FROM THE FOREGOING COMMENTS AND POST ON THIS SUBJECT MATTER, IT IS EVIDENT THAT MANY PSHYCOPATHIC, PERVERTED BIGOTS HERE ARE ONLY OUT TO EXPRESS A CLASSIC HATRED FOR ISLAM AND MUSLIMS, NO MORE, NO LESS! THEY NEITHER HAVE AN ATOM'S SIZE OF SYMPATHY FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE DREADFUL INCIDENTS, NOR CARE A SHADE ABOUT DETERMINING WHO THE ACTUAL ENEMY MIGHT BE... FIRST, I WAS RIGHT THERE WHEN THE FIRST ATTACK OCCURED; RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE, AND THIS IS MY ACCOUNT:
FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2010. I TOOK AN EXCUSE FROM OFFICE TO GO TO BUKURU, A SUB-URB OF JOS CITY, NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA, BUT WAS INSTEAD, AT MY INLAWS', CHATTING MY HEART AWAY WITH MY SOON-TO-BE BRIDE, NA'ILAH. AT ABOUT 1935 HOURS (7:35PM) OR THERE ABOUTS, THERE WAS A BIG-BANG... NOT THE GEOGRAPHICAL BIG-BANG, BUT A REAL EXPLOSION. THEN CAME ANOTHER ONE. THEN THE CHAOS. FIRST IT WAS CHILDREN RUNNING TO NOWHERE FROM GOD-KNOWS-WHAT! WE ALL CAME OUT AND STARTED SPECULATING WHAT COULD BE THE CAUSE OF THE EXLOSIONS. NOT UN-NATURALLY, EVEN A LOUD LAUGHTER COULD CAUSE PANIC IN THE CITY OF JOS, NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA, DUE TO THE SUCCESSIVE CIVIL DISTURBANCES THAT HAD BEDEVILLED THE ONCE CALM, EVERYONE'S DARLING CITY. IT'S ALWAYS BEEN AN UN-EASY CALM, WHEN EVER THEY HAD ONE. "IT WAS A TRANSFORMER!" SOMEONE CONCLUDED. "NO, IT MUST BE A GUN!" REPLIED ANOTHER. "HABA!", SOMEONE STARTED. "NO GUN COULD SOUND SO LOUD! THIS MUST BE AN EXPLOSIVE!!". AND THAT IT IS. BY MY PROFESSION, I KNOW TOO WELL WHAT COULD MAKE THAT KIND OF SOUND, BUT FOR FEAR OF RAISING FEAR AND TENSION, I KEPT THE HOLE ON MY FACE SHUT.
ABOUT FIFTY METERS AWAY FROM MY IN-LAWS', THERE WAS ANOTHER SCENE OF CHAOS: A SOLDIER AT HIS POST HAS JUST BEEN SHOT IN A DRIVE-BY SHOOTING! THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE THAN ONE SOLDIER HIT BUT FOR THE COURAGE OF ONE OF THE SOLDIERS AT THAT POST, WHO STOOD FIRM AND ENGAGED THE UN-KNOWN ASSAILANTS, WHO THEN FLED AWAY IN THEIR VEHICLE, SAID OUR TREMBLING INFORMANTS-ALL CHORUSING BREATHLESSLY IN ONE VOICE. IMMIDIATELY, SOME OF THE SOLDIERS STATIONED AT MY INLAWS' RESIDENCE RUSHED TO RENDER HELP TO THEIR COLLEAGUES. THE CHAOS THEN BEGAN TO GROW WORSE, AND PEOPLE STARTED COMING OUT FROM THEIR HOMES-INCLUDING WOMEN. IT WAS OBVIOUS I HAD TO DO SOMETHING...
BY MY CALCULATION, THERE WAS LESS THAN HALF A MINUTE'S INTERVAL BETWEEN THE BOMB-BLASTS AND THE DRIVE-BY SHOOTING. IT BECAME CLEAR: A WELL COORDINATED, VICIOUS SIMULTENIOUS ATTACK ON INNOCENT CIVILIANS OUT FOR LAST MINUTE SHOPPING FOR THE CHRISTMASS, AND SECURITY AGENCIES. FAIRLY UNSOPHISTICATED BUT WITH MILITARY PRECISION. QUICKLY, I STARTED EXPLAINING TO PEOPLE HOW THE SITUATION COULD EASILY BE WORSENED BY THE CHAOS DUE TO THEIR OWN FEARS, AND HOW THAT COULD HAMPER THE SOLDIERS' (WHO, BY THE WAY, WERE NOW VERY, VERY ANGRY AND SUSPICIOUS OF EVERYBODY, AS A RESULT OF THE ATTACK THAT MAIMED THEIR COLLEAGUE), EFFORTS TO PROTECT THEM. I TOLD MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN-LAW, IN PARTICULAR, WHO WERE OUT EITHER BECAUSE OF THE SOUND OF THE EXPLOSIONS OR, LIKE MY SOON-TO-BE BRIDE, SELLING AT THE FAMILY-OWNED DRUG STORE, OR JUST OUT ON INNOCENT STROLL, TO GO HOME AND CALM THE WOMENT AND CHILDREN DOWN, SO THE SOLDIERS COULD PERFORM THEIR DUTY. I TOLD THE PHARMACIST AT THE DRUG STORE TO SHUT-DOWN AND JUST GO HOME, AS HIS WEEK-OLD BRIDE WOULD BE RESTLESS UNTIL SHE SEES HIM. JUST AS I WAS DOING THAT, THE NOW ANGRY, SHOCKED SOLDIERS CAME DOWN TOWARDS US-ORDERING EVERYBODY HOME! THEY WERE IN EFFECT, DOING THE SAME THING I WAS DOING, ONLY THEY WERE DOING IT DIFFERENTLY.
