Ethno-branding criminality and implications

Security is the business of everyone; individually and collectively. Insecurity is a nightmare that affects the sleep of every person in the society, regardless of how low or high. It is worthy to note that in the event of the monster of insecurity and its attendant pains, there are two unfortunate aftermath scenarios: victims and targets. Targets can at times be victims while victims may not always be targets because in the event of crime, even the introvert or the island could be victims. Therefore, the business of security should be the business of all.

Handling insecurity and issues that can help combat or reduce it involves caution, intelligence, honest analysis, prompt intervention and joint collaboration of all in the society, including the media. Handling news in security issues needs extreme caution, appropriate diction, but in the same vein, calling a spade a spade to prevent social sympathy for criminals, prevent social disorder, crime escalation and creation, hate and unnecessary prejudice and incitements.

Don’t obey NEF’s order to quit south, Buhari tells Fulani herdsmen

Reporting crime in Nigeria has caused more crimes or propelled sympathy mechanism for people in crime through their fellows. This scenario has created a vicious cycle of crime creation, crime sympathizing, crime collaboration and crime expansion. Certain languages, in my view, could be detrimental to efforts of security agents in analysing crime. Murderous herdsmen, killer-herdsmen, Fulani Herdsmen, etc, are all ethno-branding of crime. The effects of ethno-branding of crime are broad; based; it causes sympathy from fellow Fulani men and women who may not be the real attackers but could become sympathetic since the entire herdsmen have been branded odd. Isn’t this fact logical?

The attack of armed robbers in full military regalia cannot logically justify any reasoning that the Nigerian military or any of its affiliates are sponsors of armed robberies. It negates all reason and can divert the attention of security intelligence from the probable fact that bandits can dress in any manner to disguise proper identity, to deceive the public from perpetrators of heinous crimes. Describing all highway robberies, kidnappings and banditry as crimes committed solely by “murderous Fulani herdsmen” is a psychological burden, highly unjustified, on the psyche of law abiding Fulani men.

We should rather begin to call a spade a spade; a thief a thief, a kidnapper a kidnapper, a bandit a bandit, a terrorist a terrorist, whether a Fulani or a Yoruba or an Hausa or an Ibo is involved instead of ethno-branding insecurity to hurt the sensibilities of a people. As we have good people with high moral standards among the educated and uneducated alike across tribes, race, religion, sex, etc, so do we have anti-social wicked elements in each of the categories.

I appeal to all law-abiding Fulani men and women to view this article as just a vindication of a loving and accommodating people and not an incitement, but to work jointly with security agents in fishing out the ‘ shafts in their grains ‘ in order to foreclose the smearing of a race.

Akinola  Iwilade, Iwo,Nigeria.