The Abuja ‘agbero’ tragedy

FOR three consecutive weeks, we have had to run editorials on one shade of mindless violence or another, signposting the pervasiveness and intolerable frequency of acts of lawlessness in the country. It is sadly the case that some aberrant citizens act and behave as if Nigeria is a lawless society where anyone could breach the law without consequences. From a commentary on the murder of a wife by her husband for coming late to the farm and another on an innocent corps member brutalised by state agents in Anambra, we have addressed variants of violence. The inexorable descent into violence and lawlessness is a serious cause for concern in the land.

 Last Wednesday, yet another avoidable, violence-linked tragedy struck at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, where a couple was gruesomely killed in a car crash that was allegedly caused by certain louts, also known as agberos, under the Mabushi bridge. The sordid narrative is that the family had driven in a Toyota Highlander to procure a brand-new fridge which they were conveying home. Along the way, they picked up a relative and when their car was sighted by some louts, three of them gave the car a hot chase, caught up with it, forcibly entered it, and started to drag the steering wheel with the driver. In the process of struggling for control, the car rammed the pillar under the bridge before plunging into the drainage, and the couple reportedly died on the spot! One lout was reportedly lynched by passersby who morphed into a mob while the other two, who were said to be critically injured, were rescued by the police and taken to hospital.

 According to reports, the louts wanted the deceased driver to obtain a ticket for picking up a passenger. One of the louts, later identified simply as Mike, said the driver had refused to purchase the daily ticket. Mike, who admitted to working for the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) as a ticketing agent, said: “I entered the motor to direct him to our office at Vandees. But the man refused to stop. He started driving fast. Before I knew it, there was an accident.” The FCT command of the Nigeria Police Force confirmed that the family was travelling in a private car when the driver briefly stopped at the Berger Roundabout in Wuse to pick up a relative.  The command’s spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, quoted the FCT Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, as saying: “Preliminary findings indicate that a grey Toyota Highlander, registration number ABJ 206 EC, driven by one Emeka Ekwueme with his wife, was accosted by three unidentified suspects who forcefully entered the vehicle near Berger Junction, Utako. In the ensuing struggle for control of the steering wheel, the vehicle lost control, struck a parked Mazda, and somersaulted into a bridge pillar. The Highlander’s driver, his wife, and two of the assailants were confirmed dead on arrival at the National Hospital.”

This case is gravely horrendous: a family got killed in broad daylight by agberos, as it were. And more disturbing is the fact that this is not the first time that motor park louts have orchestrated public disorder and mayhem resulting in fatalities. They are reputed for lawlessness and violence and it beggars belief that they have yet to be outlawed in order to stymie their menace in the society. They are loafers who may never see the need to get productively engaged if the system continues to condone their pernicious activities. Why forcibly enter someone’s vehicle and drag the steering wheel with the driver? Now, an entire family has been wiped out for nothing. What are the agberos doing on the roads when they are not law enforcement agents? What is the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) doing to tame this menace other than distancing its staffers from the  unfortunate incidents occasioned by the activities of the agberos? It is on record that these louts sometimes carry out dastardly acts in the FCT while impersonating staff of the FCTA. Just how will outsiders reading this story feel about Nigeria?

 This unfortunate incident should not be treated with levity. For if agberos can terrorise motorists in broad daylight, there is no doubt that they will engage in more heinous crimes in the night. The relevant  authorities must rein in their deleterious activities. The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), in particular, should do more than issue a disclaimer after every dastardly incident. It will not be out of place for AMAC and other critical stakeholders to liaise with security agencies to rid the FCT of thugs supposedly operating under its banner. Indeed, the transport unions which the touts  are affiliated with nationwide may have to be officially pressured to do away with agberos or install guard rails to bring their activities within the precincts of decency and decorum. However, not a few are apprehensive that politicians who allegedly use members of the transport unions, including agberos, as foot soldiers and thugs during elections may sabotage any planned  reorientation needed for the  unions to steer  members away from their characteristic violence and unhinged conduct.

 Perhaps also worthy of note is the fact that the seemingly justified mob action, which culminated in the killing of one  agbero and severe injuries to two others, is a breach of the law. Yes, the agberos caused the death of three innocent persons, which ostensibly enraged the passersby to visit mob action on them, but it is not the place of a mob to mete out its own version of justice to suspects; that is the exclusive preserve of the law court. In other words, the mob’s action, justified as it may seem, simply reinforces the proclivity of some citizens to resort to impulse,  violence and self-help. The right thing to do is to arrest the suspects and hand them over to the police.

 Meanwhile, we urge the police to follow up on the injured suspects to ensure they are treated and ultimately prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law, if found guilty. In this digital age when intellect, quality of human capital and advances in science and technology are a true measure of power and prosperity, the lawless activities of a few should not be allowed to continue to portray Nigeria as being in a Hobbesian state of nature where crude power and might rule. The conduct of individuals, groups, corporate entities and government must at all times be decorous and, more significantly, in consonance with the rule of law. The state should up its ante and take the lead role in ensuring the attainment of this important goal, in conjunction with other critical stakeholders, since it is the de facto holder of the monopoly of power.

READ ALSO: Police confirm death of couple, two others in Abuja auto crash