Senseless mayhem in Billiri
This is not a war zone or Iraq, Yemen or Afghanistan. Neither is it a Boko Haram carnage in Borno State or bandits’ attack in the North West. This is Billiri town in Gombe State. The battle is over the proposed appointment of the next emir or Mai Tangale who is to replace the late […]
This is not a war zone or Iraq, Yemen or Afghanistan. Neither is it a Boko Haram carnage in Borno State or bandits’ attack in the North West.
This is Billiri town in Gombe State. The battle is over the proposed appointment of the next emir or Mai Tangale who is to replace the late emir who died a few days ago. What’s happening in Billiri is sheer madness, to say the least. Tangale people killing Tangale, in the name of fighting for their right. The game of thrones for Mai Tangale (traditional leader of the Tangale ethnic group) is unleashed, this time it is not fiction but reality.
The religious ‘dragon’ is the motive behind this destruction and mayhem. It is spitting fire causing destruction of businesses, worship centres and murdering people.
What kind of people are we that we cherish chaos, killing and destruction of lives and properties? What crime has a religious edifice committed in all of this? Are market places responsible for who is to become the next leader in Billiri? What have other persons got to do in the choice of the next Mai Tangale? How could the peace-loving Tangale entangle themselves in turmoil amongst and against themselves? This is unexplainable stupidity.
Are the already existing crimes and terror not enough for us to be guardians of peace at all cost?
What are we turning into? Are we still human? What happened to our humanity and spirit of brotherhood? Why do we love to spill blood of our own kind for something that is temporal and vain? Where are men who sat on that throne in times gone by? Where is Abdu Buba Maisheru II who vacated the throne recently?
It is high time for the peace-loving people of Tangale in Billiri Local Government to sheath their swords and allow peaceful coexistence to take its rightful place. Conflict in whatever form is not the solution to any kind of grievance.
In Billiri that you find both Christians and Muslims belonging to one family. So also do you find a couple of different faith with their children belonging to the religion of either their mother or father and living together in peace and harmony.
It was the late Mai Tangle Abdu Buba Maisheru II, a Christian, who organised an appeal fund and rebuilt the Juma’a Mosque right in front of his palace, a feat that was not achieved by his immediate predecessor who ironically was a Muslim! The late emir a Christian, told me that Muslims in Billiri joined their brothers and sisters to celebrate Christmas every year, and Christians similarly and unfailingly reciprocate the gesture by celebrating Sallah Eid with their Muslim siblings and friends.
The government of Gombe State should increase its pro-activeness in taking strong security measures to stop the crisis to avert an escalation and reprisals in other parts of the state. It should not succumb to blackmail and resort to temporary appeasement. Neither should it settle the matter for political expediency.
Umar Sulaiman Akko writes from Kumo, Gombe State