Killing Policemen Portends Danger Ahead Of 2015

Last week’s killings of policemen numbering about 100 in Nasarawa State by suspected militiamen and other similar cases of killings may be an indication of things to come, as the country approaches 2015. CHIKA OTUCHIKERE writes. Recent killing of security operatives carrying out their constitutional duties may have sent signals of impending danger lurking on the road to 2015. The country’s electorate is expected to go to the polls that year to elect a new leadership. Nearly 20 months to the electioneering campaigns, and incidentally, the proverbial date for the dissolution of the entity called Nigeria, as reportedly predicted by the United States government, unfolding violent incidents give indications that the country may slide into full blown war before 2015.
All fingers have pointed at political underbelly play-out in most, if not all the killings. According to political analysts, most of the killings going on in the country are preparatory to the 2015 general election. They aver that politicians are systematically instilling fears into the citizenry through the use of ruthless criminal elements who waste human lives with impunity.
In barely one month, Nigerians have been jolted with shocking news of gruesome killings of large numbers of policemen by persons suspected to be members of militia groups and insurgents.
First, it was the case in Bayelsa State where over 20 policemen escorting a state government official to his community by boat, were reportedly ambushed and slain by suspected ex-militants. Official reports which came from that ugly incident said the policemen were victims of internal wrangling among the ex-militants and their leaders.
While Nigerians were still trying to get grip of themselves following the Bayelsa killings, barely one week after, suspected Boko Haram militants struck a police and army barracks in Bama and Banki; Borno state. When the dust raised by that attack settled, at least 55 people were killed, including over 20 policemen.
The Boko Haram insurgents have held the country under siege for over two years, culminating in recent overtures to grant the deadly militants amnesty. Although, the amnesty talks for the militants have been shrouded in controversy, with the militants insisting that they did not request amnesty from the government, the federal government, simply swayed by opinion of influential Nigerians, are hell-bent on granting the Boko Haram amnesty.
It is instructive to point out that even as the presidential committee set up for the proposed Boko Haram amnesty, is going about the onerous task, the insurgents have continued on their rampage, killing innocent citizens and abducting others. The federal government has literary been unable to end the sect’s wanton killing of innocent Nigerians.
Again, while Nigerians and the international community was waiting with bated breath to see how the government would react to the embarrassing killings of security operatives in Bayelsa and Borno, the Nasarawa tragic incident, which many have dubbed a pogrom, occurred.
In one fell swoop, members of a cult group, the Ombatse cult, ambushed and massacred policemen sent to arrest their leader. The casualty figures from that incident remains subject of controversy as the figure hovers between 50 and 100.
The Nasarawa killings, seen as unprecedented in the history of the Nigeria police force, has brought to fore, the apprehension that all the killings both of civilians and security operatives, are a build up ahead of the 2015 general elections. Indication of this is coming from utterances credited to some political players.
Members of the state’s ruling Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Nasarawa State are alleging that the Eggon killings was inspired by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP who, intent on wresting power from the CPC, sponsored the killings to discredit the CPC led government.
On their part, members of the PDP are alleging that the incumbent governor, Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura, used the cult group to coast to victory in the 2011 governorship election but abandoned them after he had achieved victory in the election. While Nigerians cannot reconcile the killing of innocent Nigerians and security operatives by blood thirsty criminal gangs, the incidents are pointing at the desperation of politicians for political office.
The same political motive and desperation by politicians for political office can also be attributed to the raging onslaught by members of the Boko Haram sect. Many stakeholders and political watchers have averred that the sect is merely a tool in the hands of desperate politicians bent on overheating the polity for selfish gains.
In the last couple of months, the sect may have killed over 250 people including policemen and civilians. Their modus operandi has so defied every device by security operatives to cage them, forcing the federal government to initiate a move to grant the sect amnesty.
Many Nigerians are however worried that the federal government’s option of amnesty for insurgents may after all, not be the magic wand or quick fix for their bloodletting which is fast turning the country’s soil into a river of blood. According to them, despite the amnesty granted erstwhile Niger Delta militants, deadly attacks are being still carried out on the police. Moreover, incidents of abduction of oil workers have continued.
Also, references have been made to comments credited to prominent politicians who threaten thunder and brimstone over their political interest. Political analysts who have expressed worry at the frequency of the killings averred that such comments helped fuel the avalanche of killings across the country.
They referred to the recent comments credited to ex-militant leader, Asari-Dokubo, where he reportedly canvassed a second term for President Goodluck Jonathan. Just when prominent politicians from the north were calling for Dokubo’s head and his trial for treason, other prominent Niger Delta politicians led by elder statesman and former information minister, Chief Edwin Clark, threw a counter allegation at those calling for Dokubo’s head.
In a statement published in several national newspapers, Chief Clark pointed out that Dokubo did not set any precedent in his call. According to him, before Dokubo made his opinion known, many prominent Nigerians among them CPC presidential candidate, Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari, Shehu Sani, Lawal Kaita and Farouk Aliyu, had in the past, allegedly made inciting statements capable of overheating the polity.
The general perception of Nigerians is that as the country continues to glide into another election year with the frightening recurrence of bloodbath, activities of insurgents and militia men may instill such fear in the voting populace that many Nigerians may boycott the election with its attendant grave consequences for the country.
The thinking is that if security operatives who are well armed and equipped could be wasted by gangs of cultists and militiamen, then unarmed innocent civilians may have no chance in the face of attacks.