IN THE SEASON OF KILLING

The race is on for the title of the deadliest killer in the north. All the news that comes out from the region now days is almost about one group or another going on killing spree. And do I need to add they no longer kill with fear? They kill in tens and some even have the confidence to take it higher than that and go in the region of hundreds. From Fulani cattle or is it cattle Fulani to Boko Gangs and friends the killing machine is well oiled and getting stronger. No one is safe, not even the governor, I dare say not even the president. (I trust my president; he won’t even dare venture there. Ever heard the proverb; let the dead bury their dead?) They kill at the rate they want and when they are tired, they withdraw not because of security men chasing them but because they want to have others to kill come another day. Even my eight year old pupil is afraid; she has been begging her father to take her back to USA. She is afraid that when the killers in the north don’t have anyone to kill again, they will turn in the direction of the south. Will the madness stop soon or are we set to witness a record breaking murder spree? Sincerely I have almost lost all trust in government. Ask the people at the scene of those killing spree they will tell you of their doubt whether government is not really a relic of the past. Gone are the days when government’s words are matched with action, when the commander in chief read riot acts and criminals catch cold, welcome to the days when criminals read their own riot act, act like the de-facto commander in chief. A season in which Boko haram now levies tax and in which the life of a cow equates to ten human lives. Welcome to the era of killing. Now that the Cattle Fulani have decided to beat Boko gangs and friends in their game, I hope we pause for a minute each time we are ‘unfortunate’ to eat beef and save a thought for those people on whose blood the cattle trod to maturity. Yet I know something clearly, he who kill by sword (gun and bomb inclusive) will surely die by one. And am also sure there is always a bound to every patience, even a goat will turn back at its pursuer when pushed to the wall, someday (when I don’t really know but am sure if this trend continues) the killed will turn back and woe betide those at the back of the muzzle, not even all the bullets in the world will stop them. And to those who are in the business of arming the killing machine, continue, there is always a reward for every action. But seriously will the government recover from its state of impotency and make a group… just a group an example? Deal with a group so much that even if others don’t change they will at least have a respect for something called government? Be less calm in their murderous campaign? We are waiting.