The 2023 election gives the people of the South the last opportunity to undo the evil Buhari`s government have done in this country. The existential threats the South and particularly the South East have faced since the emergence of the Muhammadu Buhari regime have been multifaceted, and relentless, but the worse of it right now is that it has become institutionalized.
Ove the years the systemic marginalization of the South East and it`s people have gradually weakened the whole region in so many ways. The worse of the weakness now stems from the fact that the ill-treatment of the people of the region is now considered “normal”, and hardly raises any concern to anyone anymore.
As a result, it has become a state policy to continue to conceive, implement and support courses of action or inaction that encourages those who share some form of demonic design that lead to perdition for the South Easterners.
That explains why the apparatus of the Nigerian state has now become colluding agents with none state actors in their criminal activities in the South East.
That is exactly how bad things have gotten in this country. The disreputable nature of leadership under the present government has done lots of harm to the people of the South East.
The story of the Prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence Samuel Uche, is the latest confirmation of the dangers facing the South. His revelation of the evil machination of the Fulani crime family can only be ignored by the people of Southern Nigeria at their own peril.
The cleric whose near-death experience in Abia State in the hands of these marauders was disclosed to the public on Tuesday is one experience too many in the South East region. It further shows how the danger posed by the criminal elements of the Fulani tribe have become astronomical.
His narration of the painful experience they were made to go through in the hands of their kidnaps reveals that Fulani threat is no longer spread to the South by migrating headers from the North. The revelation now shows that the threat from these criminal Fulani elements is now also home grown in the South East.
Nigeria has a Fulani problem and cannot look up to a Fulani solution in 2023, not even one those who seek power from that region have shown any concern about the injustices in the South. There is gross insensitivity to the plight of the victims of these criminal elements amongst the Fulani.
According to the Prelate, their kidnappers who were aged between 18 to 35 were led by an Abia born and raised Fulani header:
“Their leader was born in Igbo land but his parents have died. He said he was born around Umuahia Amuzukwu and his father was a cow dealer, the boy understood Igbo,” disclosed the Methodist Prelate.
This was not the only revelation from this latest victim of kidnapping in the South East, which for so long have been led on the door step of the Fulani criminal gang in the region. The clergyman said further:
“They are Fulani boys; all the 8 are Fulanis; they said the day they will see the president or any of his representatives they will chew him raw; that he is their brother but he has disappointed them and has disappointed Nigeria.”
The courage of the Methodist Prelate to narrate his story and tell truth to power, not minding the increased risk to him, must be commended and honoured. The South must honour his sacrifice by speaking with one voice and voting in block, and massively for a candidate of their own in the next election.
Now, this apparent criticism of President Buhari by these kidnappers must be viewed with suspicion, it should not for any reason detract from the fact that the president cannot wash his hands from the allegations of actively supporting the emergence and consolidation of the activities of these criminals.
What more can better connect the president to these evil creations of his administration than the attitude of his military and security agents, which have help these rubbers and murderers to solidify their criminal empires?
In the words of the Prelate, describing the proximity of the Fulani kidnappers to the location of Nigerian soldiers, most of who are co-Fulani:
“But the irony of it, where they were situated, the soldiers, all of Fulani extraction, Nigerian soldiers, they were there at Lomara junction and these boys were going behind them. Meanwhile, they kept their cows somewhere, numbering about 200.”
Consequently, he maintained that these soldiers of Fulani decent are aiding and abetting the criminal activities of these kidnappers. On this conviction, the Methodist Prelate is certainly not alone. There has been many pointers to this very unfortunate inference.
It is therefore no gainsaying that kidnapping, murder, rape and abductions pervading the entire South East, which are the stock in trade for these Fulani herders, have also become institutionalized in the Nigerian military.
This same military which is now contract killers of the Igbo youths for the Nigerian government went out to dislodge the Eastern Security Network (ESN), and in the process left so much misery and deaths in their wake. The ESN was the only outfit that rose in defense of the South East against the rampaging kidnapers and rapists.
Nigerian army gave them hell and ensured that the ESN no more threatened the Fulani herders. As a result, these gangster criminal enterprise now functions almost unrestricted and unimpeded in their business of crime.
Nothing can be more of an existential threat than this to the South. This is why the 2023 presidential election must not be treated with levity by the entire South. The fight to take power from the North to clean up Buhari`s mess is a fight that must be won. No single Northern Fulani Muslim jostling for power in 2023 can face the corrosion Buhari has made of Nigeria.
In 2023, the South must speak and our voices must be heard, collectively and individually: On Peter Obi we stand.
Nigeria has a Fulani problem and cannot look up to a Fulani solution in 2023, not even one those who seek power from that region have shown any concern about the injustices in the South. There is gross insensitivity to the plight of the victims of these criminal elements amongst the Fulani.
The clergyman confirmed that the kidnappers told them that “after buying enough weapons, they were going to bring all those people that were driven away from Zamfara, Katsina, Sambisa Forest, that they are all coming to locate themselves in Igbo land and deal with us.”
“He said do you know Ibadan expressway? We are in all the bush there, we are also in the South-South, we are waiting for the slightest signal, we will finish you people and take over this land. They claimed that Nigeria belongs to Fulani.”
Therefore, as these marauders strategize to do their worse and bring more hail to the South, the people in this region must not allow themselves be caught napping.
The courage of the Methodist Prelate to narrate his story and tell truth to power, not minding the increased risk to him, must be commended and honoured. The South must honour his sacrifice by speaking with one voice and voting in block, and massively for a candidate of their own in the next election.
The priest has done his part by providing Nigerians the confirmation of their fears. What we chose to do with information now, is our responsibility. Whether we act on it or ignore these dangerous signs is on us all.
It is our duty to rise up and raise our voices against evil. We do not all have to carry guns, but we can get our PVC and make sure we vote in the next election. We must reject everyone with connection or with any propensity to continue this evil foundation that Muhammadu Buhari has led.
In 2023, the South must speak and our voices must be heard, collectively and individually: On Peter Obi we stand.
Written by Williams Ukonu Esq, lawyer and rights advocate. He is a Clariform columnist and a regular commentator on national issues. He tweets @WilliamsUkonu and can be reached at wukonu@swiftsolicitor.com.
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