As rampant killings of people continue unabated, a fiery Nigerian preacher, Thursday, parodied the act of sacrificing human beings for cows in the country as a dishonour to humanity.
This may be against the background of allegation by Danladi Ciroma, the chairman of Miyetti Allah Breeders Association of Nigeria (MAGBAN), North-Central zone that the killing in Plateau State was in retaliation of the rustling of 300 cows by Berom youths in the state.
Although he has eaten back his words, people in various parts of the country have lambasted him for equating human lives with those of cows as more than 200 persons were slaughtered during the weekend in 11 communities of Plateau State.
In a Twitter handle Thursday, Apostle Johnson Suleman, the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Ughelli in Edo State, wrote a satire ‘’When I was younger when people die, cows were killed but now when cows die people are killed.”
As a reaction the Peoples Democratic Party’s statement calling for seven days mourning, Chief Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement, entitled “Plateau and the PDP Crocodile Tears” justified that thew killings could be compared to the era of PDP.
Adesina rolled out a checklist thus “A quick checklist of some savage and brutal killings in Nigeria during PDP rule, between 1999 and 2015, for which no national mourning was declared:
“November 20, 1999. Odi, in Bayelsa State, was invaded on orders of a PDP President. About 2,500 people killed. No national mourning. Between February and May, 2000, about 5,000 people were killed during riots over Sharia law in different parts of the North. No national mourning.
“In 2001, hundreds of people, including the old, infirm, women and children were killed in Zaki Biam. No crocodile tears. Between September 7-12, 2001, Jos, Plateau State erupted in internecine killings. Between 500 and 1,000 people were killed. Flags were not flown at half mast.
“In February, 2004, at least 975 people were killed in Yelwa-Shendam, Plateau State. No mourning by the then ruling PDP. Between November 28 and 29, 2008, Jos was in flames again, with 381 deaths.”
In countering the argument, Reno Omokri, a one-time aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan wrote “The Presidency released a list of killings under PDP in response to the recent Plateau herdsmen killing.
“Buhari reduced the sanctity of lives to a lillin conest between him and PDP. Nigeria had the world’s third fastest growing economy under PDP. Why can’t Buhari compare with that?”
