Rape is as bad as every other violent act in Nigeria -By Segun Ogunlade

The recent cases of Uwa Omozuwa and Barakat Bello, who were both raped and killed, have caused many angry and emotional outbursts in the country. As many cases are being reported and many names continue to be mentioned, we should take note that killing the victim after the rape might be the new mode of operation of those that commit such crimes. What killing the victims after committing the acts means is that they would forever remain silent about the crime and the criminals would live on to enjoy their lives. Whilst we pray that the men of the Nigerian Police Force would fish out the criminal and mete out the correct punishment on them using the instrument of the state, one cannot but wonder how human lives has come to count for nothing in Nigeria.

For one, the country is now so precarious that one could wake up alive and be dead before the end of the day. The nation is failing and the government seems to be incapacitated in nipping the unwarranted killings in the bud. Nowhere is safe again. Even the holy sanctuaries are not left out as places where acts of violence are now perpetrated. The security of lives and properties are not secured and everyone now fears for his or her life. Security in Nigeria has never been this bad and now, we can’t sleep worth our two eyes closed.

For a country that is the poverty capital of the world, this rate of violence is not unexpected. Poverty makes aggression especially when they see their political leaders living in affluence. And when people are aggressive, violent acts are inevitable. This is not to say that violent acts such as rape could be raped, but when poverty is prevalent in land, the aggression makes people commit different crimes. But as it is now, rape is not the only violent act Nigeria now has to deal with.

Since 2009, the country has witnessed a varying degree of onslaught from Islamic sect, Boko Haram. Over a decade after, the country still struggles to curtail the activities of this deadly group but it seems the scourge of Boko Haram insurgent is one that is not ready to leave the country. For some years, a large chunk of the country’s annual budget has gone into improving security, especially to curtail the activities of this death that have destroyed many towns and killed many innocent citizens in Northern Nigeria, especially North-Eastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe and some states in the North West. Many Nigerians have been forced to leave the comfort of their homes and remain residents of Internally Displaced Persons’ Camp. Several women and children have been kidnapped by the insurgents for sexual purposes. The most despicable of their kidnapping was that of 276 schoolgirls from Federal Government Girls College, Chibok, Borno state in April, 2014. There was also the kidnap of some schoolgirls from a school in Dapchi, Yobe state, among who was Leah Sharibu. In November 2018, there was the Metele massacre when about 118 soldiers from the Nigerian Army were killed in their camp. Besides the civil war, Boko Haram is the worst thing that has happened to Nigeria since independence.

As the country was battling with how to contain Boko Haram insurgency, the Fulani herdsmen crisis reared its head and worsen security if it lives in Nigeria. Although the Federal Government has reduced their activities to a mere crisis between the herders and local farmers in several states including Zamfara, Kaduna, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo and Ekiti. The most worrisome issue regarding the Fulani herdsmen is that many of them have been reported to come from other countries including Sudan, Mali, Niger, Chad, etc. They have killed many people on their farms while they have also kidnapped a number of persons.

Benue and Kaduna states seem to have suffered the most from the herdsmen. In February 2016, herdsmen attacked Agatu, a region in Benue state, and about 300 persons were killed while almost 7,000 people were displaced in one of the greatest onslaughts in the state. From that time to date, many attacks have been launched against farmers in their villages and many farms have also been destroyed and many more are being destroyed. According to a Punch newspaper report published on the newspaper’s website on June 4, 2020, suspected Fulani herdsmen killed 13 persons and stole cattle belonging to natives in a renewed attack on Itskpa community, an area under the Obi Local Government Area of the state.

There have been many attacks in Southern Kaduna too. From 2016 to date, the rate of attacks has been on the increase. Even the Covid-19 lockdown in the state has not stopped the Fulani herdsmen from attacking villages. A news report on csw.org on May 13, 2020 reads: Armed attacks on five villages leave 25 dead in Kaduna state and the armed men were reported to be of Fulani origin. On May 25, 2020, Sahara Reporters reported that armed Fulani herdsmen attacked a village in southern Kaduna where they killed about five people. During the attack that lasted for about five days from May 19 to 24, 78 people were injured, 607 houses were destroyed and 231 cows were rustled while at least 51 persons were reported missing. Their latest attack was on the 3rd of June 2020. According to Sahara Reporters, the Fulani herdsmen invaded Tudun Daka community in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state where they killed dozens of persons in their homes.

Add Boko Haram insurgency, Fulani herdsmen onslaught, raping, and killing of innocent women to bandit attacks in the North West and armed robberies attacks in some parts of Lagos and Ogun states, then you will know that Nigeria is truly a nation that is bedeviled with a high level of insecurity. Whereas the recent cases of Uwa Omozuwa and Barakat Bello have got everyone on the social media angry and calling for justice, it is surprising that the spate of attacks on and killings of innocent citizens by Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, bandits, and armed robbers has generated little or no discussion. For me, every life matters and not just the ones that are lost to rape. Killing is killing whichever way it happened, either through the hands of Boko Haram members or rapists, bandits, or Fulani herdsmen.

Despite the fact that rape and killing of the victim is now a trending topic on social media, that is where the entire outburst would end. Nigerians are not the type to take to the streets to protest against anything they are not comfortable with, but they could set social media on fire. It is true that the social media sometimes get the attention of those in power, but when the case of Uwa and Barakat and those of the celebrities that were accused of rape had died, I wonder what they hashtags will be about. Early last week, the unlawful killing of George Floyd in the U.S.A and Cynthia Morgan were the trending topics and everyone was suddenly anti-racist. Towards the end of the week, people started solving matters on Twitter. This week, everyone has started the anti-rape campaign. Social media always follow the trend and once an issue is no longer trending, it is as good as a forgotten case.

But all these acts of violence are evidence that the Nigerian state is indeed going down and many citizens are to take responsibility for their own safety anywhere they found themselves in the country. They are telling us that the government has failed in its primary responsibility of protecting the citizens within its border. If foreigners could enter the country to kill innocent citizens and Boko Haram could decimate the men of the Nigerian Army, it shows the level of failure of political administration in the country. The more the cases of violent killings are increasing, the more it becomes clear that the country’s security system has failed and it shows the country as one that needs saving from violence.

When the officers of the state charged with the protection of lives and properties have continually shown ineptitude, the onus lies with the citizens to take their own security seriously. After all, the Nigerian government is not popular for meeting the needs of its citizens and many are doing for themselves what the government should do for them. Instead of us being people that follow trends on the social media when and forget them as soon as people stopped talking about them, we should be people that officers of the state fear because of the power we hold over them because it is not ours to fear elected officers of the state, but theirs to fear us. We should strive to make the people in government live up to their responsibilities. Nigerian soil is too blood-soaked and we collect every act that contributed to making it so. Lastly, let us condemn every violent activity going on in the country and not just rape because it fits a topic the topic of discussion for many of us that are self-acclaimed moralists.

Written by Segun Ogunlade