The Lord’s inquest into the murder of Abel typifies His concern for the violence, destruction and death currently afflicting Nigeria. The persistent footprints of blood throughout our land prick and awaken our collective conscience. Cain, overwhelmed by guilt and shame, could not adequately respond to the call for his brother, nor bear the consequences of his evil act against God, his brother, and the land. He mortgaged his peace, happiness, health, and life for nothing. As in the days of Cain and Abel, the Lord now demands accountability for our brothers and sisters murdered senselessly over frivolous and trivial motives. This question is meant to stir a shared sense of responsibility in our society. Because of the complicity of many persons in society, brotherhood is losing its meaning and mystery, and the simple expectation of care in our universal family is fading. Like Cain, many tragically become brother-killers instead of brother-keepers.
From Cain’s example, humanity learned to settle disputes through bloodletting, learned to pursue greed with murder, learned to cover evil with assassination, and learned to argue and silence opposition with threats to life. We learned to avenge wrongs by inflicting greater evil on those who could not match our raw power or brutal force. And, indeed, humanity learned to chase influence or affluence through bloodshed. Ambitions—political, economic, and social—have become linked with the suffering of innocent victims. Lives are wasted at the slightest provocation, at the least discomfort or in pursuit of opportunities and successes. Cain’s violation and destruction of life left the world diminished, transforming it into a field soaked in blood. He killed Abel only to discover the multiplication and complication of his problems.
Ndigbo and Middle-Beltans have suffered deeply at the hands of relentless bloodlusting, bloodletting Philistines of Nigeria and unrestrained violence from forces within. Their suffering has prompted the emergence of self-determination groups, seeking emancipation, liberation, peace, justice, and fairness—principally through time-tested nonviolent, active, and principled methods. This brought them some success and helped avoid worsening their already precarious situation. While the temptation to abandon non-violence is strong and seductive, it was mostly resisted. Unfortunately, some turned to violence, even if aimed at their enemies, further complicating an already bad situation. Violence begets violence. Violence escalates beyond expectation and spills over so that the casualties are not only those who started the fire, which they cannot quench or of which they have lost control.
Our once sacred land is increasingly defiled by the rivers of blood of innocent victims, killed in the name of misguided patriotism or Hobbesian drive for self-interest. The disregard for human life, shown in its destruction without remorse, makes the Hobbesian state of nature seem like paradise in comparison; here, life is not only short, nasty, and brutish, but also governed by a culture of death in which life and death are emptied of meaning and mystery. The scale of killings and destruction is shocking and inexplicable. Disappointingly, the central government remains inactive, complicit as these purveyors of death turn our homeland of hope into a place of despair. The government slumbers, snores and sleepwalks while these merchants of death celebrate their killing sprees and landgrabbing. At present, Nigeria has been turned into a deplorable cesspit.
Our land is rapidly becoming a killing field. Countless lives have been lost, and these incidents continue to rise. It is difficult to accept that such acts are committed by individuals whose resolve and passion are to protect their people. It is troubling that some suffer worse from supposed brothers acting as messiahs. Ndigbo’s experience is a transition from hardship to greater danger, merely changing their faces, changing the killers’ addresses and costumes. The land is erupting with turmoil. There is fire and fury in the land. Though compassion without passion is lethargic and empty, passion without compassion is self-destructive, and we now verge on the latter. May I remind the offenders, quoting Patience Jonathan, “All these bloods you people are sharing there is god ooo”. Whoever kills claims a curse that spells death and destruction. How can brothers justify killing brothers for power, argument, treasure, or ambition?
Is it not profound evil and arrant wickedness to kill solely to intimidate others from participating in the political process or to disrupt it? Is it not grave wickedness, with consequences spanning generations, to take lives to make political statements or score points? One thing is clear: both God and our land will hold the perpetrators accountable—they will not escape justice. We will not forget that supposed brother-keepers became brother-killers, nor the many who lost their lives across our land. Our collective will must rise against these acts and their perpetrators. The blood of these brothers they have wasted will rise against them in condemnation.
In the name of God, I urge everyone to stop these killings now. Blood is powerful; by wasting innocent lives, you mortgage and threaten your own peace, happiness, and the moral conscience of our land. You bargain for evil by causing deaths. I call on all Nigerians to unite and actively oppose these acts and their perpetrators. May the collective will of Nigerians bring an end to this violence and senseless killings. In the name of God, stop!
Fr George Adimike
findfadachigozie@yahoo.com
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