ZAGZAGA AND FATE OF RURAL COMMUNITIES
The snakes which bite Nigerians are no longer content with the injuries they inflict and the venom they pump. To cause maximum damage, to amplify their victims` shouts of agony and induce maximum distress, they also salt the wounds of their victims.
Like lightening, bandits struck Zagzaga community in Munya local government area of Niger State on November 17, 2021.As the dust settled on their deadly attacks, 70 villagers were nowhere to be found.
Lightening was to strike twice when the bandits returned on November 20, 2021 and abducted 10 more people. Reports have it that they were looking for particular persons, proof that they work with informants. During the first raid, the bandits were said to have broken into shops where they looted provisions and food items.
What however stands out is what the bandits reportedly told some of the relations of the victims in the course of their negotiations for ransom. The bandits were alleged to have advised the villagers to sell their farm produce to raise ransom. The bandits were said to have further quipped that it was the reason they allowed the villagers to farm in the first place.
It is now beyond argument that life in many of Nigeria`s rural areas has become a living death. What grinding poverty leaves behind, Boko Haram terrorists clean up; what Boko Haram terrorists leave out, Fulani herdsmen mop up and where Fulani herdsmen leave behind, bandits leave scorched earth.
The bandits who attacked Zagzaga were said to have enjoyed a field day as security operatives were nowhere in sight. Villagers volunteering as security men were quickly hacked to death or left with varying degrees of grievous bodily harm.
Why have many of Nigeria`s rural communities been left to their fate at the mercy of ruthless criminals whose modus operandi now include advice on how to go about raising ransom?
Does Nigeria not recognize that it is only a matter of time before the storm building up from the rural areas crashes upon the country with forceful fury?
In recent times, multiple news reports have indicated that bandits have taken over entire communities in Niger State. Multiple abductions have since lent credence to the reports. It was only some months ago that over a hundred students were abducted from Tegina in the state. They were held for 89 days and were only released after millions were paid as ransom by their terrified family members.
The operations of bandits across the country appear too smooth and too well coordinated not to have the inputs of some of Nigeria`s most powerful people including government officials and security personnel.
What is most frightening is the country`s seeming helplessness in the face of the relentless march of the killers. Soldiers who were stationed in Zagzaga withdrew following an attack on their base in the area sometime last year.
The bandits are showing that they are not just ragtag urchins and vagrants. They bear sophisticated weapons, commandeer entire communities and deviously plan their economy. Yet, those eager to brand more innocuous groups ‘terrorists’ say the bandits are not terrorists.
The danger is real and palpable. With many of Nigeria`s public officers who come from far and near stuck in around the Federal Capital Territory and petrified of going anywhere near their villages for fear of being attacked, it appears that the rural communities have been abandoned to their fate.
Unless something is done urgently, their fate may soon become Nigeria`s fate.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
