IN today’s Nigeria, it hardly seems that anything that happens would shock anyone, in large part because of the consistency of terrible developments that continue to spring up across its length and breadth. But dastardly events continue to jolt a public seemingly inured to tragedy. One of such developments, uncovered by the Anambra Truth, Justice and Peace Committee set up by Governor Charles Soludo in 2022 to stem the tide of secessionist agitations, insecurity and other challenges in Anambra State and the South-East geopolitical zone in general, rankles by the sheer brutality of its import. According to Bianca Ojukwu, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain and member of the committee, the committee uncovered a mass grave site in the state. Ojukwu stated this in a statement posted on her verified Facebook page entitled: ‘A mass grave site discovered in Anambra sealed off for forensic investigation.’
According to her, during the course of its public hearing, the committee interrogated a total of 39 witnesses who testified on oath and collected 243 exhibits. At the end of proceedings, the committee discovered that no less than 322 persons were killed or died as a result of violence, as affirmed by the witnesses. She said: “The commission also met with 31 petitioners, including 11 organisations, 19 communities and one individual during the marathon sittings which lasted from October 26 to November 3. Eighteen persons have been categorically identified as missing or disappeared. In the course of the proceedings, the gruesome discovery of a mass grave site was brought, by testimonies, to the attention of the commission.
“Chairman of the commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, mandated that the suspected mass grave site be sealed for forensic investigations by pathologists. This will help in unravelling who the victims were and the circumstances of their deaths. The commission had earlier held the first phase of its public hearing between June and July this year in the course of which we considered 24 petitions and met with 48 witnesses who testified on oath from 14 communities of the state within a 10-day hearing. A Bureau of Missing Persons as recommended by this Commission has already been established in the state to document the missing and the circumstances of their disappearance.”
To say the least, this development is disturbing. Going by the report of the Odinkalu committee/commission, with figures that are probably conservative, human life was taken for long stretches of time in the state without the authorities being able to do anything about it. In effect, criminals, in their blood lust, exacted whatever punishment their evil minds conceived from their victims, littering the state with blood, and without the authority of the state, as exemplified by judicial pronouncement of the death sentence on persons convicted of murder. As if to reinforce the universality of the mindless killings in the state, another dastardly discovery was made in Abia State recently, where 70 decomposing bodies were discovered in shallow graves.
This discovery of decomposing bodies in both Anambra and Abia states is yet another sad reflection of the state of insecurity and the increasing disregard for human lives in Nigeria. Over time, the country has turned out to be a haven for crass behaviour by criminal elements and sundry non-state actors who are out to put in bold relief the incapacity and sheer incompetence of the Nigerian State and its governmental contraptions to provide security and create an orderly environment for citizens. This is clearly the reason the government and the society have allowed and permitted the willful and whimsical butchering of individuals without the security agencies or the communities being able to prevent or do anything about it.
The situation is not only deplorable, but represents a glaring sign of the absence of effective and durable governance and control over the society. This, certainly, should be worrying to all. The government has to urgently apprehend the full negative dimensions of the current situation and roll out appropriate remedial actions to stem the slide into complete anarchy and disorder. It is, we believe, important for all stakeholders to impress it on the government to quickly face the task of re-engineering a rebirth of functional and a workable society that would make for worthwhile and worthy human living in the Nigerian space. In the face of the present shameful and inhuman conditions, nothing less than a fundamental reordering of values and organisation will help. The current bewildering circumstances must be halted. The government has to take firm charge of affairs. Human lives should not continue to be so cavalierly wasted.
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