This nightmare has been experienced by nonagenarians as well as children as young as four. Now, with the bandits gaining territory and temerity every day, the grim forecast is that business will continue to boom for those involved and their sponsors.
Gradually but gratingly, Nigeria has become a crime-infested country where crimes rage and criminals rampage unchecked. Terrorism only recently joined the maelstrom which had armed robbery and rape among its most pressing concerns. The rise of militancy in the Niger-Delta saw the first seeds of abduction for ransom sown.
If the oil-related militancy in the Niger-Delta sowed the seeds of abduction for ransom in Nigeria, banditry watered it, weeded it, and is now reaping a bountiful harvest from it. Every day in Nigeria, especially in the restive Northeast, Northwest and Northcentral regions, innocent Nigerians, some as poor as church rats, are picked up by ruthless criminals. Once picked up a price is put on their heads like wares in the market place. To, fail to pay is to sign ones death warrant.
This
nightmare has been experienced by nonagenarians as well as children as
young as four. Now, with the bandits gaining territory and temerity
every day, the grim forecast is that business will continue to boom for
those involved and their sponsors.
There is Boko Haram. Some of their most ruthless fighters
have supposedly surrendered and are undergoing rehabilitation and
de-radicalization at the instance of the Nigerian army in rather
comfortable circumstances. The war against Boko Haram inclusive of the
prosecution of suspects and their sponsors has more often than not
thumbed its nose at transparency.
Then, there is corruption. Like a sack cloth, corruption clouds Nigerias finest features, leaving unmistakable signs of grief across many aspects of life in the country.
Contracts are awarded and the contract sums embezzled even before the ink dries on the award letters; public officers siphon humongous amounts of money that should go into improve public services. When budgeting is done either at the national level or at the level of MDAs, they are padded with arrangements made to line greedy private pockets.
The result of Nigerias rampant corruption is a chilling dichotomy between the corrupt cast of crabs ripping the country apart and Nigerias poorest who struggle with everything from adequate housing, to adequate nutrition to payment of even the cheapest bills. Nigeria s many
criminals and crimes leave the agencies which prosecute such crimes and
criminals with a steep dilemma: to prosecute or not to prosecute and
whom to prosecute.
Because prosecutorial resources are stretched thin and thes prosecutorial agencies resort to a point-and-kill kind of prosecution. Because many criminals abound, targets for prosecution are randomly chosen not necessarily because they are the worst known offenders but because many other factors dictate that they be chosen. The results of this selective approach to prosecution which many times come disturbingly close to witch hunts are sobering.
rule of law strained by the dark politics of nepotism, many of Nigeria
In the highly charged waters of Nigerias corruption,s otherwise piercing eyesight conveniently falters.The law is an equalizer and equality before the law which is the central feature of the rule of law prescribes what is sauce for the goose as sauce for the gander.
because the prosecutorial agencies are afraid of the shiver of sharks
that has for many years swallowed up funds that should have made life
better for Nigerians, they go after the family of sardines. So, the man
who cannot explain the receipt of fifty thousand naira is dragged all
over the place while the one who has embezzled billions of public funds
jets of to Dubai to negotiate the purchase of exotic houses and cars. It
would appear that when confronted by the lavish banquet laid out by
master criminals, the eagle
To apportion different strokes to different folks is to pay abominable lip service to the rule of law. Those who oversee it are as complicit as those whose heinous crimes they choose to ignore.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