LATER, IT BECAME MY TURN TO BE MARSHALLED HOME, THIS TIME BY MY OWN SOLDIER - NA'ILAH! "YOU MUST LEAVE, IT'S NOT SAFE!" MY SOON-TO-BE BRIDE INSISTED SEEING ME OFF UP TO THE OTHER SOLDIERS' POST, WHERE THE DRIVE-BY SHOOTING TOOK PLACE. OF COURSE, I POLITELY DECLINED. BUT ADAMANT SHE WAS, SO I, HER YOUNGER BROTHER, A 19 YEAR OLD AND HER SET OUT. SOME 10 METERS AWAY FROM THE ATTACKED SOLDIERS, I STOPPED MY ESCORTS AND RESPECTFULLY ORDERED MY BRIDE-TOBE AND HER BROTHER BACK HOME. AFTER AN AGRESSIVE IDENTIFICATION, THE SOLDIERS LET ME THROUGH AND I IMMIDIATELY LEFT FOR BUKURU... THIS WAS MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AT WHAT I CALL 'SCENE 1' OF THE CHRISTMASS MAYHEM IN JOS.
THERE WAS A RELATIVE BUT TENSIVE CALM FOR THE NEXT 15 HOURS IN MUCH OF THE CITY, BUT UNGUWAN-RUKUBA AND GADA-BIYU AREAS SAW NOTHING BUT BLOOD-SHED. THE BOMBINGS WE HEARD EARLIER ON FRIDAY THE 24TH, ACTUALLY OCCURRED IN THESE TWO PLACES. CHRISTIAN YOUTHS IN BOTH AREAS WHERE THE BOMBS WENT OFF, WENT ON REPRISAL ATTACKS ON ANY UNSUSPECTING MUSLIM. PEOPLE WERE BURNT IN THEIR VEHICLES, ON FOOT-ANY WHERE WITHIN THOSE TWO AREAS. I WAS STUCK AT TERMINUS AREA, WHEN I HAD TO LEAVE BUKURU AS MY ATTENTION WAS URGENTLY NEEDED AT MY OFFICE! NO VEHICLES WERE COMING FROM RUKUBA MILITARY BASE IN BASSA AREA, SOME 20 KILMETERS AWAY FROM THE CITY CENTRE-AN INDICATION THE ROADS ARE BLOCKED, SO NO VEHICLE DARE GO THERE!! I SENT AN SMS TO MY OFFICE, INFORMING THEM OF MY SITUATION. AND THEN I WAITED. AND WAITED. AND WAITED. AT ABOUT 1130AM, MILITARY REINFORCEMENTS SENT TO GADA-BIYU AREA GOT TIRED OF THE RAMPAGING YOUTHS' FREE-FOR-ALL, AND OPENED FIRE, ALLEGEDLY KILLING TWO OF THE CHRISTIAN YOUTHS. THE REMAINING YOUTHS DISPERSED FOR DEAR LIFE... THAT WAS WHEN A SOLDIER IN PLAIN CLOTHS CAME THROUGH TO TERMINUS, AND I AND OTHER PERSSENGERS RUSHED INTO HIS SMALL 'GOLF 3' CAR. WHILE PASSING THROUGH GADA-BIYU, WHICH IS ABOUT THE ONLY WAY TO MY OFFICE, I SAW FIRST HAND THE BLOOD-SHED THAT ENSUED THERE: THE DESECRATED BODY PARTS FROM THE PREVIOUS NIGHT'S BOMBING, AND THE BURNT-OUT VEHICLES AND HUMAN BODIES (SOME WERE ACTUALLY HACKED AND DISMEMBERED) BY THE CHRISTIAN YOUTHS ON REPRISAL ATTACKS. IT WASN'T CLEAR WHETHER THE SOLDIERS AT GADA-BIYU RECEIVED THE GREEN LIGHT TO OPEN FIRE, BUT THE RE-ENFORCEMENTS AT THE OTHER AREA, ANGUWAN-RUKUBA, HAD NO SUCH ORDERS, SO THE KILLINGS THERE WENT ON UN-CHECKED TIL AROUND 1500(3:00PM) THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON. EVEN WHEN THE PLATEAU STATE GOVERNOR, DA JONAH DAVID JANG, AND HIS ENTOURAGE VISITED THE SCENES OF THE MAYHEM IT DIDN'T STOP. THE CHRISTIAN YOUTHS WERE SO ANGRY THEY MORE OR LESS, CHASED THE GOVERNOR OUT OF THEIR AREA.
