I got the shock of my life yesterday when they broke the news of Suku Killings to me. A father and a son killed for no offence committed while sleeping.
I visited the scene and I saw the horrible incident, I became so worried and questions rolled out my mind. What have we done wrong to deserve this inhuman treatment? President, Governors, chairmen and other leaders swore to an oath to defend the lives and properties of all Nigerian citizens but it’s unfortunate that government of the day further exposed us to more security challenges in Bunu land.
While still cogitating on the likely causes of these security threats in Bunu land, I became so convinced that, yes, some power beyond us planned it and the plan is currently at the implementation stage.
Yes, every Nigerian knows fully well that Bunu is blessed with arable land that is suitable for agricultural purposes but very unfortunately, the plan to take it away from us is in top gear.
Three years ago, when this government was new on the corridor of power, all the security architecture in Bunu land were withdrawn by the government and over hundreds communities that makeup Bunu land were left with no single police post or single police officer.
We woke up to the news of cattle colony in our state one day and BUNU people rejected it in totality because we are very much aware of its dangers and our vulnerability to security challenges made us to think that fast. We kicked against it but they asked for our head in return. Fulani’s were brought in forcefully and we were forced to accommodate them by the government of the day. The government even mandated our traditional rulers to allow Fulani’s into our traditional councils so as to make them feel at home and now you want to tell me that the government is not happy while their pre-planned actions are coming into reality?
I read with pain in my heart the press statement made available to the public from the corridor of power that got us to where we found ourselves on SUKU KILLING and I wept over and over again and I termed the whole script “a mockery”.
It is absurd to see a government that can’t protect the lives of her citizens but boast of bringing their murderers to book.
If you want us to see you as a leader that values our right to life and if our lives are precious to you, protect us first. Chase our killers away, stop forcing us to live with our enemies. Why will you put lion and goat in the same cage and after the lion does it work, you want to now claim innocent.
We will continue to say it that Bunu is not a surrogate of any tribe, we deserve to be seen as human beings and be treated as such. It will be barbaric for government to deny us basic needs of life in Bunu and still further expose us to unwarranted deaths.
Enough of killings in Bunu Land.
– Adebayo Kehinde writes from Ihale-Bunu.
