A few years ago, the cry of the late Dr. Obadiah Mailafia over the apocalypse of Boko Haram and banditry reminds me of the travails of Heraclitus, the weeping philosopher, whose dark vision of human ignorance was mocked by the Athenians in his time but later proved profound.
Like Heraclitus, Obadiah Mailafia was a lone voice crying and unveiling the true nature of Boko Haram and banditry. He gave countless TV interviews, spoke on radio and in video clips, and his voice echoed from the North to the South.
In one of his interviews, he revealed that bandits and Boko Haram were the same group. He even claimed that he had spoken to some of them — and what they revealed to him was shocking: that a serving governor was the commander of Boko Haram.
He reported that some of the Boko Haram leaders he spoke with told him that the attacks, killings, and displacements in the rural areas and villages were just the first phase. After this, they said, they would move into the cities — searching homes one by one, killing prominent people.
The Buhari-led government, instead of celebrating this brave prophet, detained him through the DSS, while Northern leaders and stakeholders labeled him an enemy of Nigeria.
Many critics on social media called him delusional and depraved, challenging him to name the governors and those he spoke with, instead of “ranting” on the airwaves.
Overwhelmed and broken by the ignorance and indifference of a population more interested in the latest Afrobeats or the nudity of BBNaija, this lone prophet slipped into complicated illness and died — some say he was killed by the government, given the mysterious circumstances of his death.
Today, the voice of Obadiah Mailafia echoes in the grim reality of worsening insecurity. Boko Haram and bandits are no longer confined to Sambisa Forest or the fringes of our villages. They now shop in broad daylight around daily markets in the North. Multiple robberies, kidnappings, and killings in Abuja indicate the unfolding blueprint of bandits gradually infiltrating the cities.
The voice of Obadiah Mailafia has been vindicated: Boko Haram and bandits are no longer confined to ragged, gun-wielding terrorists roaming desolate forests from where they unleash terror.
They could be the army officer marching next to you in the barracks — thanks to the APC policy of integrating “repentant” Boko Haram members into the military.
They could be the gentle man eating suya beside you, waiting for nightfall to unleash terror. They could be the senator in agbada arguing for negotiation with bandits, smiling to the bank with millions of dollars from illegal mining made possible by the displacement of villagers.
They could be that cleric offering moral justification for why the government should parley with bandits.
Nigerians must rise against all enablers of crime, terror and banditry, including those in the APC government. As Mailafia and others cried out, this government is banditry, and banditry is this government.
Fr Augustine Ikenna Anwuchie is a Catholic missionary priest based in Niger Republic.
