RESIDENTS of Samaru community in Gusau, Zamfara State, were reportedly terrified on Wednesday, September 20, when the corpse of a veteran broadcaster, Alhaji Hamisu Danjibga, was found inside a soakaway in an Islamiyyah school two days after he was declared missing by his family. The father of four and staffer of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) had been reported missing on Monday, September 18, and the discovery of his corpse a few metres from his residence at Samaru Quarters raised suspicion. The deceased was suspected to have been killed somewhere else before his corpse was dumped inside the soakaway. Naturally, the community has been thrown into mourning since the dastardly discovery.
Reacting to the incident, VON, the country’s external radio service, called on security agencies to find and punish the perpetrators. In a statement signed by its director-general, Osita Okechukwu, the organisation said: “It is with a heavy heart that the staff and management of Voice of Nigeria (VON) announce the murder of Hamisu Danjibga, our correspondent who was kidnapped in the early hours of Monday, September 18, by terrorists in Zamfara State.” The statement described the deceased as a dedicated and diligent reporter who was one of the organisation’s longest-serving Hausa Service correspondents. In his own reaction to the incident, the governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, expressed distress over the abduction and subsequent murder of the veteran journalist, saying that his government had ordered security operatives to initiate prompt investigation into the incident. It said: “The state government is fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation. We understand the importance of bringing those responsible to justice and will spare no effort to ensure justice is served.”
Truth be told, life is becoming increasingly meaningless in the country. The high level of insecurity has evidently made a mockery of what it means to be alive and to think that one is truly alive at any point. It is becoming quite easy and predictable to have life snuffed out of citizens at any time and by anybody without those in government, who are charged with the responsibility of providing and guaranteeing law and order, caring a hoot about it. In the instant case, Danjibga was declared missing by his family members, only for him to be found dead in a soakaway near his residence. Interestingly, some people were said to have been in touch with the family while they were still searching for him, demanding the payment of some ransom for him to be released and returned to them. Perhaps the captors proceeded to kill him when the demanded ransom was not forthcoming.
We note the fact that those involved used a phone, which should ordinarily be traceable, to get in touch with the family. This should provide clues in unmasking them, even if the felons intended to indicate their awareness that nothing works in the country anymore. Indeed, it seems that those in the business of kidnapping and snuffing life out of citizens do not bother about being caught by anybody, including government and its security agencies, knowing that security has totally broken down in the country and that citizens are helpless in the current situation. This makes it difficult to say much, beyond lamenting the grisly murder of Danjibga and sympathising with his family.
This incident bears eloquent testimony to the failure of security, especially with the National Identification Number (NIN) which had the tracking down of calls as part of its raison d’etre. Besides, if the perpetrators of the crime are confident that they cannot be tracked, there is a huge possibility that they will kill someone else. The sad irony is that the murdered broadcaster had reported on the insecurity in the country, using his medium to call for greater responsibility by the government. Danjibga’s murder definitely highlights the veritable challenge that ordinary citizens are confronted with in many parts of the country. With little or no political will by those in government to resolve the country’s insecurity conundrum, it could be pointless asking the government and security agencies to thoroughly investigate this incident with a view to exposing those involved for appropriate punishment.
Perhaps they will take up the challenge of cracking the puzzle of this murder case and using it as a template for a more decisive engagement to counter the pervasive insecurity in the country going forward.
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