- hearted are committing suicide.
Unfortunately, it is not just the economic hardship and quagmire, but other problems that Nigerians are made to go through, especially the alarming insecurity in the country. These situations have become so unbearable that Nigerians are beginning to lose hope in everything and in everybody; the Politicians, our traditional rulers, the police, the military, church leaders and other highly placed people in the society.
In 2020. A friend of mine from one of the communities around Uromi in Edo State, lost his father, mother and other siblings in the hands of suspected Fulani herdsmen, who attacked them in their farm. In fact, between 2020 and 2024 many innocent people from the Uromi axis were brutally murdered. In fact, the entire country is not safe. All the assurances made by both the Edo State and Federal governments to put an end to those unwarranted killings did not yield any result. Nobody was ever arrested, no compensation was paid to the bereaved families and none of the Governors from the north came to sympathize with the people of Edo State.
To prevent further loss of lives, the people, especially the youths, started organizing vigilante groups to protect their people since the governments have failed woefully to perform their basic functions which the protection of lives and property are integral part. The young men took their destinies in their hands and started guarding and protecting their people. Peace was restored and the people once again returned to their farms, but not without occasional skirmishes between the evil men and the farmers.
The unfortunate thing is that according to reports from Edo State, the new government that took over power in the State failed woefully to protect its citizenry and never cared about the welfare of these young vigilante men that were standing in for their people. It was said that sometime in late last year, there were reports of killing of innocent farmers again, and like before, the security agents also failed in their duties to protect the people. It was like telling the people, to your tents oh ye people. Notwithstanding this lack of concern by the government and security agents, the vigilante groups continued to do their work to protect their people. Unfortunately, an ugly incident occurred in Uromi on the 29th of March, 2025 where some perceived hunters armed with guns and carrying huge sums of money travelling back to their base in Kano were killed.
One would have expected the State government to first of all set up a powerful investigative team to ascertain if those victims were actually hunters or terrorists that have been killing and rapping women in different areas of the Southern part of Nigeria. But why should the government of Edo State do that when the tribunal judgment was few days to go when the incident occurred, and the Governor and government must be in the good book of Northern political leaders.
In fact, the Governor quickly led a very powerful delegation to Kano to beg and he gave a promise to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Unfortunately when some families were wiped out and their women raped in their farms, he did not visit or send delegation to commiserate with the bereaved families. This is the character of some political leaders we have in the South, ready to betray their people for their own selfish interest. The Governor has promised to ensure that the culprits are convicted without finding out whether the victims were actually hunters or terrorists and kidnappers. Unfortunately, all the suspects arraigned for the killing of Deborah in Sokotowere all discharged and acquitted for lack of proper prosecution, but the Governor of Edo State has promised to ensure that his brothers are properly prosecuted to ensure their conviction.
Nobody is encouraged or supported to take life, especially the lives of innocent people, but people can resort to self-help when the protection of their lives is not guaranteed by those constitutionally empowered to do so. One thing is certain, people cannot resort to self-help if the government and security personnel are doing their jobs. In civilized societies, the governments put every machinery in place to protect the lives of her citizens, but here in Nigeria, the citizens struggle to protect themselves and provide other necessities of life that the federal government has failed woefully to provide.
In civilized societies, the Edo State government and the Federal government would be held responsible for what happened at Uromi, because they failed to play their constitutional roles of protecting the citizens. As it stands today, Nigerians are afraid of their country because the government cannot protect them. You cannot travel to anywhere in Nigeria without the fear of being killed or kidnapped by the bad people. Farmers cannot go to their farms because of the fear of being killed or their women being raped. And when you act on self-defense, your government will fish you out for proper prosecution, and there must be a delegation to placate some people in order to protect their political interests. In fact, Nigerians are now afraid of their country, Nigeria.
