Spring Break
The reign of the Bakassi Boys
Oge Irene Nwofude
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Forum
When the Boys stepped in, it was obvious they were well aware of the dangerous temptations of their situation. They set strict guidelines for personal conduct. No member could be involved in any kind of criminal activity, no bribes could be expected and anyone who fell short of these guidelines was dealt with, so as to avoid bad karma.
Though they acted ruthlessly with criminals, this group managed to remain apolitical, and set an agenda that only involved ensuring peace and order in the society.
They have been accused of extra-judicial killings by the human rights watch organization, and of being used as weapons of intimidation by political opponents of some of these governors. They in turn deny killing anybody and claim to turn all self-confessed criminals over to the police, yet the police deny this. The government, of course, strongly rejects this view of the police, and the governor claims it is definitely an exaggeration - that there might be occupational hazards to the job, but they are the exceptions to the rule.
Nigeria is certainly not the safest place on earth, nor is it the most unsafe either. I would have to say it is because the Nigerian police are among the most corrupt law enforcement agency in the world. People have little faith in them because of the tradition of taking bribes from armed robbers who want to work their way out of jail.
The police in turn are simply reacting to being ill equipped, ill clad, ill paid and ill trained. So what are they really to do?
Even though I miss my interesting country's weather, lifestyle and its citizens' positive attitudes in the face of adversity, Nigeria is still one of the most corrupt countries in the world today. No one knows who the Boys are or where they come from, and most people are happy to leave it that way.
This is because the Boys have not only succeeded in cleaning the land of its misfits and killjoys, they have also instilled a long-lasting fear of breaking the law in the citizens. Recently, they attempted to rename themselves the "Anambra State Vigilante Services," due to opposition from international human rights organizations and the arrest of prominent Boys by their opponents, the police.
I am not afraid of the Bakassi boys and do not support their use of voodoo/diabolical means of detecting guilty parties, as this goes against my beliefs and values. However, that is the way they decided to carry out their mission to stop crime, which to me is not any different from a condemned prisoner who is executed by lethal injection in the United States.
So who is to say that, if the crime wave goes up again, the Anambra State Vigilante Services/Bakassi Boys will not be called upon again to rescue the people, Nigerian-style?
onwofude@unews.com
Editor's note: this is the second column in a series written by UMKC students about their home countries.
Though they acted ruthlessly with criminals, this group managed to remain apolitical, and set an agenda that only involved ensuring peace and order in the society.
They have been accused of extra-judicial killings by the human rights watch organization, and of being used as weapons of intimidation by political opponents of some of these governors. They in turn deny killing anybody and claim to turn all self-confessed criminals over to the police, yet the police deny this. The government, of course, strongly rejects this view of the police, and the governor claims it is definitely an exaggeration - that there might be occupational hazards to the job, but they are the exceptions to the rule.
Nigeria is certainly not the safest place on earth, nor is it the most unsafe either. I would have to say it is because the Nigerian police are among the most corrupt law enforcement agency in the world. People have little faith in them because of the tradition of taking bribes from armed robbers who want to work their way out of jail.
The police in turn are simply reacting to being ill equipped, ill clad, ill paid and ill trained. So what are they really to do?
Even though I miss my interesting country's weather, lifestyle and its citizens' positive attitudes in the face of adversity, Nigeria is still one of the most corrupt countries in the world today. No one knows who the Boys are or where they come from, and most people are happy to leave it that way.
This is because the Boys have not only succeeded in cleaning the land of its misfits and killjoys, they have also instilled a long-lasting fear of breaking the law in the citizens. Recently, they attempted to rename themselves the "Anambra State Vigilante Services," due to opposition from international human rights organizations and the arrest of prominent Boys by their opponents, the police.
I am not afraid of the Bakassi boys and do not support their use of voodoo/diabolical means of detecting guilty parties, as this goes against my beliefs and values. However, that is the way they decided to carry out their mission to stop crime, which to me is not any different from a condemned prisoner who is executed by lethal injection in the United States.
So who is to say that, if the crime wave goes up again, the Anambra State Vigilante Services/Bakassi Boys will not be called upon again to rescue the people, Nigerian-style?
onwofude@unews.com
Editor's note: this is the second column in a series written by UMKC students about their home countries.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Confused Student
posted 9/05/08 @ 8:51 AM CST
I'm confused; do you want a band of people to start killing common criminals by cutting of their limbs of burning them alive? Doing this is different than lethal injection, because we only kill people who have murdered others--not that i'm saying even that is right. (Continued…)
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