The fracas in Shinkafi

This led to his arrest by the police. As usual with our communal set up, news filtered in the town like air, and before you can ask where is our leader, people gathered to protest and demand that the man be released to them for jungle justice.The rightful denial of the police not to release […]

This led to his arrest by the police. As usual with our communal set up, news filtered in the town like air, and before you can ask where is our leader, people gathered to protest and demand that the man be released to them for jungle justice.
The rightful denial of the police not to release the man led to even more violent protest. In the melee that followed, four people and one policeman lay dead, with scores of others injured.
In any civilized setting, citizens taking the law into their hands is dangerous and a recipe for anarchy. What the community ought to have done is to report the matter to the community/political leaders so as to pursue the case up to its lawful conclusion. It’s my ardent belief that killing him would only add to the layers of our security challenges that could have led to reprisal action by the gang members which is often brutal and more devastating.
Our traditional leaders should rise to their respon-sibility of arresting crises at its preventable stage. The police should also be proactive and transparent in their duty by ensuring speedy trial of such suspects, which will of course help restore public confidence in them and thus give room for community policing, which is currently lacking in this part of the world.

Usman Baka, Sabon Birni Area, Maru, Zamfara State <[email protected]>;