The recent gruesome murder of five men of Igbo extraction, in different parts of Borno State by armed bandits suspected to be members of the infamous Boko Haram religious sect is totally condemnable. As we have repeatedly warned in previous editorials, the allusion to ethnic cleansing which has reportedly triggered the protest of their kinsmen in Maiduguri could well have been avoided.

And that is especially so, if the Federal Government, which is constitutionally empowered to protect the precious lives of its citizens, as enshrined in Section 14,2(b) had lived up to its primary purpose. We are therefore, appalled that the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration has trailed the faulty footsteps of its predecessors by refusing to act on the sundry white papers that emanated from past, ethno-religious crises, for whatever political consideration best known to it. Such crass abdication of government's matching mandate is brewing a potential ethnic conundrum that it may find too late in the day to contain.

For instance, on Christmas eve last year the Boko Haram stormed some churches, including Victory Baptist Church at Dala-Alamderi and shot the resident pastor, Reverend Bulus Marwa(37) to death. Other hapless victims were Christopher Balami, a lecturer at the state-owned polytechnic, Paul Mathew and Philip Luka as well as a tea maker, Yohanna Adamu. The rampaging gun men also set the Church of Christ in Nigeria(COCIN) located at Ruwan Safi on fire after killing a security man.

Characteristic of a government mind set that treats the symptoms of endemic diseases while leaving the root causes to spread, security officials soon took over the city of Maiduguri. The residents heaved a sigh of relief as the miscreants beat a retreat. But it was as usual short-lived. The murderous sect re-appeared in mid January this year to unleash more mayhem in Dala-Alamderi with six gunmen on two motorcycles shooting the Deeper Life pastor, Michael Madugu in an attempt to enter a medicine store. More victims included one Obinna and his brother as well as another Igbo man called James who only wanted to enter the store and purchase some drugs.

We are however, not surprised at the guts and temerity of the hoodlums to hold the nation to ransom. The reason is not far fetched because we have a country with political leaders that fuel the culture of impunity, preferring to look the other way each time its innocent citizens are slaughtered.

On that score, few if any serious-minded Nigerian would blame the Borno State arm of the Igbo Welfare Association(IWA)that has called on its members to close business activities and prepare for mass exodus back home. Speaking at a recent press conference at the NUJ House, Maiduguri the President of IWA in Borno State accused the rampage of the armed gangs as an ethnic-cleansing agenda.

We cannot but ask why southern Christians must always be the sacrificial lamb each time ethno-religious problems erupt? From the Maitasine violence of the eighties through several religiously-motivated killings to the despicable response to the Danish cartoonist that denigrated the revered Prophet Mohammed, southerners have not been excluded from the mindless mayhem that attended each hideous act.

We are also constrained to ask why it has become so difficult for the inter-religious committees set up to mediate in such crises act as neither pro-active in nature nor prompt in curtailing them from snowballing into life-consuming, bloody spectacles. Now that the Igbos are threatening reprisal attacks government owes it a statutory function not only to douse the tension but to nip quickly it in the bud. We can ill afford another civil war, added to the polity heated up by the antics of power mongers wanting to win the next elections, more by crook than by hook.

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Though the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) through its Borno State Chairman, Reverend Yuguda was quoted as canvassing for more prayers we have to insist that the situation on ground goes beyond mere supplication. First, government must be firm and decisive in reining in the monster of unmitigated blood-letting killings in the name of religion or ethnicity. The judicial process of unearthing the masterminds behind the killings must be fast tracked. And all those found culpable should be brought to speedy justice.

Yet, as much as the Igbos have been provoked to the point of considering retaliatory action we wish to caution against that. We cannot also allow ourselves to degenerate to enact a rehash of the Rwandan genocide as it transpired between the Hutus and the Tutus. The subsequent ethnic cleansing in Sudan, or the recent orgy of ethnic violence in Cote D'Ivoire must be consigned to the dustbin of history.

Besides, government should dust up all the White Papers on related issues and take a more critical look at the steamy contents of the Oputa Panel. We should stop pretending that all is well with us. The killings of Igbos in Borno, or of any ethnic group anywhere in the country must stop!



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