By Sonnie Ekwowusi
If Shettima has irrevocably resolved that if voted into power he and Tinubu would continue from where President Buhari stopped, it logically follows that Islamic terrorism, Boko Haram terrorism, Fulani herdsman killings, religious persecution in the North, and genocide against Northern Christians would continue unabated during the reign of Tinubu and Shettima. Therefore, voters are respectfully warned not to vote for the Tinubu/Shettima ticket on February 25th, 2023. In 2015, we were warned not to vote for Buhari, but unfortunately, some of us still naively voted for him. Now, those people are regretting their decision as they reap the negative consequences of their costly mistake. You may recall that in March 2015, American Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, warned Nigeria not to elect Buhari as President because, according to him, Buhari would make a disaster President and would trigger Islamic terrorist attacks to capture Nigeria. “Buhari has often spoken sympathetically about members of Boko Haram and had cautioned against the rush to pass judgment on Boko Haram and has personally been selected by Boko Haram to lead negotiations with the Nigerian government.”, warned Grenell
Unfortunately, Grenell’s warning largely went unheeded by the Nigerian people, and today we are paying the bitter price of our failure to heed Grenell’s sincere warning. Lest we forget, in the last seven and a half years, Nigeria has become a huge killing field. While President Buhari has deployed Nigeria’s military intelligence to hunt down Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho, and other small boys, he has refused to use the same intelligence to arrest and prosecute the murderous Fulani herdsmen who, in the last seven and a half years, have freely been going about killing, maiming, and raping their victims and dispossessing them of their farm lands. In fact, over 15,500 Christians have reportedly been murdered in Nigeria since June 2015. In March 2016, the Fulani herdsmen murdered two Catholic reverend sisters and burnt about 17 houses in Abbi, Uzo Uwani Local Government Area, Enugu State. On April 25, 2016, more than 50 innocent citizens of Ukpabi-Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Council of Enugu State were murdered by the Fulani herdsmen. The herders also burnt many houses and sacked many communities in Uzo-Ukpabi Council and its environs. Shortly after the Ukpabi-Nimbo massacre, the Fulani herdsmen murdered a Delta State monarch and some Delta State citizens. In the same April 2016, the Vicar-General of the Otukpo Catholic Diocese Rev Fr. John Adeyi was kidnapped by some gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen along Odoba Otukpa-Okwungaga road, Otukpo, Benue State. Sadly, two months thereafter, his decomposed body was found somewhere even after his kidnappers had collected N1.5 Million ransom. On June 2, 2016, a 70-year-old citizen of Imo State called lady Mrs. Bridget Agbahime was murdered in Kano for allegedly blaspheming the Koran. A Kano Magistrate had discharged all the five suspects who allegedly killed Mrs. Agbahime. Case closed. Barely 10 days after Mrs. Agbahime’s murder, a 41-year-old Christian man called Francis Emmanuel was almost stabbed to death in Kaduna for allegedly eating meat during Ramadan. On the 9th of July 2016, a mother of seven, Mrs. Eunice Elisha, who was also the wife of a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) pastor was murdered in cold blood in Abuja by Muslim fanatics while she was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Till date, no justice for Mrs. Agbahime and Elisha. Neither Tinubu nor Shettima condemned the aforesaid killings, let alone showed any compassion for the loss of human life.
On August 25, 2016, eight students at Talat Mafara Polytechnic in Zamfara State were killed and set on fire by Muslim students following a fight between two students. One of the students had allegedly committed blasphemy against Prophet Mohammed, leading to the deaths. In the same month, suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked and killed a seminarian of the Catholic Church and others at Enugu-Atakwu in Enugu State. Between 2016 and 2017, hundreds of citizens in Southern Kaduna were murdered in genocidal attacks by Fulani herdsmen. For example, in December 2016, 808 people were killed in 53 villages across four local government areas in the state. Between September 8 and October 17, 2017, the Fulani herdsmen murdered about 75 people and injured 23 others after attacking two communities in Irigwe Kingdom, Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. The herders also displaced 13,726 people and burnt 489 houses during their attacks. On December 8, 2017, Fulani herdsmen invaded Omala and Yagba West local government councils in Kogi State and murdered about 10 people after setting their farmlands on fire. In Omoku, Rivers State, about 17 Christian church worshippers were killed on New Year’s Eve by the same Fulani herdsmen. Some husbands were dragged out of their houses and murdered in front of their wives by the same Fulani herdsmen. Neither Tinubu nor Shettima condemned the aforesaid killings, let alone showed any compassion for the loss of human life.
On January 12, 2018, Fulani herdsmen attacked Dangaji and Ungwan Gajere villages in Kaduna State and killed 10 indigenes. In January 2018, the bodies of 80 citizens of Benue State murdered by Fulani herdsmen between January 1 and 2 were given a mass burial. The governor of Benue State said that the Fulani herdsmen had murdered no fewer than 1,878 citizens of Benue State within the last three years. On February 19, 2018, 110 schoolgirls aged 11–19 years old from the Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapuchi, located in Bulabulin, Yunusari Local Government area of Yobe State were kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorist group. Leah Sharibu, the only Christian girl among the abductees who refused to denounce her Christian faith and embrace Islam, is still missing despite the promises of the Buhari government that it would ensure that this daughter of Zion regains her freedom. On April 24, 2018, the Fulani herdsmen murdered two Catholic priests and 19 parishioners at Mbalom village in Benue state. The two murdered Catholic clerics– Rev Fr. Joseph Gor and Rev. Fr. Felix Tyolahan – and 17 parishioners were peacefully at morning Mass when the Fulani herdsmen suddenly appeared and murdered them all. Neither Tinubu nor Shettima condemned the aforesaid killings, let alone showed any compassion for the loss of human life.
On July 12, 2019, Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of 93-year-old Pa Rueben Fasoranti and the national leader of the Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, was murdered by suspected Fulani herdsmen along the Benin/Ore Expressway. On January 8, 2020, Rev. Timothy Lawan Andimi, the then Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the Michika area, and an ordained Christian minister at Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN), the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, was shamefully beheaded by suspected Islamic terrorists. Around the same time, Michael Nnadi, a Seminarian of the Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna, was abducted from the seminary and brutally murdered by Islamic terrorists. On Thursday, January 2, 2020, a group of gunmen or kidnappers attacked an Abuja-bound train with ‘ballistics’ and killed some passengers, and kidnapped scores of others. On January 6, 2020, at least 32 people were killed and over 35 injured when a Boko Haram explosion occurred on a crowded bridge in Gamboru, Borno State, Nigeria. Neither Tinubu nor Shettima condemned the aforesaid killings, let alone showed any compassion for the loss of human life.
On January 7, 2020, the ISWAP militants attacked a town in Borno State killing 22 soldiers and displacing over 1,000 people. Three Sundays earlier, suspected Boko Haram fighters had set ablaze several trucks carrying passengers, killing at least 30 people in Borno State. On or around February 22, 2020, Fulani herdsmen attacked the Uwheru community in Ughelli North Local Council, Delta State, killing at least 14 people in the attack. In 2021 alone, approximately 1,192 people lost their lives due to banditry, terrorism, and violent attacks and reprisal attacks in Kaduna State. Neither Tinubu nor Shettima condemned the aforesaid killings, let alone showed any compassion for the loss of human life.
