Hundreds of people, including many women and children, were killed in ethnic violence near the city of Jos, Nigeria at the weekend, officials say. They said villages had been attacked by men with machetes who came from nearby hills. Troops have now been deployed in the area and dozens of arrests are said to have been made. Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered security forces to prevent more weapons being brought into the area. Jos has been under a military curfew since January when at least 200 people died in clashes between Christians and Muslims. The latest attacks are said to have been reprisals for the January killings. These killing occurred during the military curfew, I beg the questions: Where was the military doing these inhumane attacks, why were they not doing their jobs correctly? Is this just pure lack of negligence or is it something more sinister?
Mark Lipdo, from the Christian charity Stefanos Foundation, said Zot village had been almost wiped out. He said: "We saw mainly those who are helpless, like small children and then the older men, who cannot run, these were the ones that were slaughtered." A resident of Dogo-Nahawa said that the attackers had fired guns as they entered the village before dawn on Sunday in defiance of a curfew.
“The shooting was just meant to bring people from their houses and then when people came out they started cutting them with machetes," Peter Jang told Reuters news agency. Some witnesses said villagers were caught in fishing nets and animal traps as they tried to escape and were then hacked to death. Mud huts were also set on fire. Mass burials took place on Sunday and scores more bodies were laid out in the streets of the three attacked villages, awaiting further burials on Monday. Figures given for the death tolls in the ethnic clashes have varied widely, sometimes to achieve political ends or to reduce the risk of reprisals, or simply because victims are buried quickly.
During the attack in January, the largest losses were suffered by the Hausa Fulani community. In the village of Kuru Karama more than 100 people were killed and their bodies thrown into wells and sewers. Grave accusations were made that the local government had stoked the violence. Who was prosecuted, arrested or even accused of the wrong doings? Are the killers still left free to roam the streets after they had committed these heinous acts? No wonder there are rumours that these recent killings are retaliations, if there is no system of justice, people take matters into their own hands. If the government is refusing to police and implement drastic actions, it seems as if they are turning a blind eye. I think the lack of reaction by the government as well as reduced accountability causes the locals to react. No reaction is a reaction! If the government is unable to protect us perhaps we as a community should implement our own form of mobile policing in order to put a face to these so called faceless murderers.
These killings are often painted by local politicians as a religious or sectarian conflict. In fact I think it is a struggle between ethnic groups for fertile land and resources in the region known as Nigeria's Middle Belt.
Meanwhile in the UK, a sex offender has been jailed for life after admitting the kidnap, rape and murder of a teenage girl he met on the internet. Peter Chapman, 33, was told by Judge Peter Fox QC he must serve a minimum of 35 years in prison. Teesside Crown Court heard he met and befriended 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall on Facebook by posing as a teenage boy. Chapman, who had a history of sex assaults, at first denied the charges, but earlier changed his plea to guilty.
Last year a Nigerian navy officer was prosecuted after causing grievous bodily harm to a young woman. Footage of the shocking event was recorded on a passer-by’s phone. The evidence made its way onto the social networking site, Facebook and after millions of people petitioned against the navy, they were forced to pay millions in compensation. This shows the competence and proliferation of the internet. In this instance, we were able to identify beyond reasonable doubt who the culprit was. I think that the internet and modern means of communication can help reduce and prevent crime.
I urge any bystander, in the event of an emergency, please attempt to record evidence of the event. If we feel that we do not have a voice or we are not represented as a democracy, I think the internet provides a platform. The internet easily enables you to find like minded people and share opinions. Perhaps Facebook can put faces to these faceless criminals. Issues that affect Nigeria usually ripple and enable millions of individuals to freely provide their opinion and sometimes support. The more support we get, the louder our voice becomes. We want a stable, humane democracy. We want our voice to shout; equality and fairness!
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