CATHOLICS PROTEST HERDSMEN KILLINGS Sonnie Ekwowusi

Government has failed to protect lives and property of the people, writes

Yesterday a multitude of Catholic Bishops, priests, reverend sisters and lay faithful in the different Catholic dioceses across the country marched on the streets and alleyways to protest the incessant murder of Nigerian citizens especially the recent murder of two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners at Mbalom village in Benue State by Fulani herdsmen. The two Catholic clerics – Rev Fr. Joseph Gor and Rev. Fr. Felix Tyolahan –and 17 parishioners were participating in the worship of God during a morning Mass at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Mbalom, when the herdsmen suddenly dashed out from nowhere and murdered all of them. The surging crowds of protesters looked like rivers that had burst their banks. Watching them from afar one would think that the crowds were uncontrollable. But coming closer one would discover that they were orderly, controllable and prayerful. Yesterday is a day to remember in Nigeria. Never in the history of Nigeria had such a number of Catholics and Christians assembled to stage a peaceful and prayerful protest in condemnation of the killing of citizens by a terrorist group. Not even during the dreadful Sani Abacha dictatorial military regime did so many Catholics and human rights advocates take to the streets to protest the murder of citizens by terrorists owing to the incapacity of the security forces to protect lives and property of the citizenry. But yesterday remains a memorial day in the history of street protests and rallies in Nigeria. It was a day that the remains of the two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners were committed to mother earth. Therefore the protests were symbolic abhorrence of the spilling of innocent blood in Nigeria. Essentially, the protests were aimed at reminding the Buhari government of its constitutional responsibility of protecting the lives and property of the citizenry. More importantly, the protests were also aimed at creating a global awareness to the ongoing extra-judicial killings and gross violation of human rights in Nigeria.

As early as 9.30am yesterday, bishops, priests, reverend sisters, civil servants, traders, school children, men, women, community leaders and human rights activists, who had stayed off work, had thronged the streets to protest the incessant killing of Nigerian citizens by Fulani herdsmen. Clad in their bishopric attires, cassocks and religious habits, the bishops, priests, reverend sisters could easily be singled out from the crowds of protesters. Also singled out were members of the Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) who were attired in their colourful CWO uniform. Clutching their bibles, rosary beads and crucifixes the protesters sang religious songs and recited the rosary as they defiantly marched through the streets. As they marched, they brandished their different colourful placards emblazoned with different inscriptions that extol the sanctity and inviolability of human life.

In Lagos, the protesters walked from St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja to the Government House, Alausa, Ikeja, in an orderly and coherent manner. As I watched closely I observed that tears were rolling down the cheeks of some of the women and children protesters. The coherence, tenacity and sense of purpose of the march were unparalleled. Perhaps the closest to yesterdays’ protests in recent times was the Arab Springs or the “People Power” peaceful walk organised by the Philipino Catholics in 1986 in the Philippines. That walk eventually drove dictator Ferdinand Marco into exile.

Yesterday’s protests which took place in the different Catholic dioceses

NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF NIGERIA HAD SUCH A NUMBER OF CATHOLICS AND CHRISTIANS ASSEMBLED TO STAGE A PEACEFUL AND PRAYERFUL PROTEST IN CONDEMNATION OF THE KILLING OF CITIZENS BY A TERRORIST GROUP

in Nigeria remind us that ultimate power resides with the people. Government behaves as if they are the owners of the lives of the people. But the people do not derive their natural right to life from the government: they are born with that right. In any case, the human society pre-dates government, not vice-versa. The political office holders derive their power from the people. By voluntarily entrusting to a few elected people with the responsibility of governing their affairs, the people have not relinquished their power. That is why at periodic elections, the people could cancel that mandate if it had not been properly used to promote their welfare and interest. The American founding fathers rightly recaptured it in these words: “Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”. But unfortunately down the ages this original aim of government has been compromised to the extent that many dictators operate as if the people do not matter. To use Thomas Paine’s comparison in his bestseller, “Common Sense” (1776), government is the lost badge of the innocence. According to Paine, the “palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise”. Paine glibly maintained that the English government was evil. “Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness: the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is patron, the other punisher”, he opined. To Federic Bastiat, French political economist and philosopher, most government activities are legalised plunders. According to him, the greatest threat to personal liberty is when a government turns against those whom it is meant to protect.

Consequently, government ought to conduct its activities in line with the aspirations of the people. When a government, for example, has failed to protect lives and property of the people the people ought to demand for an abrupt end to such a government. That is the scenario playing itself out in Nigeria at the moment: it is obvious that the Buhari government is incapable of stopping the Fulani herdsmen from murdering more Nigerians. While the government was quick at declaring IPOB as a terrorist organisation and even went ahead to crush IPOB the government has refused to declare the Fulani herdsmen killers as terrorists let alone crushing them. Till date no Fulani herdsman murderer has been brought to justice.

But in his defence, President Buhari argues that the killers the people mistake as Fulani herdsmen are actually Gaddafi-trained soldiers from Libya. Even if the killers hail from Libya the foremost function of government is to deploy its military to protect the lives and property of the citizens against external aggression. Section 217(2) (a) (b) of the 1999 Constitution has in no unmistakable language spelt out the circumstances and conditions under which the President of Nigeria can freely deploy our military to defend our country against external aggression and to maintain our territorial integrity. Therefore, President Buhari’s defence clearly lacks merit. Perhaps that is why the Catholic bishops have advised him to resign. That is also why many Nigerians have vowed to vote out Buhari in 2019. But enslaved by his gratified lusts and reduced to sheer fatuity by his narcissist incompetence, President Buhari continues to ignore the mene, mene, tekel, upharsin written on the wall.