I
t is real and it is true that ban-
dits have taken over our roads
and forests. It is no longer tales
at moonlight or beer parlour
stories over the sumptuous
‘isi ewu’ and big stout. It is
palpable. I am a victim! Nowadays,
it is common discussions at motor
parks, bus terminals and eating joints.
People discuss the safety and insecu-
rity on the Nigerian highways before,
during and after trips. Name it; Abuja/
Lagos, Owerri/ Abuja, Lagos/ Owerri,
Port Harcourt/ Owerri, Enugu/ Aba/
Owerri, Kaduna/ Abuja Gusau/ Abuja,
Lokoja/ Abuja etc. These federal high-
ways are no longer safe for road users.
The obnoxious movement of men of
the underworld, marauders, bandits,
kidnappers, armed robbers are evident
and real. Many innocent travellers
and commuters have fallen nasty and
terrible victims of these sons of dogs.
They block the highway at all times of
the day from broad day light to the wee
hours of the morning. No time is safe,
no area is safe, no road is safe.
All roads in Nigeria have been over-
taken by insecurity. The unrelenting
bandits come out by 8am, 12noon,
3pm, 6pm and so on. Under heavy
rains is their best time when the joint
police/ army patrols ease off under
heavy downpour. The bandits ignore
the rains and flood and block the
roads and rob and kill and take many
into captivity and demand ridiculous
amounts as ransom from relatives and
loved ones of the victims. It is real, it is
happening day in day out.
The sing song is that it is Fulani
herdsmen! No, it is not only Fulani
herdsmen. The business of overtaking
Nigerian highway is being infiltrat-
ed and flooded by many innocuous
Nigerians wielding cutlasses, pump
-action rifles, Awka made pistols to AK
- They are made up of groups num-
bering from 10, 20,30 to 40 persons.
These terrible characters constitute
from returnees of those who couldn’t
enter Europe to look for greener
pastures but ended up in the camps of
Maghreb militias, dismissed members
of the various armed forces to very bad
touts of society.
The ones that accosted the highway
as I travelled from Lagos to Owerri on
Monday 29th of July 2019 on Benin
by-pass were not Fulani herdsmen.
They were dressed in all black and lin-
ger-hooded and were speaking pidgin
on English. As we glided through the
undulating hills of the Benin by-pass, I
just got a flash as God used to visit me
that we are bound to meet armed rob-
bers under the heavy down pour. My
guiding angel asked me to do the sign
of the cross and lo! The driver shouted
in Igbo ‘look at them!’
The driver who was on 60km per
hour started applying brakes until
the Siena bus car screeched to a stop.
He put the car in reverse and started
moving back but lo! four other men
of the devilish gang sprouted from
behind shooting indiscriminately on
our car at very close range. At that
point, I decided to alight from the
car and took to my heels. The robber/
kidnapper pursuing me and oblivious
of the other passengers for about 2km
almost falling like four times stopped
and jested that his men didn’t join
him to capture me. I therefore ran to
safety into a block moulding industry.
If they had caught me, I would have
turned into a victim of kidnapping.
But my God reigneth forever. This
ugly episode started exactly 4.08pm
on that fateful afternoon and ended
with the spontaneous arrival of a
truck of army patrol and later joined
by a hilux load of police patrol. The
security agencies responded quickly
but we the victims had ran into dif-
ferent directions and were still afraid
to come out to our bullet ridden and
vandalized car.
By the time the joint forces of the
army/ police gathered us together, it
was like 6pm. Our security forces are
gallant and great men. They deserve
all our accolades, support and encour-
agement but we must upgrade their
techniques, materials and combat
readiness. One way the security agen-
cies and government can degrade the
potency of these forest based bandits
is to acquire drones and helicopters
to comb the forest and smash and
snuff them out. Another important
way is to clear the bush that adorn
the roads for about a pole from the
roads so that they cannot find a safe
haven to do a quick launch unto the
road or vanish in pursuit or dash to
hiding after their dastardly acts. These
forests based bandits are cowards.
They cannot put fear or terrorize
Nigerian travellers or farmers or road
users. They must be annihilated by
precision and predictable supersonic
superior powers. Be strong fellow
Nigerians, their days are numbered
and a secured and safer Nigeria will
be forever.
Dr. Batos Nwadike is a former
Presidential Candidate of the
Peoples Mandate Party in the 2011
general elections in Nigeria and
writes from Protea Hotel, Owerri,
Imo State.
