There is a creeping and disturbing reality in Nigeria; crimes committed lately now wear the mask of blasphemy. – We saw that in Abuja recently where a guard who made life hell for scavengers, ironmongers, street urchins and hoodlums around the Lugbe area was maliciously murdered. He was alleged to have blasphemed the Prophet of Islam, Muhammed SAW-(Peace be Upon Him), In their conspiratorial onslaught, they pounced on him and set him ablaze as the man that make their criminal lives miserable for them burned in blaze. To cover up their deadly plot, they quickly rush and wear their cruelty the dress of blasphemy.
Real finding suggests that the murdered local vigilante was a thorn in the flesh of criminal elements in Lugbe, so to get him out, the criminal elements hoaxed the blasphemy song and in no time, the man was killed in the glare of public witnesses. And as usual, like the murder of Deborah Yakubu in Sokoto, the murderers roam around with limitless freedom.
A few days ago, a major newspaper reported how a lady prostitute was lynched for having a Quran in her room in Lagos, the story ran with disjointed holes, it didn‘t add up; they murdered her and twisted the story with the blasphemy slant – given that Nigerians are terribly gullible with religious gibberish. Now, instead of talking about the murderers, almost everyone including those saddled with the responsibilities of bringing the culprits to book are now gullibly hoodwinked and talking about religious angle of the crime and its sacredness thus giving tacit legitimacy to the criminals who kill and tag it blasphemy as if there is a law that permits killing in the name of religion.
What is happening today is a repeat of yesterday when killings dominated the news, particularly in Benue state, rather than call out the criminals behind the killings, we all rushed to town profiling the Fulani tribe as the perpetrators . by the time we realized how emotional we were, the murderous criminals had become emboldened no thanks to our blanket profiling that gave legitimacy to the criminals. When criminals are identified or profiled with their tribe, region or religion, you create an atmosphere of legitimacy for them because when people are expected to talk wholly of the crime, they are distracted by the encumbrances of sentiments.
Time we stop giving legitimacy to killers. The lady in Lagos was murdered obviously not because she had a Quran in her room but the guys murdered her for a different reason and when pressed further, the reason why she was killed would be unravelled Using the current trend, most criminals hide under blasphemy to commit crimes as most crimes would be attributed to blasphemy in the days to come. If you are familiar with the works of Hardly Chase, you will understand how criminals think and act. Using the current trend, most crimes are now attributed to blasphemy.
In this period of perilous mischief, we must be critical and query what is reported superficially. Restrain must be deployed when crimes are committed rather than being hoodwinked, we must probe beyond the surface. A serious crime was committed and the culprits are trying to change the story to wear a religious colour so that we can forget about their heinous cruelty. Don‘t fall for it; they are using the wave of the moment ‚blasphemy‘ to escape justice.
The monstrous forces battling for the soul of Nigeria have come up again with another carefully orchestrated intent, they hide under religious hypocrisy to carry out their nefarious acts, while the people engage themselves in the battle of attrition, these criminals devise and sustain their satanic plots as the country bleeds in needless bloodletting.
The government must quickly rise against the manipulation of blasphemy which is the action or offence of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk otherwise, we are destined for another circle of doom even when we haven’t recovered from the madness of Boko Haram, banditry and other forms of violent crimes. Time to tame the monsters of blasphemous entrepreneurs.
