Chibok, Dapchi: It is bad to play politics with kidnapping, insecurity and death of common people

Insecurity in Nigeria

Chibok, Dapchi:  It is bad to play politics with kidnapping, insecurity and death of common people

The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria on Media and Communications, Mallam Garba Shehu, a week a go made some startling revelation about the state of the nation and said that insecurity, which comprises the activities of the Boko Haram and herdsmen, is a creation of some politicians who want to exploit opportunities to win elections in 2019.

At the point Mallam Shehu made the remarks on a national television, the 110 schoolgirls who were kidnapped in Dapchi, Yobe State by Boko Haram were still not found, their parents and loved ones were still nursing the anguish of losing dear ones in terrible circumstances. Even a number of the schoolgirls who were kidnapped in Chibok in 2014 by same Boko Haram men were still not found. It is instructive to note that these girls who are involved in this violence are human beings who are entitled to protection by government.

On Wednesday, when the Dapchi girls were reportedly released by their captors, five of the innocent girls were said to have died and one was in a critical health condition following the conditions they were subjected to during the process. There is no gainsaying the fact that the kidnapped schoolgirls together with their family members, friends, relatives and concerned local and international bodies go through some serious trauma over the abductions, yet, flicker of information from the authorities is that some people are behind the kidnapping and sundry insecurity drama in the country.

At least 25, 000 persons have died directly as a result of activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria from 2009 and property and livelihood have been razed down too. The activities of the Fulani herdsmen are upsetting locals and farmers, especially in the Northern part of the country since 2015. The cases of Benue State, Taraba State, Plateau State, Niger State among others are quite regrettable.

The nature of the kidnap and release of the Dapchi schoolgirls is equally disturbing. The opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called it a poorly written script and while the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) attacked the PDP for failing to appreciate the enormity of work done by the federal government in procuring release of the girls. All these arguments are coming from the highly placed while the victims are the common people. It is sad and must stop. Every human being is entitled to life no matter the state of birth.

It is ridiculous that some educated people and leaders in the country come on the national media to show support in favour of some elements who orchestrate violence like the Boko Haram and militants in Nigeria. Some people even argue a life-line for them.

Nigeria has had more than its own fair share of insecurity. It is sad when this violence could be traced by some highly placed people who live a cosy life with their families and friends while the common people are used as pawns in the game of chess to score some political goal. Whether it is true or not that these dramas are being stage-managed, it is more horrendous to imagine that humans use other humans as baits to hunt political offices. This is the height of man’s inhumanity to man and perpetrators of these dastardly acts should stop forthwith.