ALHAJI ILLYASU ONECHOJON WROTE: THE ANYIGBA WE USE TO KNOW The Anyigba we use to know was a London to the villagers and a dream home for every Igala person home and abroad but today, very few persons would hit their chest to say am from Anyigba for fear of been called a thug. That is not all; child violence has also become a major threat to the peace of the Anyigba community. It has gone so bad that kids of ages between as low as 12 to 15 years getting involved in arm violence of murder in the name of cultism. Such juvenile delinquency occurred last year in Anyigba and another one happened again today in the same once cherished community all the name of the kid cultism. If the community did not rise on time to tackle this ugly situation, the implication and resultant consequences on the people living in the community would be gravious. The kids involved at this embryonic level are already armed and heartless. More kids would join the band wagon if left unchecked and in no distance time they would all go into armed robbery and to later grow into kidnappers and hired assassins. That was how thuggery started like a joke in the late 90s and only God know the damages it has done the Anyigba community and it’s environ within a short period of time. It would be recalled that prior to the government involvement in the financial backup and armed empowerment of the thugs in Kogi east with particular reference to the Anyigba scenario, the community was a peaceful one and full commercial nerve center of the Igala kingdom. Truck and lorries drives into the Anyigba market to load cannel, maize and other farm produce to the east, timber to Lagos and gari to the north. Youths were actively involved in one economy activity or the other in the market and Anyigba was a cherished London of the villagers until the “boys” came on board with arms and government back up. The foreigners were driven off by the “boys” because of the illegal taxation of huge amount of money apart from the local government revenue on every of their trucks that loaded from the market to settle the “boys”. The villager who were the main suppliers of these farm produce that kept the market booming were scared off by the artillery shelling of the “boys” on almost every of Anyigba market days and the petty thieves were not let out of the menacing activities that ruined the Anyigba market out of productivity. This is not a story but a live experience of a victim to how the thuggery menace started like a joke from the use of cutlass to guns and to its zenith before the time of God. Today thuggery is obsolete and outdated but some of the injuries are still fresh and its devastating effects are still seen, felt and snide. It is not a task for the government, the traditional rulers or parents alone but a collective responsibility.In as much as we call on the Anyigba community to collaborate with the law enforcement agents in taking drastic actions on this ugly menace in the society, we equally call on religious leaders to intensify their prayers for the community and parents/guidance to rise up to the occasion taking good care of their wards. What makes you a father doesn’t stop at jumping on the available women and producing the kids in multitude but ensuring that the kids so produced are properly fed, clothed, educated, trained and cared for… God bless the Anyigba community.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 05:21:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015