By Denrele Animashaun

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke

Where do you begin? They say, it does not rain but pours. In Nigeria, the misery keeps pouring down in buckets. And when you think that you have seen or heard the zenith of all the depravities meted by Nigerians to fellow Nigerians, then the mother of all depravity comes along and overshadows the last.

Nigerians keep dredging more from the lowest depth of degeneracy. We need  to  take a long hard  look at  what  is  going on and  why we  have  become  so  desensitised  to such shocking news. It  is almost eerily that  many  of us though, we profess revulsion, we  take perverse delight in sharing such news and  devouring  the images of  extreme human suffering.  These kind of voyeurism is symptomatic of the type of people we have become hard-hearted. This only happens when one becomes very much exposed to the extreme and perpetual waste of human lives.

It does something   to people and we have become so  battle wary and although  we feign  shock, we have in fact, become un-shock able. This is the sad state of the Nigerian psyche.  This  could  explain  the ease  in which  we  inflict  suffering and abuse on  one another  without flinching .

Kidnapping seems to be a booming business in Nigeria. The home office page in the UK warns travellers going to Nigeria to be on their guard. Nigeria is listed as the 6th worst country in terms of kidnapping and over 1,000 foreigners are  reported to be or have been victims of attempted kidnapped a year according to a report by the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC). The fact that 74 per cent of kidnappings recorded in Africa in 2012 occurred in Nigeria.

The prevalence of kidnapping can also be attributed to the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor and there is the fact that over a third of young people are unemployed, not in training or in education.  Although it is not an excuse but these young people, have taken to kidnapping. The young and the impressionable are cutting their teeth on petty theft, intimidation and harassment. They join gangs and cults, arm burglary and shady initiation and perform human rituals as way of cementing their position, raising money and living a life style beyond their means.

Lives have become so cheap that unscrupulous people are using whatever means necessary to get rich quick. The very rich and corrupt are seen as the bench mark of achievement, so morality is no longer the norm but the exception. We have long lost our moral compass and majority of Nigerians and our society have lost their conscience.

The evil that perpetuates our society has been and it is part of the Nigerian psyche. These monsters, these Nigerian murderers who ply their “trade” have been doing this for so long and remained unabated for so long. This is because there is a niche; the people that pay for these evil trade do walk amongst us, these body snatchers, trading human misery to those who believe that there is a fast track to wealth and power. The very same people, they wear the cloak of respectability and piety.

Let us be honest, these barbaric practices of killing men, women and children, is not new. It has always been whispered and the fear of kidnapping was always real. People vanish without trace for decades and thousands as  result  vanish without trace because the authority are not capable and cannot investigate  missing  people cases nor  do  they have the professionals that can do something about  it, until now.

If not, for the bravery of the motorcycle riders, who went looking for their missing colleague and stumbled at the dungeon. They also did the most incredible thing; they reported their finding to the police. When the police did search the area (a miracle) they found skeletal bodies, decomposing parts of human remains around the blood stained building.

The police spokesperson said that, “It is not a common occurrence in Ibadan or in the (Oyo) state. Many of the victims of kidnapping are often tortured or used as sacrifices in black magic rituals.  This is known fact. We cannot begin to imagine what these unfortunate people have gone through. They become a shadow of a person, these people have been left traumatised and it will be some time if at all, they can really wake up from their living nightmare.

It is commendable that the governor of Oyo State visited the area to calm the people of Ibadan.  Ajimobi said it was unbelievable that an event as horrific as this had been going on in the area for over 10 years and the people living in the area had not alerted security agencies about it. And he said: “The reason why we came here today was because of an ugly incident that happened. We were informed that you, the residents, did not know what was happening here. As you did not know, so we, too, did not know. If you who live in the neighbourhood did not know, how then can we who live far away know? But, we thank God for exposing all these. All those who did these horrible things, God would expose them. We whom, you have entrusted the governance of this state through your votes, God will use us to punish the culprits”.

Governor Ajimobi has revoked the Certificate of Occupancy of the land, promising that all the victims alleged to have been hidden in an underground tunnel will be found “when we dig the whole place”.

It was pragmatic for the governor to announce to the young people that employment will be offered to those who want to work through the State Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES-O). I hope the young people take him up on the offer and that it is a genuine move to guarantee new beginnings for the young people.  It is a good start and a practical step in the right direction.

This shameful and horrific event that happened in Ibadan is happening in so many places in Nigeria. Let be frank here, this has got to be addressed.  Kidnapping and selling  human flesh is cruel and evil and  it  should be exposed wherever the practice is performed wherever it is, I hope Nigerians will reject such practices as it  has no place in a progressive and civilised society. For those who are the purveyors and merchants of death and greed, the truth will be out and they will be found out and exposed.

And for those fortunate people who were pulled out, they would need help, support and kindness. They have been through hell and back and are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorders.

For those evil doers, I hope that the state government will hand them stiff and stern sentences as an example to all. About time we value human life above everything.

Happy mother’s day to you all!

This Sunday, is mother’s day in the UK. So can I take this opportunity to wish all mothers and mother- like females everywhere, a happy mother’s day. And to my mother, Silphat Ayinke Modupeola Animasaun you are a mother in a million.

Derenle will be going on two weeks working leave. She will not be writing next week and the week after article for OUTSIDE LOOKING IN.