THE spiritual space over Nigeria has become heavily polluted, indeed rather putrid in the recent times. This is with regards to the wanton destruction of lives and property characterising the trend of Boko Haram insurgency in the North of the country and elsewhere.

As Gbola Oba(a popular public affairs analyst) said at a segment of Channels TV programme on Review of Security Situation in Nigeria, that ‘between the political demagogues or godfathers, throughout the geopolitical regions of Nigeria and the insurgents, there must be something that is going on that is not yet very clear.’ Hence, he recommended a meeting between the Federal Government and the political stakeholders in the country for a possible way forward.

Another analyst, Ope Banwo, a lawyer, was of the view that the insurgents should be confronted headlong as a way of freeing the Chibok schoolgirls.

But as someone else once declared: It is surprising that all the clamour has been over the Chibok schoolgirls while nothing is being said about the adolescent and teenage boys or men being slaughtered, in large numbers, by the Boko Haram fundamentalists.

Fact is, no killing, whether of children or adults alike is minor and therefore, inconsequential. Yet series of attacks on villages and schools via bomb explosions have wreaked havoc and destroyed underestimated number of lives and property thus far.

I found myself having to watch on the Internet, gruesome images of life being snuffed out of young boys and men on two occasions recently.

On the first occasion, a thirty-some group of young boys, whose ages must have ranged between 14 and 19 years, were lined up, shot and killed, one after the other. And I thought rather aloud to myself: “As bad, sordid and inhuman as this might be, it is better shot dead than have one’s neck slashed (as is commonplace at some instances) in a ruthless and ritualistic manner.

Barely three weeks after watching these barbaric ritualistic killings, I stumbled on another bizarre image. This time, over 30 young men in their 20s, 30s and 40s were lined up and they got marching orders to obediently walk over, lay down and have their throats slashed, while the others watched, painfully awaiting their turns to get the same treatment from gun-toting scoundrels without a heart. And I wondered again, agonizingly: ‘Oh God, are you really there?!

Then I received a quiet response from the deep recesses of my being as a voice said the following: ‘They may be the ones being killed today; tomorrow, they will be the killers. And of course, anyone that kills a fellow man, whether by gun, bow and arrow, bomb, burning, stoning, slashing of the throat (like a lower animal), or by complete hacking to death, will face the judgment of God Almighty who never falters.’ It further stated: ‘He or she would likewise be killed but for 99×9 times before facing himself or herself in the doldrums of hell to be purged of all wickedness, heartlessness and the devilish killing spirit, and made fit to be beyond human to become humane enough.’

So it is that the evils that men commit live with them. They may celebrate and revel over the number of people they have been able to destroy, but it is often just a matter of time before they come face to face with the consequences of their actions and account for their misdeeds, here on earth.

Believe it or not, whether we are Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, traditionalists, pagans or whatever, to kill a fellow man is an unforgivable sin that must be paid back in like coin, and for 901 times, along with having the property of such people, burnt or destroyed that same number of times. After this, pardon might be granted. This judgement happens because only God Almighty and none other can give or take precious and sacred life.

Curiously, the sponsors and those who usually give the leaders of such killing groups the mandate to kill and destroy, become members of their immediate families in another life, to suffer, along with the culprits, the same fate and pains they inflicted on others in a previous life, when it is payback time.

Be that as it may, our leaders should seriously begin to think, be more concerned about and genuinely committed to improving the welfare of the people. As it is said, politicians think more about the next election, and will kill or die for it, while leaders think more about the future of generations yet to come.

Mr. MOHAMMED BELLO, a  public affairs analyst,
wrote fromLagos.