SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 12, 2012 , PAGE 15
Kogi church attack: Tales of horror By Isiaka Oyibo
F
OR the family of James Obansa, the incident of Monday, which saw gunmen storming a branch of Deeper Life Church in Okene, Kogi State, killing 20 worshippers would linger in their memories for a long time. Indeed, life would no longer remain the same for them because their bread winner, a father of three, was one of the worshippers murdered in cold blood by the rampaging gunmen. Omeiza Obansa, the first son of the deceased, lamented that their late father, a trader in one of the popular markets in Okene, fell into the hands of the gunmen when Sunday Vanguard visited their residence at the weekend. Amid tears, he said life for the family had been hectic since the killings be-
cause his father was the bread winner and provided everything they needed before he met his untimely death. “I do not think there is any thing left for us again as a family because the killers have succeeded in taking away the hope of the family. But one thing I know for sure is that all those involved in the killing of my father and and indeed the Christian worshippers would not go unpunished,” he said. A survivor of the attack, who simply gave his name as Lawal and is currently recuperating at the Specialist Hospital Okene from gun shot injuries, attributed his survival to providence. Lawal told his story: “We were in the church observing our prayers when the generator went off and suddenly we started hearing the sounds of gun shot and every body was screening for help and then suddenly every where was quiet.”
When our correspondent visited the church that was attacked, it was a shadow of itself with blood stains on the wall of the building. Residents of the town were in mournful mood and discussing the sad event in hush tones. The Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Dr. Ado Ibrahim, described the development as very painful even as he placed a curse on the perpetrators of the attack. The monarch said: "Whoever might have been responsible for the killing of these innocent souls would be punished here and hereafter". Following the church attack, Okene has lost the bubble as the roads were deserted. Security forces comprising of the army, the police, the SSS, and the navy, have literally taken over the town ensuring compliance with the dusk to down curfew imposed on the area by Governor Idris Wada.
The Kogi attack Some families, apparently for fear of the unknown, have relocated to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital. The police have vowed not to leave any stone unturned until the perpetrators of the church attack are brought to book. The State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Katsina, said his men were working round the clock and would soon close in on the gunmen behind the attack. "We already have information on the attackers hide out and I can assure you they will soon meet their waterloo. We have three suspects in our custody and they are making useful statements.”
'Boko Haram, Maitatsine link' and take whatever they want to take and disappear into the bush. How did that come to be? You would realise that during the former President Shehu Shagari period, there was one Shugaba that was arrested in Borno State and deported to Chad? He was likely to be a Chadian or had a Chadian mother. If you look at the whole Northeast; there is a high presence of Chadians. States like Borno, Bauchi, Adamawa, Plateau, Kano, Jigawa, and Yobe, a lot of the people there had Chadian origin. Transformation of Maitatsine to Boko Haram And do not forget that if we are looking at it from the religious aspect, you have the Maitatsine factor. During the Shagari period, they came, where did they operate, what was their doctrine? It was killing, they just woke one morning in Burukutu and started killing. Boko Haram is using the same strategy. They finished Maiduguri; I was involved in that operation, so I know. Then, they were Maitatsine, the method they were using was religious decoy. It is virtually the same with Boko Haram. Look at the area where Maitatsine operated: Burukutu in Maiduguri, Jimeta in Yola, Kano and some parts of Bauchi. Those ones were successfully neutralised, is this not the metamorphosis of the same group? Those ones were purely illiterates, professing their own brand of Islam and trying to force it on everybody, without any agenda. It was not that they were controlling Kano or Maiduguri; they were just killing people, instilling fear, which was the method they were using that time? Who were the NSAs? Removing Azazi not the solution Of course, the military went heavily against these hoodlums and were able to neutralise them. How they were neutralised is a discussion for another day, but now, it is Boko Haram. Look at the pattern, it is same Borno again, Kano, Yola. Now, they are expanding, probably, they took time to regroup, and they now have international connection, in terms of financial, technical support and training. Because they are obviously very sophisticated and well funded, they use improvised explosive devices. If they are to buy cylinder and everything to produce, it is not what illiterates can afford; so where is the money coming from. I do not really see the removal of Azazi as the solution, though, it is not that he has been effective. Probably they want to try another
