At last the Odi they crave

This is the story of Baga today, the ancient fishing town is less than a shadow of its old, robust, cosmopolitan self. The soldiers who undertook this daylight carnage said they were there to avenge the killing of one soldier by the insurgents. and since the insurgents are ‘using civilians as human shields’ they had […]

This is the story of Baga today, the ancient fishing town is less than a shadow of its old, robust, cosmopolitan self. The soldiers who undertook this daylight carnage said they were there to avenge the killing of one soldier by the insurgents. and since the insurgents are ‘using civilians as human shields’ they had to all be exterminated together, they being the collateral damage. It is not surprising that Nigerian soldiers are talking in this unconcerned manner. The so-called anti terror training they recive from mostly American and Israeli military and police equips them to treat so-called enemy combatants without any recourse to the rules of engagement, even in a civilian population. We have seen how American soldiers have been treating Afghan civlians for over ten years and have equally seen how Israeli soldiers have been treating Palestian civilians with the same brutal inhumanity for over six decades, we can’t expect their Nigerian disciples to act differently. That this Odi and Zaki-Biam style massacre has touched a raw nerve among Nigerians is very obvious from the numerous individual and organisational voices raised in protest. Of all the protests I have read however, none really captured the gravity and true natture of what happened in Baga like the press release issued by the Lagos-based Muslim Rights Concern and signed by its inimitable director, Professor Ishaq Akintola. I reproduce the release here below because it echoes every sentiment shared by this columnist. We have this and similar voices with make the Federal Government hasten to do what is right on the Baga Massacre. Please read on.