Sheikh Aisami: The Gruesome Murder of a Yobe Cleric
By Lawan Bukar Maigana,
The recent gruesome murder of an Islamic cleric in Yobe State by the Nigerian Army personnel speaks volume of how some bad elements within our security institutions engage in extrajudicial killings of law-abiding citizens.
Sheikh Goni Aisami had earlier notified his family about his coming home. unknown to him that he couldn’t make it as his life was cut short by an individual who hitherto sworn to protect his life, properties and territorial integrity against non-state actors. I still couldn’t fathom the gravity of anguish that his family, relatives and loved ones are still going through.
Notwithstanding, the manner in which Sheikh Aisami was brutally killed has reminded me of another similar bad experience of how my beloved friend, Muhammad Konto Sulum, a Maiduguri indigene, was gruesomely murdered by a soldier in 2014.
Just like how the deceased and peace-loving Imam offered to accommodate the soldier in his car, the late Sulum also gave a lift to the Pompomari Bypass Area within the capital city of Maiduguri to the cruel soldier who shot him dead and equally zoomed off with his vehicle.
As it was fated, Konto, a graduate of Physics from the University of Maiduguri, helped the soldier against the advice of his friend who was accompanying him at that moment. I still mourn his untimely death whenever I remember our last conversation.
Report had it that the late cleric was killed on his way back to his hometown Gashua, in Yobe State from Kano State.
Presently, with such a pattern of occasional threat to the civil populace, it is obvious that the security forces could no longer be trusted. However, this is not to paint all of them black, but who will continue to trust uniform personnel considering these twin cold murders by the soldiers and a host of others that happened across the country?
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The killer, who claimed to be on duty, begged Sheikh for a lift from Nguru Local Government Area of Yobe State to Jajimaji town. While going, he stopped in order to perform ablution, however, the culprit brought out his gun and fired three shots and ended the fruitful life of the Sheikh.
Miraculously, the soldier tried to flee with the car but the engine refused to respond which forced him to invite his colleague, another soldier, but all their efforts were to no avail.
They spent the whole night trying to fix the engine but couldn’t until the villagers were alerted after seeing the corpse of the Sheikh which prompted them to call the attention of the Police who didn’t waste time in arresting the killer and his accomplice.
John Gabriel and Adam Gideon of 241 Recce Battalion Nguru have confessed to their crimes according to the Yobe Police Command.
However, it is disheartening that one of the national daily, the Vanguard Newspaper and another online news outlet, Daily Post reported that the Sheikh was killed by gunmen. This is a conspiracy of the highest order, launched in an attempt to cover up this atrocious act after which the killers have already confessed to their crime.
Surely, if it happens the other way round, this duo of news platforms would have cast a sensational headline capable of heating up the polity.
Lastly, for justice to prevail, the killer deserves capital punishment for killing an innocent law abiding citizen without justification.
This will undoubtedly serve as a deterrent to others who may wish to follow a similar suit.
Because, if justice was served to the soldier who previously killed Konto in Maiduguri, then this similar episode would not have happened to this Yobe cleric who has spent over 30 years preaching the gospel of peace to the people.
Lawan Bukar Maigana writes from Abuja and can be reached via: [email protected]