person, but I think the prescription in this country like elsewhere must be to implement the law. The laws should be implemented All the decisions and everything we are doing should be that we must implement the law. Somebody kills someone else, a clear murder case will be turned to a religious one because he is a Muslim . If you do not treat those issues for what they are and you keep leaving them, then, you are spelling more troubles because, in everything, somebody will surely bring politics and religion into it. So, we must draw a line in-between today, that for anybody that breaches the law, the law must
,
Continued from page 14
I do not really see the removal of Azazi as the solution, though, it is not that he has been effective. Probably they want to try another person
,
take its course. Forget Mr. President’s body language The President said as much recently when he declared that people should not look at his body language before they do their jobs. We have the EFCC chair and somebody in the public arena has stolen public money, you should arrest him first, you do not have to wait for a report to be submitted to the President before you do your job. No. The people given the responsibility to carry out such functions should apply the law, and they should not be waiting for clearance from the authorities. Many people think our airspace is not safe. As a pilot, can you attempt a solution? Well, if air crashes are frequent, there are definitely some problems that have to be investigated; causes of air crashes vary, they are as different as the number of crashes. Some can be pilot error, others can be mechanical failure, and some can be weather related. Many things can occur that lead to air crashes. But , most of
HRM Ararile, Awaeke I the discussions I have read, both in print and electronic media, is the idea that the Nigerian pilots do not love themselves, that they would just take any aircraft that is parked because one owner says you must fly, it is not possible. Engineer cannot force pilot to fly aircraft The decision to take an aircraft rests with the pilot; the engineer can sign whatever he wants to sign, if the pilot takes the aircraft and says no, you know he has all the time in the world to do the checks he needs before he gets airborne. Along the way, he is more likely to see the fault in the aircraft than the engineer, who did not go through the system. The engineer is probably going to look at the faults reported previously, okay, this is not working, he goes to fix it and it is working. Nevertheless, there could be other things that are bad that he might not know, so as the pilot that is taking the aircraft, you must always go through all the checks, you cannot omit one, it is when he goes through the checklist and is convinced the aircraft is okay that he can take it. Our pilots are not suicide pilots We do not have suicide pilots unless Boko Haram members are now the pilots of Nigerian aircraft. Our pilots have wives and children, the way the relatives of passengers that died in the crash are mourned, so also the pilot’s relatives mourn their dead. Therefore, the impression I get is either the pilots are suicidal or the owner of the aircraft said you must take the aircraft and you do it, it is not like that. Even in the military, it is not
like that, not to talk of a civilian that will pack his bag, move from Arik, and the next day, he has another job with Aero Contractors, so you can’t even control him that much. In that circumstance, why should he deploy an aircraft that is practically unserviceable? Air crash is a chain of events. If you break one, you have accident, but if you do not break any, you are safe. Therefore, we must look at the whole gamut, of course, not just the aircraft but also the procedures. Even in the airport itself, the nature of the airport, nature of the runway, those contribute to air safety, so it is not something that you can put your hand on. The basic expectation of the Niger Delta people has not been met by the Federal Government. What is your take on this? I will just talk for myself and in fact the Urhobo nation. The general feeling is that we have been marginalised, and, in fact, more than that, we appear to be an endangered species within this political arrangement. I think if I get it correct, most of the ethnic nationalities have representation in the government at the centre; it is the first time, we, the fifth largest tribe in Nigeria and for whatever it is, are not having representation. We are not asking that people should receive less so that we can get more, we are asking for what legitimately belongs to us, as the fifth largest tribe in the country, and that is not happening. It needs to be reversed; we appeal to the President to look at the error that has been committed, be it error of commission or omission, let it be rectified so that we know that we are being carried along, as not just Niger Deltans, but as South-South people. This is our presidency, we fought for it, all of us fought for it; if there are benefits, it should go round, we are not asking for more than what is due to us. Are the Urhobos carried along at the state level. What is your candid assessment of what Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan? I am just coming to Delta State now and looking at the situation of things. I have heard the governor say that he is into many mega projects. They have mentioned leisure park in Udu, independent power project somewhere at Oghara, Free Trade Zone in Koko; I have heard all these, which I understand are all ongoing, we hope that all these projects are completed as soon as possible so that we will reap the fruit of the dividends of democracy, as the politicians will say.