Oluwaleke Olalekan Akande : A Case Study of the Many Horrors
Several Nigeria Newspapers report on Oluwaleke Olalekan Akande bring tears to the eye. When the young boy of 28, was posted to Jos, the Plateau State capital in the North Central area of the country for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, he thought he was lucky. He had prayed not to be posted to the far northern states because of fears that violent ethnic or religious crises such areas were known for, might break out and he did not want to be caught in any of that.
He must have sympathised with his colleagues at the Polytechnic Ibadan, who were posted to Sokoto, Borno, Kano and such states further north. To him, the posting to Plateau State was a prayer answered. Since his arrival in Jos on August 26 as part of the Batch A, Stream Two of the 2008 programme, Oluwaleke Olalekan, fondly called Baba Eto' meaning an organizer, had not complained.
He had adjusted well, enjoying his primary assignment and was always in regular touch with his parents, Mr. Adeagbo Akande and wife, Oluremi who live in Ibadan, Oyo State. But it turned out that the very Jos that Leke was thankful to have been posted to turn edout to be the soil that soaked his blood as he bled to death, having fallen to rampaging killers during the recent Jos mayhem in which hundreds of people were slaughtered.
His heartbroken mother, who had fondly called Leke, oko mi, meaning my husband, on Saturday, could not say much except to murmur in awe and disbelief asking: " How can a human being born of and suckled of a woman kill his fellow human being with whom he never ever disagreed in cold blood? Did the same God we worship create such people?"
His father said he and his late son "had such an understanding that it was like between husband and wife." He was also his father's favorite cook. To his siblings and members of the family, "Leke was the ultimate organizer and you could entrust anything to him and rest assured it would be done as you hoped. But now the organizer is gone forever so soon, long, long before his time," his brother, Leke's death was still like a fairy tale. "What have Youth Corps members to do with Local Council elections? "Why would anybody break into their apartment and kill three of them and take his phone," asked a family member, Abimbola. Leke was one of the members of NYSC posted in August to serve in Jos. He was the toast of the family. Leke was in the house of a family friend, Mr. Akinjogbin, whose son Ibukun and another, whom the rioters met in the compound, were also killed. When they entered the compound, Leke was said to be making calls to a family member, telling him that the rioters were getting closer. He was still talking when he was attacked and murdered. Up till last Wednesday, whenever we called his number, a voice in Hausa would answer and quickly put it off. By Thursday, the line had been switched off.
The murder is terrible. The slaughter has brought pain, not only to the family but also to families of the victims. Hundreds of fathers, mothers, sons and daughters were slaughtered in that carnage.
According to President-General of the Yoruba Community Council in the state, Chief Toye Ogushuyi, the losses suffered by his people were heavy. About 113 Yorubas, he said, lost their lives in the recent crisis. He stated this at a meeting between Governor Jonah Jang and community and religious leaders saying most of their corpses have been taken to their states for burial. Houses and businesses were destroyed and right now we are collating the losses of our people to be sent to the governors of the Yoruba states for possible assistance. An elderly man of 72 years had his house and business places burnt.
With tears in their eyes, including the state Deputy Governor, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, Ogunshuyi narrated how his people were hacked down or burnt over a crisis they knew nothing about.
He said many of the victims were caught unawares because their assailants wore military uniforms. He said Yorubas were peace loving adding, “we have been carrying out legitimate businesses in Jos since 1891 and we built the first church in Jos but we have been living peacefully without fighting to rule Jos”. The Yoruba leader said those who unleashed the violence should be identified and punished to restore the confidence of people in government's ability to protect lives and property.
The Igbo also suffered serious losses in the crisis because many of their shops and businesses were targeted by the hoodlums during the riot. Apart from the timber shed in Katako which was completely razed, the second hand vehicle parts market at Farin Gada where they sold vehicle engines, spare parts and other things was attacked, torched and looted. Many of their shops in other places were also not spared
Today, Laranto Market is now reduced to rubbles, more like an open field, as it was razed down and levelled in what could be described as mutually assured destruction or what in Nigerian parlance is called 'do me, I do you'. It was learnt that victims of initial attacks fought back to ensure that they all suffered the pain.
