Blood on the streets...

When will extrajudicial killings end in Nigeria?

In October 2012, four young undergraduates were falsely accused and lynched in Aluu, a community in Port Harcourt. In 2013,  Samuel  a twelve year old boy who was accused of attempting to kidnap a boy with a fifty Naira note was their victim. He was lynched while the world watched helplessly. We spoke out against injustice on our streets, fought for our children and thought the battle was won but alas, the recent horrific murder of a seven year old boy on the streets of Lagos for stealing a cup of Garri has left Nigerians devastated and angry.

He was born a sweet little boy but due to a failed system, the streets raised him. He was starving in an opulent nation, a nation where children who are meant to be protected and cared for, sleep under bridges and in uncompleted buildings, writhing from pangs of interminable starvation while political reprobates, who promised to serve us with all their might, snuggle in mansions of gold. A nation where public officers arraigned for looting our wealth are entitled to the best lawyers while innocent Nigerians are deprived of justice,adjudged guilty and sentenced to their early graves by a mob reeking of guilt. A nation where the right to life is flagrantly ignored and violated, where political villains are pampered and driven around in sleek, expensive cars acquired with embezzled funds while being guarded by paid armed security officers who had sworn to protect Nigerians and rid the nation of marauders. He was one of our future leaders, a Nigerian with dreams of a better future, of a remarkable life but all his hopes were dashed as he pleaded for his dear life on the streets. He was tortured, beaten up and lynched for being hungry, brutally murdered while his compatriots videoed without compunction.

Where is the love in this nation? Has economic hardship and despondency driven us to depravity and savagery? What happened to faith and Justice? What happened to the renowned magnanimous Nigerians?

We cannot continue like this. We cannot sit back and watch the serial massacre of Nigerian children on our streets. Enough is Enough! The Nigerian child must be protected from brutality and savagery. We must resist Justice by the mob and say yes to Social Justice and the rule of Law.