L ast Saturday, February 18, 2017 was a day set aside for the annual prayer week of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Borno state branch. But the day was used to remember a black Saturday, February 18, 2006 in Maiduguri, which came with deaths, blood and sorrow for residents.
Eleven years after the massacre that turned ‘Home of Peace and Hospitality” to that of blood, the memory yet lingers. And the disposition of the afflicted (victims) and the Christian community in the state capital was indicative of that fact. The black Saturday has refused to clear from the memory because it was the day a very dark cloud accompanied by dead silence hung over the city of Maiduguri. It was the smoke and effigy of burning bodies of our innocent brothers, sisters, children, husbands, wives and valuables.
It was a day Maiduguri, in a twinkle, recorded an unprecedented number of orphans, widowers and refugees. The black Saturday will refuse to go because the blood of the innocent ones or martyrs that perished has become a nightmare to the masterminds of the bloody carnival who would “sleep no more”.
The day will not go as it raises more questions than answers, especially to all government officials who were on ground and were witnesses to the heinous c r i m e s on the faithful day. W h o were the sponsors of the atrocity?
Why the silence from constituted authority on the plight of the victims even after 11 years? Would this be wished away as one of those orchestrated sectarian revolts aimed at provoking a particular region’s sect? Was the Ambassador Ahmad Jidda-committee set up by the state government that recommended the compensation of N1.5 billion for the victims a ruse?What became the fate of the so-called arrested ones? Was there diligent prosecution?
These are the questions that probe to date. When our Muslim brothoff from Ramat Square, Maiduguri and translate into Shehu of Borno Palace and thereafter possibly terminate at the Government House. But this was not to be as the event was hijacked by a group acting its own script. What followed is now history known to all.
The black Saturday will refuse to go because the blood of the innocent ones or martyrs that perished has become a nightmare to the masterminds of the bloody carnival who would “sleep no more
On the fateful day, a group of insignificant elements with deep rooted prejudices and acting on strict directives of their sponsors or mentors, unleashed on innocent souls an unprecedented holocaust. And Maiduguri went up in inferno, bloodletting, looting, arson and barbarism.
It was a grand design, meticulously executed. The action was spontaneous and exact in all the areas affected. It was a well calculated and rehearsed plan whose execution was precise and straight on targets.
In the speed of a meteor, the arsonists and hoodlums spread their atrocities to most parts of the state capital, killing, maiming, looting, and setting churches, residential houses, shops/ restaurants and hotels ablaze.
Though, there were conflicting figures with regards the casualties by both CAN and state government, both parties confirmed deaths and destruction of churches and other valuables.
According to Borno state chapter of CAN, 56 churches were destroyed, 100 residences, hotels, shops office and restaurants razed and 100 souls perished. But the state government put the figures as follows: 35 residences destroyed, 52 churches bunt down, 14 shops raised and vandalized, 7 hotel, 3 offices and library destroyed, 21 persons killed and 61 other sustained injuries.
While 254 suspects were arrested, out of which 176 were released while 76 had case to answer. The Black Saturday cries to high heavens for redress. Unless and until atoned, those who murdered the sleep “will sleep no more” as the Maiduguri Black Saturday will not rest until justice is not only done but seen to be done.
