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Niran Adedokun
Every day, Nigeria gets worse in its dehumanisation of people. Imagine this: an ordinary citizen who works as a security guard for a state ministry does his best to send his daughter to school. It is doubtful that the Niger State government, where he works, pays the N30,000 minimum wage that the Federal Government and the Nigerian Labour Congress agreed on a couple of years back. But, anyhow, there’s no chance that this man earns more than that amount monthly. Between him and his wife, there are eight children. From the N30,000 he earns, ten people would feed, take care of their medical needs, clothe themselves and possibly take care of some less fortunate family members. Yet he finds the grace to send his daughter to acquire a tertiary education, apparently hoping that she would get a job after graduation and help the family at least by sending her siblings to school. And then, one afternoon, two years after his precious daughter started this journey home, he gets the sad news that his daughter has lost her life for alleged blasphemy against Prophet Mohammed (PHUB).
Some reports claim that the man, Emmanuel Garba, and loads of security agents watched helplessly as a mob snuffed the life out of 22-year-old Deborah Samuel. It is difficult to imagine that anything could be more gruelling for a parent, especially when those paid to forestall and prevent such events could do nothing about it.
But that isn’t the end of this man’s misery. The state, which bred the army of people who passed judgement and killed this promising girl extrajudicially, did not recognise the parents’ grief. They paid no condolence visits, and when the man decided to move his daughter’s corpse to his village for burial, the burden of producing one hundred and twenty thousand naira to convey the remains fell on him. It is unclear whether these state governments have done anything to commiserate with or assuage the family’s sense of loss. Yet, leaders should demonstrate regret for their inability to protect citizens! The family’s decision to stop its other children from going to school failed to catch the government’s attention, even though that is a manifest problem for the state.
Miss Samuel is now buried, and the family is willing to move on, forgiving the perpetrators of her untimely death from their noble Christian hearts. The very point of forgiveness is why I find it difficult to accept that faith in God could account for the extremism and barbarism that visit Nigeria now and then.
It is true that people who claim to be Muslims took this young lady’s life, but many leaders and knowledgeable adherents of the faith have expressed concerns about the execution of Miss Samuel. The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III; Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, and the President of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria, Professor Ibrahim Abikan, have all condemned the mob action as un-Islamic. Abikan, an Islamic law lecturer at the University of Ilorin, told The PUNCH, “Her killing is the worst barbaric act carried out by any group of people in the country. It is barbaric and un-Islamic. It is against the tenets of the teachings of any religion in the world. I can categorically say that it is not an Islamic act, and there must be justice for the victim killed…” In Blasphemy: Positions of justice system and the Holy Quran, an opinion piece published by The Cable on Tuesday, author and public relations practitioner, Yushau A. Shuaib, quoted many references where the Koran admonishes the faithful to remain patient and peaceful in the face of provocation. Therefore, it is confounding that mobs like the one in Sokoto attribute their actions to Islam!
The best one can say in these circumstances is that they have a lot to learn about the faith they profess!
However, before dwelling on this question of ignorance, it is essential to remember that mob actions in Nigeria are not restricted to the North or Muslims. Shortly after Deborah was served with jungle justice in Sokoto, an incident leading to the death of Mr Sunday David Imoh occurred in Lagos. Although reports indicate that those who beat consciousness out of Imoh and later set him on fire were commercial motorcycle operators of northern extraction, there was no religious undertone to this sad event. Yet, the father of two was burnt to death in broad daylight by a mob in the highbrow Lekki area.
A dispatch rider escaped this fate just by the whiskers some weeks earlier. Later identified as Williams Tadule, the man had a ten-month-old baby in his custody. People around the Sangotedo Area of Lagos assumed he must have kidnapped the baby and immediately rounded him up for summary execution. But for the intervention of the leader of a residential estate around that place, Tadule would be part of the mob action statistics in Nigeria today. And again, this would have been an incident without any link to religion.
So, what is the point? Simple! While religious intolerance, mostly borne out of zealous ignorance, is still a problem in Nigeria, the lack of respect for life signals a profound social challenge. It shows that Nigeria remains a dysfunctional society, where people no longer have confidence in law enforcement. It offers a failing society where leaders have become self-centred, uncaring, uncreative and reactive. While Sokoto and Niger states have abandoned the Samuel family to its fate, the Lagos State government woke up from a deep slumber after Imoh was killed and started arresting commercial motorcycles because they were all the while prohibited from operating there. Imoh’s life would probably be alive if the authorities had enforced this regulation but here is a country where governance is by impulse.
Added to the failure to administer justice and protect citizens, many people in this country are hungry, angry and always on edge. Due to bad governance and failure of institutions, many Nigerians are in that inflammable psychological state where little things trigger violence.
Yet, none of this is an excuse for taking another man’s life. In the article quoted earlier, Shuaib cited the Supreme Court judgement in Abubakar Dan Shalla vs the State, where the current Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed, pronounced as follows: “Islam is not a primitive religion that allows its adherents to take the law into their own hands and to commit jungle justice. Instead, there is a judicial system in Islam, which hears and determines cases, including the trial of criminal offences…” This pronouncement settles the issue on two fronts, namely Nigerian law and Islamic jurisprudence.
What remains is to say that hiding under the umbrella of religion to participate in a mob action is ignorance. Every religion preaches peace and love for others. The Holy Bible of Christians says it is impossible for a man who does not love his neighbour to love God. Sadly, Nigeria moves closer to becoming a full jungle by the day. Therefore, leaders of the country must do their duty, show fidelity to the oaths of their offices, make life easier for the people and restore law and order. Citizens must then endeavour to understand their faith and submit themselves to the laws of the land. Obeying the laws of the country is itself a service to God. People who genuinely know God be law-abiding without which they risk punishment here and the ultimate anger of the Almighty who created life and means for it to remain sacred.
Twitter: @niranadedokun