IT IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT TO SAY, THE EFFECT OF THESE INCIDENTS IS FAR REACHING. EXPERIENCING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME HERE IN JOS, ONE OF THE WAYS IT AFFECTED ME PERSONALLY IS THE FACT THAT SINCE I MET MY LOVING BRIDE-TO-BE SOME TWO MONTHS AND A HALF AGO, I NEVER SPENT A WHOLE DAY WITHOUT PUTTING HER IN MY SIGHT! NOT ONLY HAVE I NOT SEEN HER FOR TWO DAYS NOW, THE SITUATION IS ALSO THREATENING TO DISRUPT OUR WEDDING PREPARATIONS!! I KNOW GOD WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN ANYWAY...
TODAY, I AM LEFT ALONE (I KNOW I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS), THINKING ABOUT THIS: WHAT DOES ANYONE STAND TO GAIN OUT OF THESE BARBARISM??! WHY CAN'T SOMEONE PAUSE FOR SECOND BEFORE TURNING THEIR OTHER SIDE?? WHERE ARE OUR SENSE OF REASONING, OR DON'T WE HAVE ONE?? SO MANY QUESTIONS, ALL - TO WHICH SOME PEOPLE HAVE THE WHOLE ANSWERS... BUT IN JOS, NOBODY ASKS WHY DID AN INCIDENT OF THIS NATURE HAPPENED, OR WHO MAY BE BEHIND IT: PEOPLE REACH THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS... AND PASS THEIR OWN JUDGEMENTS! A COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE THE EVENTS, THERE WERE REPORTS THAT THE MEMBERS OF THE INFAMOUS "BOKO-HARAAM" SECT ARE PLANNING TO DISRUPT THE CHRISTMASS CELEBRATIONS IN JOS, AND ATTACK SECURITY FORCES DEPLOYED WITHING THE STATE AS A RESULT OF THE SUCCESSIVE CIVIL DISTURBANCES. THIS INFORMATION WAS REPORTEDLY PASSED TO RELEVANT SECURITY OUTFITS, AS WELL AS THE STATE GOVERNMENT. A CHILD WOULD HAVE KNOWN WHAT TO DO WITH SUCH INFORMATION. BUT, WELL, THIS IS NIGERIA. SO, NOTHING'S GONNA HAPPEN... BUT IT DID. BIG!! OH, ALLAH!!!!!! WE SEEK YOUR ETERNAL REDEMPTION, P - L - E - A - S - E!!!!
THE 'HELMS-MEN' WILL CONTINUE TO DRAG US FURTHER AND DEEPER INTO THE QUAGMIRE. EVEN BEFORE THAT CLAIM OF RESPONSIBILITY, LIKE I EARLIER, THERE WERE..., ALLEGEDLY, REPORTS THAT CERTAIN GROUP OF PEOPLE ARE PLANNING TO DISRUPT THE XMASS CELEBRATIONS AND ATTACK SECURITY AGENTS. RESPONSE? NONE! RESULT? YOU TELL ME! SECONDLY, SHORTLY AFTER THE ATTACKS, THE STATE GOVERNOR GAVE AN INTERVIEW IN WHICH HE CLAIMED IT IS, QUOTE-UN QUOTE, THE HANDY-WORK OF HIS ''POLITICAL ENEMIES... AND NOTHING TO DO WITH RELIGION.'' WAS THIS AN ATTEMPT TO AVOID BEING BLAMED FOR IN-ACTION VIZ-A-VIZ THE ALLEGED INTELLIGENCE REPORTS OF THE ANTICIPATED ATTACKS, OR A PLOY TO ACQUIRE PUBLIC SYMPATHY IN AN ELECTION YEAR?? AGAIN, YOU TELL ME!! THEN CAME THE ADMISSION OF RESPONSIBILITY BY THE THE INFAMOUS 'BOKO-HARAM' SECT. SO, THE PUBLIC IS LEFT, AS I SAID BEFORE, TO MAKE THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS AND TAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS, DUE TO LACK OF ONE FROM THE AUTHORITIES, AND GOING BY THE ENGRAVED ANIMOSITY BETWEEN FACTIONS OF THE JOS SOCIETY, WHAT WORSE COULD ONE EXPECT??? MAY GOD GRANT US WISDOM, BUT ALSO GUIDE US TO PADDLE THROUGH THE QUAGMIRE... AMEEN.
Posted: at 31-12-2010 09:14 AM (14 years ago) | Newbie |
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