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kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty".[1timothy2:2, the bible]
It happened so quickly before I could catch my breath; the scene was nothing , but goring, blood letting and lastly the ominous sound of bones as they break and the falling of another human life, never to rise again. one more gone, one more felled by the hands of many, but with no real one in charge of the execution without trial. they call it jungle justice, whose jungle? spare me that it is nothing ,but wickedness in the hands of a mob with varying motives: some want to indulge their delight in killing a human like themselves, without paying any price or being held accountable, some wants to get their pleasure from the cries of these men as they go down the painful way to their death, no one listening to their cries of innocence, yet other wants to see the dangling private parts, hitherto covered now being expose to all eyes to see. Some even had to shamelessness of trying to play with their manhood, calling it different names, 'look at his john Thomas, ' see his ugly Dick ' cut his rod ', and other offensive term that will make one's morals recoil, but all to the glee of majority in the crowd.
The issue of men taking the laws into their hands to kill men not yet found guilty by the court of law is not new to us, but the rate of incidents is becoming quite alarming when considering the facts that some of these victims may be innocent of whatever crime they may have been killed. one can recollect the case of the 4 students in port Harcourt , Nigeria, infamously tagged 'Alou 4'. we all rose to condemn the murders of Iloyd,Ugonna,Tekena and Chidaka, we called for the perpretors and sponsors to be fetch out to face the wroth of the Law, for justice, which, to the best of my knowledge is yet to be served, though quite a number of people in that community have been arrested. It is heartbreaking that after four long years no group, or individual have been found guilty for these heinous crime of murder. The pace of speedy justice or the delay of justice will either make the families, friends and well-meaning Nigerians, alike rest assured that at least, justice have been done or send their way wave of discouragement at the slow pace the wheels of justice seems to be turning. Like they say, justice delay is justice denied. furthermore, this long-awaited justice will not only pacify the close families members, but it will assure Nigerians that no one,nomatter. how highly place in the societal structure indeed have a right to take another life no matter, the reason without recourse to the law of the land. if justice have been melted out alacrity, who know, it might have prevented another scene I just saw with my eyes; no respect, no sanctity was observed it was like snuffing out a mosquito that has become a nuisance to our ears in the course of our sleep
In retrospect, I wonder the mindset of a crowd who thinks the easiest way out is to take the life/lives of the accused without instead of calling the law enforcement agency. could it be they are tired of the delay often in the system? are they of the opinion that the police can not be trusted to do a thorough investigation? or do they think the judiciary can not melt out if the accused are found guilty? If any of the above is their reason for the wanton execution, it is a dangerous precedence which must be stamped out with force by the Authority wherever this act have taken place. Investigation will reveal that it is a norm In the eastern part of Nigeria. I therefore. urge the Nigeria police force to act quickly before this kind of jungle justice spread to other part. Though. there are reports that IT is happening already in the middle belt as well as Edo state. Under such happening any one can be the next victim; just a matter of calling out, ;'thief! thief! thief'. You bet any mischievous individual can hatch that, any one, with a grudge against another fellow can secretly call out for that, too. Then it becomes a cold blooded murder or clean murder'; no suspect, no investigation and therefore no justice.
the above scene I witness is no different. who made the first call to kill them? who is the ring leader? perhaps the man with the loudest voice, perhaps the most popular man known in the vicinity or better still, the man who sounded more indignant and wrath at the accused persons. I recollect one telling the crowd how he lost valuables in the hands of armed robbers on his way from Aba. 'they were devoid of human feeling, he shouted, the way he carried on one would think the same robbers were the one caught here.
the thing about it fellowmen and women this kind of justice is not the best it can not be always right many innocent will be caught in the middle, many will die for the slightest reason we must allow the justice system to prevail whilst we hold our emotion in check.
Even in biblical times there was a form of justice; Moses was a judge and he made many to judge the people like him. heeding the sound advice of his in-law.
When laydown laws in the land are followed to the latter. the result is always peace and tranquility in the land. Nigerians have a penchant for allowing emotion like the above scenario.
let us consider the recent case of the 7 judicial officers arrested in the country. we are allowing our emotion to take the better of us. Are there no laws concerning such cases? are there laws for the discipline of judicial officers in the country? if we follow that there will not be all these hullabaloo we hear today: some wants the laws to be followed others wants other thing to happen. no laws must take their recourse no matter the crime and due process must be followed otherwise if the persons accuse are indeed, guilty , but not abiding by due process may act as a leeway for their defense to seek for an acquittal.
Media trials is becoming the norms and when the cheeps are down and the accused are set free these people start to cry fowl!
it is not new it has been for centuries for men to cry out for instant justice which is most times flowed. let us recall the street trial of Jesus Christ: the popular crowd wants him crucified, but for what crime? for what offence? even Pilate recoiled at this kind of justice and refuse to go that way with the crowd.'
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. [the bible, Mathew27:24]. Is this what we desire today in our country? I now there is hunger, there is lack ravaging the land, but there is also laws on how to go about trying the guilty. trying to blackmail, intimidate, cajole those responsible for justice is not amongst the deeds of any sane society.
The NJC [national judicial commission are saddle with the task of investigation erring or corrupt judges, and recommending the appropriate punitive measure. they should be allow to do their jobs without interference from any quarters and whatever conclusion must be accepted in good faith otherwise the very foundation of our constitution will be in peril. The Economic and financial crimes commission[EFCC]' is facing a gargantuan task: A nation where corruption is a way of all and where even your own are the ones to laugh at you if you are called to serve your country and you do so without amassing stupendous wealth to show for it after your service, a nation where religious leaders equate the amassing of ill-gotten wealth with God's blessings, a nation where your net worth is sounded and heralded, but your self-worth as a man with honesty and integrity is silenced and shunned they need our support, they need our assistance when they call on us, but they also must be apt to follow procedures, adherence to laws before making arrest and detention. we can not be seem to be encouraging media trials and or those in Authority should not take action that seems to portray the judiciary in bad light. whether in government or the case of a petty thief or pickpocket we must allow due procedure to follow and teach our children and wards to believe same.
This is my take.
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