We were in a discussion in our Church yesterday morning and experiences of this sort were shared due to its prevalence in the community. The topic being "What do you do with a thief if you catch one".
The officiating priest Rev. Fr. Bitrus Wazamda, admonished his parishioners to frown at taking the law into their hands owing to the fact that human life is sacred and that all of us are guilty of similar sins in the past which never led to us being cremated alive or permanently maimed. After his lengthy advice, many hands were raised in objection after he summarized that thieves should be handed over to the police.
Some were in support of the nefarious act (jungle justice) owing to the despicable disregard for the law in the country by the very ones who are supposed to uphold it. Someone said "when you take these people to the police, they will put them in the cell, and after one hour, they will be released instead of charging them to court, and you will be in grave danger of the thief's retaliation, so the best thing to do is to kill them so that their colleagues will be scared".
Another said; "There are different categories of thieves, if it they were just to sneak into your house and carry your belongings, no problem. But someone would come and meet you inside your own house, armed with guns, machetes and all those things with two intentions of robbing and harming you.... Kai Fr".
Others lamented on the destruction and disruption of families born from the depravity of this wicked sect....
One cause of this barbaric phenomenon is lawlessness!!! Integrity and justice has lost its bloom and bounce which has turned many civilians to barbarians. I share my experience:
During my service year in Gombe, seven of us got robbed in our lodge. We were beaten, wounded and our valuables were carted away which when summed up amounted to about five hundred thousand naira (damages inclusive). We managed to run some investigations and reported to the SSS for assistance, they did nothing. We went to the police who were able to arrest two persons in possession of our stolen items and we began to rejoice that our items would be recovered. Something led to something and these boys were charged to court. After so many idle months and countless series of hearings, these boys were pronounced guilty of a two count charge of six months each which equated to a year jail term and were given an alternative to pay a fine of five thousand naira! To add salt to injury, they were asked to pay us a compensation of fifty thousand naira only! Which they never did. How then do I take someone tomorrow to the police?
I'm not in any way promoting the evil we do in the name of justice. Killing your fellow human being is wrong, we're not animals. "Thou shall not kill, saith the Lord" and vengeance belongs to Him alone. Burning a thief alive is a worse thing to do than stealing.
I use this medium to call upon the government to strengthen our judiciary and for our judiciary to uphold her integrity and for the police to give the people hope.
Posterity will not forgive me if I fail to mention that we ourselves are the architects of our destruction. Why do many young and bright minds resort to violence and crime? God in His wisdom made provision for all, but the injustice of man to man has shut many from the bounty of His creation. One family do not know where to obtain their next meal from, another do not know where next to stash currency. Even if you honestly toiled to earn such money, it still isn't yours to keep for it has been entrusted to you by God for the use of others. (1 Peter 4:10)
How do you feel when your neighbours have light and you don't? How then do you expect the hungry to feel when they are not invited to a feast hosted by their neighbours? Be your brother's keeper and the nation will be better.
God bless Nigeria.
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