Segun Enikuemehin's intention of stepping in to save both the man and the situation turned to be his very stroke of the dehumanization that he never bargained for as he stepped out that day.
I was saddened to learn of the incident that happened in Lagos last Sunday; of how an officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had one of his eyes plucked out by some beasts of misappropriated human appellation. It was deeply heart-juddering as to be totally disconcerting to have realized that the perpetrators of this dastardly act were some men of the Nigerian army.
Mr. Segun Enikuemehin, an officer of the FRSC, it was gathered from the news, had stepped into a scene of jiggery brutality, where some military men had taken an unarmed civilian for a prey; manhandling and making a sordid mess of his dignity to an almost eventual death. Mr. Segun pushed himself in to quickly avert the foreseen situation; pleading with the striking men to temper justice with mercy at whatever be the offense, or at most to take him to the police.
Segun Enikuemehin's intention of stepping in to save both the man and the situation turned to be his very stroke of the dehumanization that he never bargained for as he stepped out that day. In a moment, the supposed good Samaritan had one of the complete set of eyes that brought him out that day, and to the sight of the incisive brutality, plucked in one of the conscious acts of biliousness I've ever heard.
But the fact that this action of brazen brutality and utter disregard for the sanctity of the human person was done in a brought day light does not beat my imagination, even though it should.
The fact that this very act of indignity was meted out to an officer of the federal government does not strike me to a halting astonishment, even though it somehow should.
That this show of shame was orchestrated by men of the military, who ordinarily are supposed to be the defense of the defenseless and unarmed civilians in the face of threats and who indeed has such responsibility having being employed by the government and paid by the tax payers money for same purpose, does not stir me to a wink.
And though, it should cause a wider wink, it did not. Often times, we've heard of some military elements, shying away from responsibility to deal in the fiercely ruthless manner with the ordinary citizens. This is not their first - possibly it may not be the last. Who knows? The December 12 and 14 massacre of the members of the Shi'ite movement stands out.
That this uncut barbarism meted out to a young man, who was merely and rightly concerned, a young man that walked up to show his concern for a dying fellow - whose death or life as it stood was in the hands of his manhandlers- by pleading with them to be considerate in showing mercy, as inflicting as it could be does not jig me into aghast, even though it ought to. Many, by their innocuous acts of kindness had ended up drawing unto themselves unquenchable flames they never bargained for.
But what would eventually jig my heart to a judder and blink my eyes into shattering astonishment is the silence that will pervade this deliberate senselessness. What possibly will be the institutional response to this one act so many? Will it go the way of the previous ones, shushed and silenced? Will it receive the unreliable hope in a panel of inquiries whose reports never became executed?
I would literally be shaken, and stoutly flabbergasted if this action-devious, dehumanizing, diabolic and eerie - would not trigger an imminent recompense and system overhaul. This is because, the consequential reaction there to will give a clear indication of what the government take this recurrent rabidity especially by the armed men to be.
A disregard or downplay of the horror of this kind perpetuated by people who are paid by the government is a surly suggestion that beast order has become entrenched and been institutionalized where brutes could pry on vulnerable easy going citizens without restraint. The very act committed by these heartless men in uniform cannot be denied to consciously undertaken.
Mr. Enikuemehin's plucked eye shall not go without an end been brought to the barbarism which it saw and tried to rescue. His eye shall not be seen to have gone without its mutilation stirring in the government the urgency to stamp out the brutality by which it suffered destruction.
Mr. Enikuemehin's plucked eyes must arouse in the government nay the military apparatus to flush out questionable elements among them who inflicts injuries and continue to be threats to unarmed civilians.
The act of degradation which Mr. Enikuemehin saw and from which he suffered damaged is an unmistaken brutality, one too many. It must be quickly halted, and the good intent of the victim vociferously applauded by bringing his subjugators to book. It is an unmistaken brutality that must be treated with a stern call to justice of the culprits.
Ahanonu Kingsley writes from Owerri. He can be contacted at [email protected].
