F
ew weeks ago, life was violently
snuffed out of the young Sem-
inarian, Michael Nnadi who
was abducted from the Good
Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna,
Kaduna State by suspected Boko Haram
terrorists. The death of Michael, a year
one philosophy student came as a shock
to Christendom, drawing reactions from
across board and coming on the heels of
several cases of abductions and killings
in Nigeria that has become the order of
the day.
The unresolved brutal murder of Mi-
chael Nnadi, an aspiring priest to be, like
many others only serves as a reminder
to the porous architecture of our securi-
ty system. It is also a pointer to the fact
that no one is spared from the crimi-
nal elements who strike at will without
notice, and often times vanish into thin
air where they cannot be fished out and
punished. All that we hear from the
security agencies are that investigation
is on to track down the perpetrators of
the dastardly act after such atrocities
may have been committed.
Nigerians, especially the most vulner-
able, except for the few rich and well
to do or connected in the society who
can provide their own security, are dis-
illusioned and fast losing hope in the
ability of the police and other security
agencies to protect them from the vi-
cious and rampaging killer squad who
freely roam our forests and highways,
abducting, maiming, raping and killing
unmindful of the presence of security
personnel, some of who allegedly con-
nive with some of them to carry out the
act.
It is under this prevailing and fearful
atmosphere that we call on every Ni-
gerian to be more security conscious
and to leave nothing to chance. We
cannot afford to leave security matters
in the hands of the police and army
alone. Rather, we must collaborate
with them if we hope to successfully
win this war against insecurity. In this
wise, any regional security arrangement
like Amotekun or community policing
that can help achieve the desired results
should be encouraged.
The death of young Michael Nnadi
should not be allowed to be in vain. He
could have been you or I; your brother
or my sister. In order words, we are all
Michael Nnadi because we are all Nige-
rians who are vulnerable to attacks by
the herdsmen or Boko Haram at any
chanced opportunity. Even the recent
visit of the President to commiserate
with the Government and people of Bor-
nu State under a recent similar attack that
claimed 35 lives did not stop the carnage.
Hardly had his convoy departed than
another round of attacks were unleashed
on the hapless citizens of the state.
We owe Michael Nnadi and all those
who have died as a result of insurgency
a duty to put an end to this carnage as
soon as possible. We must put aside our
political and religious differences and
confront these monsters holistically
before things get out of hand.
