One Bomb Attack Too Many

By Isaac Asabor

It is not an exaggeration to say that the evil works that were over time carried out with impunity against the good people of Nigeria by members of the Boko Haram sect clearly validate the truthfulness in the biblical injunction of Ecclesiastes chapter 8 verse 11 that says “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is truly set in them to do evil.” There is no denying the fact that the recent simultaneous attacks on churches filled with innocent worshippers in Kaduna and Zaria highlighted one of the worst attacks carried out by the bogey called Boko Haram.

However, it is very obvious that various security agencies that would have ferociously tackled Boko Haram once and for all are all in a state of dilemma. The reason for this cannot be far fetched as the bloody phenomenon called Boko Haram may in this context be likened to the proverbial tse-tse fly that stubbornly perched on the scrotum of an angry farmer. In an attempt to kill it, the farmer may inflict a serious injury on his scrotum. It may also be likened to the dwarfish specie of rat that hid inside an earthen pot; killing it requires a great sense of tact and wisdom, otherwise the pot may get broken without the rat being killed. It is because of this unavoidable state of dilemma that this writer may not completely subscribe to the idea of any foreign nation or body assisting our nation in fighting the war against Boko Haram as innocent Nigerians may accidentally get killed in the process of the intervention. After all, it is said that when the elephants fight it is the grass that suffers.

Therefore, the members of the Boko Haram sect that are inexorably pressing for a yet to be understood demand through chains of violence that are usually perpetrated in simultaneous manner in the northern part of the country should refrain from singing eureka.

Be that as it may, the proverbial tse-tse fly and the dwarfish rat that were mentioned here still met their waterloo as rational thinking and wisdom were applied in killing them. It goes to say that in the course of time, the bogey called Boko Haram would meet its waterloo if our security agents would think well and apply wisdom. This can only be possible with sincere information gathering and exhibiting patriotic and nationalistic dispositions by the various security personnel charged with the responsibility of tracking down the key members of the Boko Haram sect.

As at the time of writing this piece, many Nigerians were still making permutations and conjecturing on whether the cause which the members of the sect are fighting for is political, social or religious. Simply put, many Nigerians are yet to come to grips with the cause which the proponents of the Boko Haram sect are fighting for. The questions that usually flash through the mind of this writer are: “Are they fighting for the country to be divided just the same way Sudan was divided? Are they agitating for the mass closure of schools in the northern part of the country since they detest western education and its impartation? Or are they fighting to force non-northerners to leave the northern part of the country to the southern and western parts? For God’s sake, the leaders of Boko Haram should be bold enough to speak their minds to authorities and the entire Nigerian people.

Laughable enough, it is very obvious that the proponents of the Boko Haram sect seem to be at a loss on what they actually want. At the moment, they are yet to tell Nigerians what they are agitating for or the injustice they are trying to address. Rather, they have decided to unpatriotically choose to follow the path of belligerence instead of wisely opting for the path of dialogue. If they had opted for dialogue chances are that concerned authorities and Nigerians would have by now seen reason with them since Nigeria is at the moment under a democratic system of government.

In my view, the sin which the leaders of the sect are collectively committing is tripartite in nature. First and foremost, it is a sin against God for anyone to be terminating the lives of other fellow human beings in sheer defiance of God’s purpose for humanity. God cannot be happy seeing the lives of his children wasted by anyone irrespective of the genuineness of the reason behind such killings. He demonstrated his disapproval to the killing of fellow human beings when Cain killed Abel, his brother, contrary to His will. God asked Cain in Genesis chapter 4 verse 10-11 “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” Members of Boko Haram should not forget that God is still the same yesterday, today and forever. Looking away from the spiritual perspective of the killing of others, it is imperative to opine that every living being, whether an insane being or sane being, has a fundamental right to live. It would be good if people should always have this at the back of their minds before wasting the lives of others.

If there is any common thread that literarily runs through the fabric of religions all over the world, it is that of the sanctity of human life. No religion says that lives of others should be terminated at will. Even die-hard atheists frown at the killing of innocent people. All religions preach peace, love and unity. So which religious message is the Boko Haram members spreading through the genocidal manner of killings they are perpetrating in the northern part of the country?

Secondly, the activities of the sect in its entirety is a sin against Nigeria as nation. The book of Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 7 says “And seek the peace of the city whether I have caused you to be carried away captives and pray unto the LORD for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” The foregoing scripture when contextually translated simply means that no Nigerian (even Boko Haram members) would have peace until Nigeria as a nation is peaceful.

In the same nexus, proponents of the Boko Haram sect should not fail to realise that the horrifying images and emotions that they are wickedly replaying through their acts of terrorism have catapulted Nigeria to the forefront on news programmes around the world.

It is a sin against the Nigerian that woke up on a Sunday morning, brushed his or her teeth, took his or her bath and dressed up for church service only to be killed in the place of worship. It is also a sin against the Nigerian that aspired to become a journalist only to be killed while practicing his dream profession.

I am using this medium to appeal to the proponents of this noxious sect to see reason with Nigerians and members of the international community and sheathe their sword.

•Asabor wrote from Lagos.  E-mail: [email protected]