What is the true picture of the security situation in the country? This is a question I get asked a lot these days by Nigerians in the diaspora. No matter how one cuts it, many of these guys still care about the country. Many nurse the hope, romantic maybe in the circumstances, that Nigeria will one day wake up from its deep slumber and take its rightful place in the comity of nations. They pray that Nigeria will somehow turn the corner so that they, or their children, can someday come back ‘home’. After all, those ties, familial and cultural, are always there - frayed but not severed - no matter how long they have been ‘away’. Many there are who want to visit home for one function or the other and want an assurance of some safety. But the news they hear and the images they see about happenings in Nigeria are very disconcerting to say the least. They hear about Generals being kidnapped; about Priests being whisked away from sacred places; about hitherto untouchables being abducted; about wives and mothers being raped in the presence of their husbands and children; about roads and forests that have become infested with bandits. They hear about the cries of the bereaved and the lamentations of Governors, the Chief Security Officers of their States, who seem helpless. They see images of brutality; of youths barely in their teens carrying guns; of villages being burnt and looted. That is but a side of the lawless spectrum. Another side, becoming more commonplace everyday, is of Yahoo, or Yahoo Plus. Youths who want to get rich quick are sidestepping 419 and internet fraud to embrace ritual killing. Stories of girlfriends, close friends, even siblings and parents being killed for money fill the social media. Hotels and Short-lets are not the safe havens they should be and this is a source of worry for Diasporans who wish to visit home.

So what is the true picture of the security situation in the country? The Military says security is getting better, that bandits and terrorists are being decimated everyday. But the social media see things differently, regaling us with stories and images of killings and clashes in at least four of the country’s six zones. So I am unable to answer truthfully when I get asked that question. While I am unwilling to scare them from coming home, I am also unwilling to lure them into a false sense of security. Not when socio/political groups are having stakeholder meetings to address deteriorating security situations in their areas. Not when exasperated security experts and community leaders are asking the people to rise up and defend themselves. The unfortunate Uromi Killings are a consequence of such a call. They are the result of a people watching helplessly as their loved ones are kidnapped and their possessions looted. They have seen such trucks coming into their community before. They largely do not bring value or add any value. Instead, they discharge terror into their forests. They bring sorrow, tears and blood to quote a Fela song. So they resorted to self-help as they have been asked to do in the absence of external help. Unfortunately, mob actions, however provoked, often lead to the death of some innocent lives. A narrative says some of those killed in Uromi, Edo State were hunters. It did not say what they hunt. Or if any game was found in their possession as should be the case for any hunter going home for a festive occasion.

The uproar that attended the killing particularly from a section of the country is ignoring the elephant in the room. It is focusing on the consequence and not the cause of an action. It is addressing symptoms and not the real disease. The real issue is that many communities feel strangers, who are largely from an ethnic group, are arriving in trucks to occupy their forests and pillage their farms. These people kidnap and rob and rape with impunity. This helplessness is frustrating to communities in many parts of the country. The issue is that non-State actors carry guns and are intentional about terrorizing and dehumanizing communities. The fear is that some of their sponsors are in government or elites in the system. The suspicion is that some of these sponsors have nefarious goals. So welcoming wandering strangers is now akin to putting fire on your own roof by welcoming terrorists. ‘Heaven help the man whose back is against the wall. Heaven help us all’ sang the late minstrel, Ray Charles. Many communities today feel their backs are rubbing against the wall. This would be the feeling of those in Bokko and environs in Plateau State and Otukpo in Benue State who have been victims of savage attacks. Some will fight back whenever they can and with whatever they have. We might thus not witness the last of an Uromi self-help attack in the country. Heaven help us all. Reprisal attacks if they happen as has been threatened, will lead to the shout of ‘to your house o Israel’ which can only hasten disintegration.

However, they say the darkest hour is just before dawn. Nigeria is in its dark hour in many ways especially with the security situation. Will things get worse or is the break of dawn just around the corner? That is indeed the question. Its answer will depend on many of us and our realization of the precarious situation we find ourselves. A lot will depend on if we believe Nigeria is worth salvaging. A lot will depend on if we are prepared to confront evil with good and not hide behind tribe or religion to commit heinous crimes. A lot will depend on how our leaders, especially the President, rise to their moral and constitutional responsibilities. There should no longer be a sacred cow in the fight against insecurity.

This Saturday known as Holy Saturday, is also the darkest day in Christendom when Jesus Christ, crucified on Good Friday, was yet to rise. Some two thousand years ago, His followers were in mourning not knowing what the future held. All they could see was darkness; spiritual darkness. Today, we know better. Christ conquered death and arose as evidenced in Easter. Tomorrow is Easter, a day of rejoicing for Christians the world over. Nigeria can conquer its many challenges and rise to its full potential. Our ‘tomorrow’ for rejoicing can come. But only if we are willing to make the individual and collective sacrifices necessary for this to happen- sacrifice to self, to tribe and to geo/political indulgences. These have been the bane of Nigeria over the years.

Happy Easter, everyone.

• Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com