By Sunmola Olowookere

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Nigeria is currently going through a period that would probably go down in history as the worst phase of insecurity in the nation. The country is going through a period they only heard about in other countries which the citizens never imagined would come to the shores of Nigeria in their worst imagination.

As fate would have it, the dreaded monster named insecurity turned up and it became our turn to now live in fear and dread. When people leave their homes to go to work or places of worship, there is no certainty of return. Death lurks at every corner and the stench is more pronounced in the north.

In the midst of our tribulation, we long for a Nigeria where all live free and devoid of fear. We long for the return of our peace, plenty and security.

We look forward to the time when we can take our children on vacations again to different parts of the country without fear of being abducted on the highway. Families now stay cooped in their houses and the fearless ones that can go country trotting are few.

In our motherland where we had hitherto lived without fear, faceless beasts fall upon the people to plunder, loot and destroy. Nowhere is sacred. They attack everywhere and everyone. These beasts seemed to be without any religion or creed.

As they kill in the churches, they also plunder in the mosque. Nowhere is safe or exempted from their killing spree. Their mission seemed without purpose but they definitive have a mission. Our leaders have been rendered mute by the onslaught of senseless killings. Their tough talks were like the barking of a toothless and pawless dog. The bandits that plunder are unmoved and unfazed. They are unrelentless in their attack. They leave our security agencies speechless by the wickedness and wanton destruction.

 The powerful are powerless against their highly sophisticated weapons and intelligence. Our defense seemed puny against their might. Their backers and sponsors are unknown. However, it’s definite that these beasts are among our people.

Their attack and wanton destruction have been carried out in several places that one has lost count of them. However, the Owo massacre is still fresh in our minds. The shock is still prevalent especially among the people of the community as it brought the violence that they had been hearing about in the media forcibly home to them.

Have you ever stopped to think why it was so easy for evil people to perpetrate their crimes and thrive among us undetected? It is probably because their informants, sponsors are among our people. Our elders say “bi iku ile o ba pa ni, ti ode ko le pani”.

Those predating upon innocent souls live with us and we breathe the same air, drink the same water and feed from the same land yet they exude poison into our system.

They have grown fat from the proceeds of our land yet they still betray us as they sneakily go behind us and give our “killers” information about us that would help them to have a field day at our detriment. Our secret routes are at their finger tips. A Yoruba adage says “awon ti won ba ti nyo ile da, ohun buburu a ma a yo won se”. Loosely translated means betrayals will reap evil from the land”. They will not go unpunished.

The recently concluded case of the murder of Chief Reuben Fasoranti’s threw up some mysteries about the kind of people we harbour in our midst due to our magnanimity  but they turn back to stab us in the back while we blissfully sleep in our ignorance.

One of these is the former PRO of Miyyetti Allah in Ondo State, Adamu Adamu who was fingered and eventually convicted as the kingpin of the robbery syndicate that killed Mrs Funke Olakunori, the daughter of Pa Reuben Fasoranti.

This disclosure came to the fore before an Akure High Court when the convict was standing trial in the case.

He was a well-known interpreter in cases involving Fulanis and Hausas. Unknown to the Judiciary and others who see him as a leader in the society, he was one of the beasts ravaging our lands. He lived in a choice area in the Akure metropolis and was a bridge between the government and his people because he was learned.

During the celebrated case of the abduction of Chief Olu Falae, he was the Hausa interpreter. Then he looked suave and charming in his white Babariga. But after over two years at the Olokuta correctional centre custody, he was looking different from the successful businessman that helped the court out in interpreting to his kinsmen.

He was almost unrecognizable in his low moment as he looked gaunt in his prison uniform. However, the testimony of one of the prosecution witnesses, Seun Asake, a legal practitioner had juggled the court’s memory

The lawyer told the court that she stood in as legal representation for Adamu and the other defendants when they were arrested and was very familiar with the third defendant because he had been interpreter for her in some Fulani cases that she handled as a defense counsel.

However, Adamu had denied ever meeting the lawyer before and also claimed that he had never interpreted before any court.

As fate would have it, Justice Williams Olamide who was the trial judge in Olakunrin’s case was also the trial judge in Chief Falae’s case.

His blatant denial provoked the judge into cross examining him on his claims.

It was a mild drama as Adamu Adamu denied knowing the lawyer and was never an interpreter in court despite the judge’s prodding. That was probably one of the nails that nailed his coffin.

He had the effrontery to cockily lie about such a glaring issue. He was either foolish or ill advised. He was a man that leaves an impression on you when you meet him once. In the southwest, it is uncommon to see a Hausa man speak such good English because most of them that moved down to these parts are either traders and craftmen. Hence Adamu was an exceptional one among his kin and therefore unforgettable.

For the murder of Funke Olakunrin, he and his cohorts were sentenced to death by hanging.

Unfortunately, the death sentence might be likened to the sword of Damocles which will forever be hanging on his head and may never descend. This is due to the refusal of some Nigerian Governors to sign the death warrants of the convicts on death row. This adaptation is not helping to clean our system.

This crop of people becomes injected into the society again during jailbreaks which has become an easy thing for bandits due to the porous system of our prison custody.

Many atrocities would have been committed following the Kuje prison jail break. Many witnesses and victims may have been visited with retribution as the criminals roam free.

There is no use keeping those on death row hanging indefinitely. Let the corrupted part of our tree be pruned off in order to forestall further infection. May the Lord have mercy on their poor souls.

Governors need to consider signing those warrants especially now that insecurity is eating deep into the fabric of Nigeria so much that Nigerians face imminent hunger as farmers abandon their farms for fear of being kidnapped, maimed or killed.

The Nigerian government also need to hearken to the voice of the people calling for the establishment of State Police. It is time for aggressive and comprehensive policing of our borders, forests and neighbourhood.

Those that perpetrate evils among us work on Information and it is only those that lives among us that can provide them with those information. Existence of a State Police will reduce the operation of such evil doers as they will easily be caught by the long arm of the law.

This can only be possible if policing is brought closer to the people and the architecture is decentralized to all natives of a community to be part of the state police. Many criminals would be ferreted out of their hiding hole.

Our communities will no longer be conducive for bandits and thereby we will have an improved security. It is achievable with the required concerted efforts and collaboration of the people and security agencies through information and intelligence gathering.