Naijimboz

Thats what we call our brothers from Africas most populous nation, Nigeria. Last week, the army ended up killing about 700 people in pursuit of a rebel group that was seemingly small and seemingly relatively harmless. But it turned out the group was not that small. What worried me though is the fact that the army captured the rebel leader alive. They then handed in over to the police. This is perfectly legal and normal, except if you become aware of the fact that this guy had orchestrated the deaths of several policemen as his rebel outfit was targeting them.

And so whilst the world was being shown a video of the man confessing his sins and expecting to hear of the court dates, and trial dates etc, we were shocked hours later to see pictures of an arrested man who walked into the police station come out in a body bag with his body riddled with bullets.

Did the end justify the means? That is the question we need to ask. In most cases in Africa decisions and actions are taken on a populist basis or they are taking riding on emotions. I agree the rebels had to be eliminated (Legally of course) for the government to take effective control of the whole country. but riddling a person with bullets under police custody still baffles me.