THE BUHARI MUST GO PROTESTS (1)

Sonnie Ekwowusi writes that many are protesting the administration’s inability to protect lives and property

“A city in travail, God our Lord, and from her loins sprang twin murder and Black hate. Red was the midnight; clang, crack and cry of death and fury filled the air and trembled underneath the stars when church spires pointed silently to Thee. And all this was to sate the greed of greedy men who hide behind the veil of vengeance! Bend us Thine ear, O lord!” A Litany of Atlanta, 1906

Bend your ear to the ground and you will hear the cry of death and fury renting the air; the sobbing of women and children; the persistent protests of Nigerians from all walks of life over the spate of murder of innocent Nigerians by Fulani herdsmen. “Hear us, O! Lord! Take this yoke away from us. Listen to your children mad with the madness of a mobbed and mocked and murdered people. We raise our shackled hand and charge Thee amid the tears of our murdered heroes, save us. Hearken to the assistance of your children drowning in the rivers of blood flowing down the city streets and alleyways. Sit no longer blind, Lord. Lord, let not our cries sink in silence in the midnight. God, thou are the undoer of evil deeds. ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay’, saith the Lord of Host!”

This is the cry of death. It is also the liberation song. Visibly angered by the pathological murder of innocent Nigerians by the murderous Fulani herdsmen especially the recent murder of two Catholic priests and dozens of church worshipers in Benue State, Nigerians in the pulpits, bedrooms, beer parlours, newspaper editorials, stadia, market places and on various social media platforms are protesting and urging President Muhammadu Buhari to quit so that a competent, visionary, incorruptible, detribalised and charismatic leader will assume the mantle of leadership and lead Nigeria to the ultimate destiny willed for her by the Almighty, the creator of the universe.

On their own part, the members of National Assembly are protesting and calling for the impeachment of President Buhari for withdrawing and spending a gargantuan $496million in the purchase Super Tucano Embracer fighter jets without the approval of the National Assembly as enshrined in our constitution. President Buhari claims that he purchased 12 Tucano Fighter Jet for $469 million. If findings reveal that a Tucano fighter jet cost between $12 million to $14 million, how can President Buhari claim that he purchased 12 fighter Jets for a whopping $496 million? the people ask. Earlier last week the House of Representatives summoned President Buhari to appear before it over the Fulani herdsmen killings. Will Mr. President heed the invitation or will he simply ignore the House of Representatives? Under the aegis of One Voice Nigeria (#iStandwithNigeria) thousands of Nigerians including Nollywood actress Mercy Aigbe and Charlie Boy Oputa were spotted last week around the National Arts Threatre, Iganmu, Lagos protesting against President Buhari and demanding that he must go. Two weeks ago, Nigerians in London trooped out en masse to stage a protest demanding that President Buhari must go. Some of the placards being brandished by the London protesters read thus, “The Dullard of Daura, Almajiri Jubrin Buhari must go”, “We’ve had enough of him”; “He is yet to return our $26bn NNPC money”, “Only a person whose brain contains 37% alcohol will vote Buhari in 2019”. It is no longer news that Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida and T.Y. Danjuma have been going about protesting that President Buhari is not a fit and proper person to be the President of Nigeria. T.Y Danjuma is particularly annoyed with Buhari over the killing of his kinsmen by the Fulani herdsmen. The Anglican Church in Nigeria also wants Buhari to go. Archbishop, Enugu Ecclesiastical Province (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma has warned Nigerians not to re-elect President Buhari in 2019. Even Aisha Buhari, President Buhari’s wife, has joined the anti-Buhari protesters. Aisha has been tweeting and saying that her husband is not for a second term. Meanwhile, many Nigerians on Facebook and on WhatsApp social platforms are protesting and demanding that President Buhari must go because he has failed as a president.

Another group of protesters are the catholic bishops of Nigeria under the aegis of the Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). Seething with anger over the killing of two Catholics priests and dozens of church worshippers in Benue State, the CBCN staged a protest last week asking President Buhari to quit power as President of Nigeria because he has plunged the nation into chaos and because he cannot protect the lives and property of the citizens. Displaying placards that read, “Life is a precious gift from God”, “Male and Female He created them”, the bishops, who were fully dressed in their bishopric attire, took to the street in protest that Buhari must go. This is the first time the Catholic bishops are coming out to protest against any Nigerian leader. In the same vein, the leaders of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have directed all churches in Nigeria to hold peaceful protests against President Buhari following the attack on the Catholic Church in Benue State in which two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners were killed.

This is not the first time Catholic Church priests have been abducted or killed by the rampaging Fulani herdsmen. You will recall that in April 2016 the Parish priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Ukana, Udi Local Government Area, Enugu State Rev. Fr. Celestine Aniako was kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen who later demanded N10 million ransom. Earlier in March of the same year the same Fulani herdsmen had murdered two Reverend Sisters and burnt about 17 houses in Abbi, Uzo Uwani Local Government Area, Enugu State. In the same April 2016, Fulani herdsmen kidnapped Vicar-General of Otukpo Catholic Diocese Rev. Fr. John Adeyi along Odoba Otukpa-Okwungaga road, Otukpo, Benue State. Sadly enough, two months later his decomposed body was found even after his kidnappers had collected N1.5 million ransom. In August 2016, some Fulani herdsmen attacked and killed a Catholic seminarian and others at Enugu Atakwu community, in Nkanu West Local Government Area, Enugu State. The herdsmen had reportedly mowed down many others before killing the seminarian. In the first week of September 2016, another Catholic seminarian and two others who were travelling to Onitsha in a bus were kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen at Egede near the 9th Mile Corner, Enugu. After the abduction, the herdsmen took them to a nearby bush where they had kept other captives. In the same 2016 along the Nkpologwu-Nimbo Expressway, Enugu State, some Fulani herdsmen dashed out from a nearby bush and blocked the vehicle carrying three Catholic priests. Time was 7 p.m. At first, the priests thought that it was a dream but by the time reality dawned on them the kidnappers has commanded them to surrender their bodies to them. While two of the priests managed to escape with some gunshot wounds (one of the priests was badly shot in the head) by the kidnappers, the third priest called Fr. Emmanuel Dim, a Vincentian priest who is in fact the Rector of Fr. Tansi Major Seminary, Onitsha did not manage to escape. Consequently, the Fulani herdsmen caught up with him, kidnapped him and took him away.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS ARE COMING OUT TO PROTEST AGAINST ANY NIGERIAN LEADER