Pop!
Pop!!
Pop!!!
Then a crack.
“Could this be fireworks? At this time of the night? This season?”
I wondered as the sound dragged me out of sleep.
While I was wondering and trying to understand what was happening, the neighborhood alarm went off.
Oh wow!
My eyes were fully opened now. Wide awake I listened further.
The popping sound from the gunshots continued for a long time. Maybe two hours, piercing into the night.
“Dear lord” I began to utter deep and heartfelt words, “peace in my neighborhood and environs. Preservation of lives, protection, safety…”
As I made those declarations, I wondered which direction it was coming from.
That’s because, you can’t really tell from which direction its coming from. Of course you know it’s really close for you to hear but…
Then when you login to Facebook, you begin to see;
“‘Ungwan Bulus’ or ‘Ungwan Gimbiya’ or ‘Mahuta’… Under attack.
Killings.
Kidnappings.
Some are maimed for life.
Oh boy! That’s close. Really close,
Then all manner of thoughts start to race all over your mind, each fighting for first position.
Fear.
Agitation.
Anxiety.
Words of affirmation from ‘the Holy book’ also pushing its way through the other competitors. It has to gain the advantage, for the peace of mind of the field (mind) on which the competition is taking place or else…
Because the details of the killings are nauseating. Jesus!
Let me spare you the description of a matchetted head.
People sleeping in the homes they toiled to build so as to escape landlords harrassment are forced out and made refugees and IDP Camp dwellers or even squatters, as the case may be.
They go home only in the day time to change clothes and by 6pm, they are out , heading to the next place they’ll be spending the night because nobody wants to be a victim of the heartless ‘goons’
And so it continues.
Those who can afford it end up renting apartments that will serve as their night ‘Base/station’, usually a safe ‘Ungwa’ or so they think, untill these people visit.
Now it’s obvious, nowhere is really safe. Where you are moving to could be the next target. These guys are getting bolder by the day.
After a while you start to hear aircrafts moving. Fighter jets maybe or just normal helicopter. Then blaring sound of siren.
Help at least it seems but naaaa!
The damage ‘long’ done.
They would have escaped or blended into the environment (because it is now obvious they work with information from insiders, resident’s of these ‘ungwa’) till it’s safe for them to move, after all, the security personnel won’t be there the whole night.
The aircraft hovers for sometime and goes away to return for a routine ‘hovering’ . Could be hourly or every other hour.
For most people, sleep bids them good-bye for the night. It could visit during the course of the day. If they are chanced, they get to sleep a little to refresh the human body which is fashioned to rest once it’s night but is constantly deprived.
Do you even want to know of the experience of residents who have had to leave the comfort of their homes to seek refuge as a way of preserving their lives?
It is best imagined!
This happens like every other day.
Sometimes it’s on a daily basis.
Attacks taking place every other hour in different locations.
They have become so audacious, they disregard the time of day. That is openly calling the bluff of all our security and intelligence agencies as far as I’m concerned. Daring them and spitting in their faces.
“What can you do?” is what they seem to be saying. It’s like dangling a piece of red cloth in the face of a bull and not expecting a reaction. Ordinarily, that should be courting death because when the bull charges at the culprit, only ‘divine intervention’ would save such a one except there is something he/she knows, some power they posses that the audience is not aware of. It’s only under such conditions that flagging a red piece of cloth in the face of a red bull is allowed. In other thoughts, except he/she is the owner of the bull and has absolute control over its actions, inactions and reactions
This is the norm in Northern Nigeria jKaduna especially) today.
People are constantly running ‘kitikiti’ and ‘katakata’
Sleepless nights.
Restlessness.
Stress.
Could that also be one of the reasons why some people just slump and die these days?
In running for safety, some end up running right into the lion’s den and either get kidnapped or killed.
Believe me, this has been the trend.
On a steady level. They are so accurate.
The last one sounded so close, we felt they were in our neighborhood only to learn later that it was not too far away.
A friend said “maybe we need to start building bunkers” because there is really no where that is safe anymore. The routes in and out seem to be blocked. It’s as if we have been ‘boxed in’
But he summed it all in a statement that has strengthened me and given me hope. “We dwell in safety, we are safe anywhere we find ourselves. It is God who protects and preserves us.”
I had chatted him up on one of those nights because the noise was too much and I couldn’t sleep, so he chose to call instead. We spoke at length.
“That should be your mindset, our mindset always, mmmh?”
“Okay. Thank you” I said, deeply grateful for that heartfelt and meaningful reminder.
We don’t have enough Security personnel to combat these bandits or terrorists or herders (or whatever name it is they choose to be called at whatever time and in whichever location) or so we are made to believe. What then do we do?
Trust in God!
Kuku surrender to Him. Abandon yourself to him ‘kawai’. He will keep you and preserve you.
“What of those that get killed?” You ask?
The assurance of being with God is gauranteed ai ko? A better life is assured. Is it not better to have hope for a better life incase of any eventualities than to live in hopelessness?
My point is, our safety is only in God.
Like my friend pointed out to me, ” Some people who left Nigeria for a better life in Ukraine have been killed in this war. Some in other countries died of different things, COVID being one. The plane crash in China. In that Kaduna train that was attacked, some were leaving Kaduna for good, like the lady Doctor that got killed” I’m assuming from a stray bullet “they chose the train because it was a safer route to travel but see what happened” he concluded.
Truly, the place you think is safe today might be their next point of call. What do you do?
Trust and hope in the Greater One. He is all you have. He keeps you sane even when you are surrounded by insanity.
Peace❤️❤️♥️
Pray for the city you dwell in:
We speak peace
We speak safety
We speak preservation of lives and property
We speak an end to the mayhem and destruction
Peaceeeeeeee, in Jesus name, Amen!
Originally published on https://kimbysvoice.blogspot.com/2022/04/these-are-times-we-are-living-in.html