About 10,700 displaced persons have so far been identified by the Plateau government as a fall out of the politico-cum ethno religious crisis plaguing the state at the moment. These, according to the state government, are scattered all over the place, thereby creating serious problems bordering on their wellbeing and other health issues.
The state government, which disclosed that it is currently battling to cater for the displaced person scattered in different camps in Jos, appealed to the Federal Government and philanthropic individuals and organisations to assist the government in providing the necessary succour to the people in order not to allow epidemic situation in the state
The government admitted that out of the number, there are 7,650 Christian displaced persons while 2, 970 Muslims were presently in refuge camps in Jos.
The Church Reacts
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) Plateau State chapter has said no fewer than 40 places of Christian worship were burnt down in the Jos crisis. The PFN, at a press conference in Jos, said this is in addition to the many number of Christians murdered in the various worship centers. State chairman of the PFN Rev Samuel Alaha, who addressed the conference, said the PFN is disappointed with the role played by the Federal Government and its agencies like the Nigerian Army, saying it is suspicious how some of the hoodlums got army and police uniforms.
“Can the presidency, the Chief of Army Staff and the Inspector General of Police explain to the whole world how items like uniform and ammunition got into the hands of the teenagers that were recruited to carry out such dastardly acts against fellow citizens?'', he asked.
The PFN observed that the military brought three armored tanks and stationed all three at the Jos Central Mosque including the camps where displaced persons are concentrated, when according to him, the Churches suffered more losses. He said there is equally segregation in the distribution of relief material provided by the people of goodwill to the affected families and individuals now taking refuge in over 20 camps at various locations in the state due to the crisis.
Reacting to the horrors, the Prelate, Methodist Church of Nigeria Rt. Rev. Ola Makinde decried the killing and called on the President to set up a panel to investigate the matter. Very upset, he called the crisis, "one too many". He condemned the way Christians are ill-treated in the North whenever there was a riot. " This is unacceptable. How many times will some set of people think they could commit crime and go free. It happened in Bauchi, Kano, and Kaduna. It happened in Jos sometime ago and now this. At the least provocation, Christians and churches become targets". The Prelate called on government not to allow the culprits in the Jos crisis to escape being brought to book and punished.
The Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Archbishop Peter Akinola, has urged government to fish out the perpetrators of the crisis that trailed Thursday's local government election in Plateau State. Scores of people had been killed since violence erupted in Jos even before the election results were announced.
Speaking at the Diocese of Abuja Carnival for Christ celebration, he accused government of ``playing the ostrich'', on the recurring sectarian crisis in the country. ``We know these people who are bent on destroying the nation and for goodness sake they should be brought to justice,'' Akinola told journalists in Abuja. ``The problem in my opinion is that our government has never been able to bring to book the perpetrators of this evil. When it happened in Bauchi, we cried aloud, they said they would make arrests, they never did. When it happened in Kano, they never arrested anyone and when it happened in Zaria too, no-one was arrested. Even where they were arrests they were later released.
``So if government has had the courage to bring justice to those who engage in the evil, it would have served as a deterrent to others. I call on this government to stop playing the ostrich and stop being hypocritical,'' he asserted.
The Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC) condemned the crisis, saying it should have been prevented to avoid the wanton destruction that followed its aftermath. Addressing newsmen in Kaduna, its National President, Rev Dr. Reuben Chuga, and General Secretary Rev (Dr) Solomon Ishola, decried the situation appealed for peace and restraint from all residents of Jos. The church outrightly condemned the killings by saying that there was no justification for certain elements in the state to resort to killing and burning of religious houses and property of innocent people who had nothing to do with the local government elections. "Based on the sensitive nature of Jos, in view of past crises, the government and security agencies should have pre-empted the crisis and made more adequate preparations to nip it in the bud before it degenerated to the present level.
While some Nigerians have demanded for investigation, others were of the opinion that an attempt to sweep the matter under carpet like previous ones may amount to setting the nation on a keg of gunpowder. A legal practitioner condemned the killings, describing such as "a barbaric act of the 21st Century. This may draw the nation backwards and cause distrust and hatred. Imagine young vibrant men whose parents have invested a lot to train, only for some hoodlums to just kill without reason.”
