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Opening the newspapers over the weekend, I was greeted with headlines like:
“26-year-old man arrested for setting grandma on fire in Jigawa”
“Police hunt cultists for killing Ogun councillorship candidate”
“Gunmen kill 2, set houses ablaze in Benue”
“Three killed, one missing in Anambra journalists kidnap”
Note that this is not unusual anymore in Nigeria. Death is no longer something weighty. But most pitiably, taking a life has become so commonplace that it no longer arouses any emotion of revulsion. In most Western countries, when an animal is killed mistakenly, it provokes anger in the people. But in Nigeria, when a human being is wilfully killed, it is seen as nothing special. Christians and Muslims and adherents of the traditional religion will conclude that it is the way God planned it.
But we were never like this. Something devastating happened to Nigeria in recent years. It completely changed our value for human life. It made human life mean next to nothing in value.
A lot of things contributed to this. One is the message that pervades society that there is no punishment for the taking of life. People get killed and many of their killers are not brought to book. To be fair to the police, they do their best to unravel many cases of murder, despite the challenges of funding and lack of tools. The problem is that the judicial bottlenecks most times make it hard to prosecute many cases successfully.
In contrast, police in many Western countries take extra measures to ensure that murder cases are unravelled. The case of Boy Adam in the United Kingdom is an example. On September 21, 2001, the Metropolitan Police found the torso of a small boy in the River Thames. He had no head or name or any identification. A DNA test showed that the body belonged to a boy who was new in the UK and was the victim of a muti ritual sacrifice. Since it was obvious the boy was not a British citizen, that would have made some countries slow down on the case. The Metropolitan Police did not. They offered a £50,000 reward for information to solve the case. They visited South Africa, Nigeria, Germany, etc. They got Nelson Mandela to make a broadcast, which was translated into different African languages. They visited different villages and schools asking for people whose child was missing to come forward. Eventually, despite some arrests, nobody has been directly sentenced for the case.
Why did the UK police and government invest so much in the case of a boy who was clearly not their citizen? It was because they knew that letting that slide would embolden the killers―and even people with no history of killing anyone—to believe they could kill someone in the UK and get away with it. Although they feel frustrated that the case remains cold, the Metropolitan Police believe the publicity around the case has acted as a deterrent for further ritual crimes in the UK.
But people in Nigeria have seen that criminals―including those in government—get away with crimes. They see people get killed every day with no repercussions. Communities get wiped out with a president giving subtle justification about it being a retaliation. They see people issue threats to communities or law enforcement agents with no repercussions. They hear governments issue warnings to different groups without much done. They know that the security agents are overwhelmed by the violence in different parts of the country.
The second reason is the strong belief that using human life for sacrifices can make one wealthy or invincible. The three sources of this belief are the local traditional belief, the religious belief, and the movies. Nigerians believe strongly in the power of magic and juju. Christianity and Islam could not eliminate or even dilute it. That belief was simply transferred to Christianity and Islam and continued under a new platform. For example, it is rare to hear that someone died without somebody accused of having a hand in it. It is believed that diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, asthma, car crash, heart attack, etc, are sent by enemies and evil people.
In addition, challenges like childlessness, business failure, marriage failure, exam failure, poverty, drunkenness, drug addiction, sexual indiscretion, anger, delay in getting a suitor, etc, are tagged acts of envious relatives and neighbours. Some people will secretly visit medicine men to cast these out, while many will openly go to see pastors or imams to cast the spell out. And none of these visits is complete without money exchanging hands. The only difference is that the Christians and Muslims tag traditional beliefs “superstition” and “idolatry” and demonize it, making many who engage in it do it secretly.
The third culprit is the movies which simply tapped into the existing traditional and religious belief in the power of human sacrifice to give wealth, long life and protection against attacks. The first film that birthed what is today known as Nollywood―Living in Bondage—was based on that belief in human sacrifice. The second film―Circle of Doom—was based on that concept too. That same concept has permeated the Nigerian film industry over the last three decades. Rather than discouraging people from getting involved in such, it has made many to believe that it works. Ironically, some who have been caught after killing others have confessed that after the human sacrifice, they did not see the wealth they were promised. But because many don’t come out to make this confession, people still believe that human sacrifice gives wealth and still continue to waste the lives of others.
The other factor is the attitude of government to human lives. It has been known and accepted that the Nigerian government does not place a premium on the life of the citizen. It shows in how the resources meant for the people are misappropriated, leaving the people dying in circumstances that can be avoided. It also reflects in how the security agencies engage with the people. Any time a security agency relates with the people, even on a simple issue like a peaceful march, there is usually a fatality. Live bullets are used in cases that don’t require a bullet.
The way other countries prioritise the life of their citizens who are trapped in places of conflict in comparison with the way the Nigerian government reacts when citizens are in distress overseas sends a message. Nigerians have come to believe that their life does not matter. They drum it into the ears of anyone who is trying to be a hero during a protest. They remind such people that if anything happens to them, the Nigerian government will not be bothered; Nigerians will move on as if nothing happened; and only their family will miss them.
Then there is the issue of poverty. In the past ten years, Nigerians have faced the challenge of a tightening economy. The number of people who live in poverty has been increasing. Based on the most recent report, over 60 per cent of Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty. Poverty breeds desperation. Unlike in the past when one would need a strong reason to eliminate the life of someone, killers have confessed that they were promised as low of N20,000 to kill another person.
There is also the feeling that with over 200 million people, Nigeria is over-populated. If one or two people are killed, there is a feeling that there are many more people that can replace them.
With all these factors coming into play, the worth of the life of a Nigerian has increasingly diminished. It, therefore, does not take much for someone to kill another. Since 2011 when Boko Haram began to use suicide bombing and mass murder in its campaign of violence, Nigerians have been numbed. Death no longer sounds strange. Nigerians no longer get shocked by any form of killing or number of fatalities. They simply heave and continue as if nothing happened.
It is not a good thing. Death is a big issue. Human life should have a great value. Nigerians need national therapy and reorientation. This is not who we are.
– – – X: @BrandAzuka
