By Fr Pat. Amobi Chukwuma
In normal parlance, sellers take cows, goats, sheep, dogs, cats, fowls and other domestic and wild animals to market for sale to intending buyers. After selling, they utilize the income to solve their basic needs or smile to the bank. On their own part, the buyers resell those animals or kill them for commercial meat or household meat. It is believed that dog meat is medicinal.
It is locally called 404. I came across a shop with this inscription: 404 Delicacy. In the evening time the shop becomes a beehive of customers from near and far. Nowadays, if your dog strays, then, go to that spot and check the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of the dismembered dog parts. Hungry criminals now specialized in killing, selling or eating of any dog they found in lonely areas. Beware of dog criminals.
In local villages, people take out their sheep out for green pasture. If it is one or two in number, it is tittered on a rope. Towards the evening they are brought home to roost. Today, things have fallen apart. Criminals now pounce on them when no one is around. A certain poor woman tied her only goat on a pole close to the gate of her house and went back into the house for the day’s chores. Just after an hour she came out only to see the rope only.
The goat was bundled away by a criminal who was trailing her from a distance when she was tying it. The distressed woman nearly committed suicide, if not for consolers. Cow pastoralists now stand in danger of losing their lives. Criminals kill them and then rustle their cows. Could you believe that a hardened criminal killed a cow and its owner, and sold the mixed human meat and cow meat in the market? Beware of the meat you buy in the market these days, especially dried meat.
Some missing persons have been butchered, sold and eaten. On the day of resurrection, they will resurrect from the belly of their consumers. Cannibalism is on the increase nowadays. Cannibals are on rampage.
Beautiful, handsome and ugly persons taste alike. I heard that the meat of those with hunch back is medicinal and costly. The difference between animal and human meat is insignificant. The human head, fingers, toes and private parts are sold secretly for occult purposes. Shine your eyes!
Due to the excessive hardship and hunger in Nigeria presently, a 49 year old man was nabbed few days ago in Bauchi when he was negotiating to sell his five-year old daughter. He was caught red-handed by the police. Hunger drove him into criminality. How can a sane father sell his daughter just to satisfy family hunger? If he was not caught, the daughter victim would be declared a missing person.
Anybody with useful information would be asked to contact the father-in-crime or the nearest police station. A huge sum of money would be placed as reward. Sympathizers would be searching in vain; not knowing that the missing daughter has been slaughtered for meat or cultism.
Three months ago, a bloody crime was committed within my vicinity. The bloody lifeless body of a young girl was dumped by a road side at a place known as Ugwunganga Obinikpa Achina in Aguata Local Government of Anambra State by unknown assailants. She was hacked to death with an axe. It happened on Divine Mercy Sunday of this year 2024. While God was displaying his mercifulness on sinful humanity, a criminal was hacking an innocent girl mercilessly to death on that Sunday.
The Bible says that there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed (Luke 8:17). After some days, the women of the town cladded themselves in black attires and staged a peaceful and prayerful demonstration within the town of Achina. It bore good fruit. The assailant was pointed out by ear and eye witnesses.
The criminal is a notorious cult member and drug addict. He is on the run. He who kills with the sword will equally be killed by the sword. The blood of the innocent girl he murdered will not allow him to rest. I warn all girls and ladies to beware of the persons and the places they visit. Criminals disguise as friends or employers nowadays.
Last week, an unknown criminal broke into my generator house and catered away four gallons of petrol I kept there. On that fateful day, after changing the oil in the generator engine, I asked my houseboy to bring the fuel to fill the empty tank. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found.
The unknown criminal disappeared with the petrol and its container which I bought at exorbitant price. We searched everywhere but in vain. We went behind the fence, it was all fruitless effort. Consequently, we stayed in total darkness throughout the night. I believe that the criminal must be an insider or a familiar outsider. My prayer is that he or she may confess and repent some day and some time.
Our farms in near and far places are under serious siege. Hungry criminals invade them to harvest already planted yam seedlings and crops. They thereby commit atrocity which can be called plant abortion. They abort growing seedlings in the soil. They uproot vegetables and cut matured and immature maize heads to satisfy their uncontrolled hunger drive and greed.
How can we talk of employing security men to guard our farms in these days of acute hunger and economic hardship? Where is the money to finance it? Some farmers now place sacred objects and charms in their farms in order to scare hungry criminals. Despite these, the criminals invade their farms.
Recently, a mother of seven school children was cooking a pot of rice for the family of nine. After adding all spices in the food on fire in the kitchen, she went into her room to rest awhile. After some minutes she joyfully came out to inspect the boiling food. To her surprise, the steaming food and pot were nowhere to be found. She raised an alarm which attracted neighbours and passers-by.
They searched within and without for the food and pot, all to no avail. Few days later the empty pot was found by a roadside. The unknown criminal emptied the food and threw away the pot. This is abominable. The kite says that since hunters have learnt to shoot without aiming, it has learnt to fly without perching. The present hardship is biting deeply on poor masses. Therefore, when you are cooking, hang around the pot on fire. Another alternative is to chain the food pot under lock and key.
Some pot covers nowadays are installed with close and lock keys. The use of active dogs to guard your food and kitchen is also effective. But do not employ inactive dogs known as ‘ekeuke.’ Instead of barking and biting the intruder, they help hungry criminals to cart away the food and pot. This type of dog is only good for pepper soup.
Our country Nigeria is really at cross-roads. His Excellency Doctor Pepper is on the throne. Therefore, we must thread with caution. The change of National Anthem does not eliminate national hardship. There is acute hunger in the land. Nonetheless, hunger does not justify criminality. The end does not justify the means; rather the means justifies the end.