At the Vatican, Catholic Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, prayed for the victims of the Jos mayhem. He urged the world to express horror and disapproval at the senseless violence. Executive Director of the Christian Foundation for Social Justice and Equity, (CFSJES), Mr. Joseph Sangosanya, described the situation as "genocide."
The CFSJES director said the state government mismanaged the whole situation because it allegedly ignored security reports about in-flow of people into Jos. "The information system by all the government agencies was not properly managed. Late deployment of soldiers contributed to the mass killings, which we see as genocide and the process of the election itself, which was not credible, led to the mayhem.
"And we see the aggressors as the few individuals who want to perpetuate their expansionist tendencies and we ask that the government should immediately set up a judicial commission of inquiry to unravel the immediate and remote cause(s) of the carnage and those arrested should be charged to court immediately.
Security Situation
The Nigerian Army had taken over security in Jos. Chief of Army Staff, General Abdulrahman Dambazza, personally led fully armed troops to take over security in the Plataeu State capital. The police had earlier dispatched an Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr. Richard Chime, to assist in quelling the riots, but when security reports became alarming, Dambazzau had to be moved to Jos.
In the days following these senseless killings, we have seen official and unofficial sympathisers resorting to familiar scripts. The President ordered the police and service chiefs to hotfoot it to Jos; political and religious leaders called for calm; and talks of panels and commissions of enquiries became rife. These actions and talks would have been comforting if they were products of a quest, by federal and state officials, to atone for the abysmal failure of leadership that caused the crisis to escalate in the first place. On the contrary, this isn't about penance; it is business as usual.
Some fellows have been commending President Umar Yar'Adua for 'bringing the situation under control'. Their motives are questionable. This government deserves no such pat on the back. It failed to respond to early warning signals, waited for four days before moving decisively. In India, where 178 lives were lost during the Mumbai terrorist attacks, a number of public officials have resigned and government has made profuse efforts to assuage public anger. In Nigeria, where the Jos fatalities exceeded those of Mumbai by hundreds, not a single resignation has been recorded.
Continuing Tension
Tension still continue to mount as the the Jos North Muslim community in Plateau State has alleged that 564 of its people were being detained illegally at the Jos Central Prison after their arrest in the wake of the sectarian crisis penultimate week.
The group in an open letter to the Comptroller General of Prisons in the state, signed by counsel to the community Barrister Lawal Ishaq, said, “We hereby write to complain about the illegal detention of our clients who were arrested by the police and other security operatives under the guise of participating in the recent Jos crisis.” It said the suspects were being detained at the Jos prison at the instance of the police without order of any court. The community said the action of the prison service amounts to the abuse of prison services rules and regulation.
Ishaq told newsmen that a suspect is only taken to prison on two conditions: “When the suspect is arraigned in a court and the court does not have the power or jurisdiction to hear the case; or where a suspect is being convicted by a competent court of law. But neither the first nor the second instances are applicable in this case.”
The Hausa Community in Jos, Plateau state has said it won't appear before a state instituted judicial panel of inquiry to look into the recent crisis because they have lost confidence in the state government. Rep Samaila Mohammed (ANPP, Plateau State) told newsmen that the state government is culpable in the crisis and constituting any panel of inquiry by the Governor Jonah David Jang is tantamount to him adjudicating in its own case.
“We don't have faith in the administration of Governor David Jonah Jang, his government is culpable, he is part of the problem, should the government decide to constitute a judicial panel of inquiry we would not appear before it, because doing so would mean Governor Jang is presiding over his own case. What we want is a judicial panel of inquiry instituted by the Federal government and not by the Plateau state government, if the Governor is thinking along that line; because the crisis is a premeditated plan to teach some people a lesson never to protest again”, he added.
Concerted Prayers Needed
We must continue to pray for absolute peace to return as no meaningful missionary work can be launched out from a base where war, pain and agony thrives. Beside, we have no option but to love the Muslim. We are enjoined to love our enemies and to do good to them that hates us. All those killed without Christ will go to hell. The devil is full of wrath and is responsible for sending humanity to untimely hell knowing that he has but a short time. (Rev. 12:12). We must bring back the King via the preaching of the gospel to all nations. Maranatha!
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