It is with a heavy heart, profound grief, and a burning sense of indignation that I extend our deepest empathy to the Obadofin of Ayegunle Igun Bunu and the entire resilient people of the Ayegunle Igun community. The recent horrific bandit attack on the community, resulting in the brazen abduction of 30 individuals, including 2 innocent son and daughter is a nightmare that no community should ever have to endure. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the victims’ families during this dark hour, sharing in your pain, anxiety, and tears.
The Monumental Failure of the State Government
This latest tragedy underscores a grim and undeniable reality: the State Government has fundamentally failed in its primary, sacred constitutional duty to protect the lives and property of its citizens.
Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria explicitly states that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. Today, that constitutional contract lies shattered in Bunu Land. While citizens are dragged from their homes into the bush, the state government remains paralyzed by inaction, leaving our people vulnerable to the whims of bloodthirsty terrorists.
Vindicated: The Patriots Who Saw Tomorrow
We must take this moment to highly commend and praise our visionary “patriots who saw tomorrow”. When others chose comfortable silence, these courageous men were driven by patriotism to bring the plight of Bunu to the global stage through peaceful protests.
Shamefully, this noble outcry was tagged as a “political protest” and these Bunu patriots were labelled disgruntled elements and people aiming to take them out of job. Sadly, this said protest was stagged in the same Ayegunle where this recent attack took place. More than 6 incidences of attacks have taken place in Bunu land after the said trivilised peaceful protests.
The harsh reality is now clear: These officials are far more concerned with their personal survival, political optics, and retaining their paychecks than they are about the lives of the Bunu people being lost on a daily basis.
An Unacceptable Reality: We Refuse to Be Silent
While government appointees protect their jobs, Bunu people are losing their lives, their dignity, and their livelihood. Families are being forced into astronomical, life-shattering debts to pay ransoms just to secure the freedom of their loved ones. More havoc is being wreaked on our communities every single day. Farmers are now scared to go to their farms for fear of being attacked.
Yet, the expectation from the powers-that-be is for us to fold our arms and keep quiet, as if nothing is wrong. We say no more. Silence in the face of annihilation is complicity.
The Very Need for Another Peaceful Protest
If the government cannot, or will not, protect us, they have no right to silence our cries for help. We see no reason why the traumatized and neglected people of Bunu should not, once again, take to the streets in massive, peaceful protests to draw the attention of the world to this monumental security collapse. This article unequivocally serves as a call to mobilise Bunu sons and daughters for the mother of all protests where we can showcase our plights to the world. This we shall surely do in no distant time.
We demand the immediate and unconditional rescue of the 30 abducted victims of Ayegunle Igun. We demand a complete overhaul of the state’s security architecture. Most of all, we demand leaders who value human lives over political survival. This is inspite of the usual but unfortunate response from government… “We don’t negotiate with kidnappers”, leaving us to our fate each time.
Signed:
Chief Olorunsuwa Elijah Ola
Executive Director, Okun Renaissance Initiative
