ELEGY FOR GENERAL ALKALI

Inna lilLahi wa inna ilaiHi raji’un! (We are from Allah, and to Him shall we return.) Today, this Column is singing yet another dirge, this time on the tragic murder of retired Major General Idris Alkali, immediate past Director of Administration of the Nigerian Army. He was murdered in cold blood by Christian Berom terrorists […]

Inna lilLahi wa inna ilaiHi raji’un! (We are from Allah, and to Him shall we return.)

Today, this Column is singing yet another dirge, this time on the tragic murder of retired Major General Idris Alkali, immediate past Director of Administration of the Nigerian Army. He was murdered in cold blood by Christian Berom terrorists around Dura-Du of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State sometime in September 2018. Allahu Akbar! May Allah forgive him and admit him to paradise, amin.

Bi ayyi zambin qutila? What crime did General Alkali do to deserve this dastardly murder? Nothing, except that he was a Hausa-speaking Muslim passing through territory designated enemy by its inhabitants.

The terms “Christian” and “Berom” here are very relevant, and they do not in any way indicate hate or bias – for in fact, General Alkali was brutally murdered BECAUSE he was “Muslim” and “Hausa”. Had he been Muslim but other than Hausa-speaking, he may have been spared. Had he been Christian even if Hausa-speaking (like almost all his killers), he would have been spared. He was killed because he was Hausa-speaking Muslim. A hate crime! Terrorism! Period!

They would have killed him even if he were Kanuri Muslim – because he would be Hausa to them; they would have killed him even if he were Nupe Muslim – because he would be Hausa to them. And they would kill you double if you happen to be Hausa-speaking from the Fulani, or Bolewa, or Kare-Kare, or Ngizim, or Manga, or Babur, or any smaller Muslim community of the North. They would kill you.

Bi ayyi zambin qutila? What crime did General Alkali do to deserve this dastardly murder? Nothing, except that he was a Hausa-Speaking Muslim. Terrorism! Hate crime!

The Army says it has arrested several “suspects” We don’t believe these are ALL suspects – the Army should quickly indict those it feels are almost certainly guilty. By Allah they can no longer continue to be suspects – for them to lead you where his car was dumped; for them to lead you where his mortal remains were first buried; for them to lead you where he was finally dumped. And we hear that they are still suspects? No, by Allah! They are murderers.

We, the “next of kin” of General Alkali (that is, ALL Hausa-speaking Muslims in Nigeria) should quickly be told who and who are indicted among those incarcerated. In America, where we all rush to copy every system, a “suspect” who is arrested is immediately brought to a court of law and “indicted” as having committed such and such a crime. It is the legal process that would later unravel who is guiltier than whom. But as far as we are concerned, all the people in the Army’s custody are hereby indicted. With them are the 500 Women-in-Black who protested against the draining of the bloody and bloodied Dura-Du pond. Also indicted are all those who in one way or another tried to protect the murderers of General Alkali.

Bi ayyi zambin qutila? What crime did General Alkali do to deserve this dastardly murder? Nothing, except that he was a Hausa-Speaking Muslim. Terrorism! Hate crime!

Allah says in the Qur’an: “Kullu nafsin za’iqatul maut…” (Every soul shall taste of death.)” We submit to that, O Allah! But we pray that our going be not as traumatic as that of our brother Idris Alkali. Traumatic for him on the day; traumatic for his family when he was declared missing; traumatic for the Army which had to redeem itself.

What manner of death for General Alkali – after spending all his productive years in a profession that heralds death – yet to meet death at the hands of some uneducated, drunken, hateful nonentities! And I mince no words here – General Alkali was murdered solely because he was a Hausa-speaking Muslim. And so am I.

Bi ayyi zambin qutila? What crime did General Alkali do to deserve this dastardly murder? Nothing, except that he was a Hausa-Speaking Muslim. Terrorism! Hate crime!

Indeed, we don’t know the manner about how our death will come – but O Allah make it not again in the hands of Berom Terrorists (or, for that matter, Gonin Gora Terrorists at the mouth of Kaduna-Abuja road).

It is reported that that once the great scholar Imam Malik Ibn Anas saw the Death Angel in his sleep and the Imam asked him: “How much time is left for me to live?” The Angel pointed to his five fingers. Then the Imam asked him: “Does that mean five years, or five months, or five days?” Before the Imam had a chance to get an answer, he woke up. So the Imam went to someone who could interpret the dream.

The man told him: “Imam Malik, when the Angel pointed to his five fingers, he didn’t mean five years or five months or five days. The Angel meant that your question ‘how much time left for me to live’ is among the five matters that only Allah (exalted be His Name) knows about’. The man recited the following verse from the Qur’an: “Verily, with Allah alone is the knowledge of the Hour. And He sends down the rain, and He knows what is in the wombs. And no soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.”

It is also reported that when Caliph Haroon Al-Rashid got very ill, the illness that caused his death, he told his staff to go ahead and dig his grave so he can see it before he dies. After the grave was prepared, he asked to be carried to it. Upon arrival, Caliph Haroon looked down into the grave and then looked up toward the sky and said: “O [Allah] Whose rule never ends, have mercy on [Haroon] whose rule has ended.”

Bi ayyi zambin qutila? What crime did General Alkali do to deserve this dastardly murder? Nothing, except that he was a Hausa-Speaking Muslim. Terrorism! Hate crime!

For the faithful believers, Allah says in the Qur’an: “Those who have said ‘Our Lord is Allah’, and then have become upright, the Angels will descend upon them saying ‘Do not fear nor be sad, but receive good news of the Paradise which you have been promised. We are your protectors in this life and in the hereafter: therein you shall have all that you desire; therein you shall have all that you ask for.”

Allah also says: “When the Angels take the lives of the righteous, the Angels say to them: ‘Peace be upon you. Enter paradise because of the good deeds that you used to do (during your life).”

It was General Alkali’s task in March last year to hand over cheques worth N400m to 197 families of deceased Army personnel. Alas! Eighteen months later, the Army will have to prepare another cheque – this time for General Alkali’s family as he has been forcefully retired from this earth.

I mince no words here again – General Alkali was murdered solely because he was a Hausa-speaking Muslim. And so am I.

Whoever comes out to defend these criminal murderers are also our declared enemies. Whether it is in court or in cyber space; whether on newspaper pages on on radio and television airwaves. They are also indicted.

The condolences of this Column and its writer and his readers go to the mother and the immediate family May Allah forgive General Alkali; may He grant his family and us all the fortitude to bear this loss. Allah Ya saka mu ku. Allah Ya jikansa.