THE UNKNOWN GONEMEN OF CHRISTMAS

Gonemen? Typographic error? Is it not meant to be “Gunmen”? It is no typographic error! Yet, my gonemen has something to do with the gunmen. Did you not notice that the gunmen where gone on Christmas? What transformed the gunmen to gonemen on Christmas?

When a person indiscriminately throws stones into the market his mother daily trades in, whatever day he doesn’t throw stones, it cannot be said that it was love for his mother that restrained him. The gunmen would have achieved the greatest kill during Christmas, how come that at their greatest opportune moment they were nowhere to be found?

The method of the gunmen has been indiscriminate killing; so, we cannot give their temporary ceasefire to sympathy for us. They appear to target those who appear well-to-do; fresh-looking folks, riding beautiful cars. The Christmas had so much of their quarry, yet they were missing in action… at a time it would have been thought they would register their greatest wrath. So, what made the gunmen gonemen?

Many have theorised about the origin and motivation of the gunmen. One of such theories fingers aggrieved Igbo youths who have suffered greatly -at times, paying the ultimate price- from the Nigerian state for just asking for a referendum to determine if the Igbo would stay on in Nigeria. For those who believe this, the unknown gunmen are young men (and maybe women) who have seen their friends and relatives brutally murdered for merely partaking in marches. So, theirs is simply retribution hour.

The problem with such thinking is the target of these unknown gunmen. They are just like a person who throws stones indiscriminately into a market. In fact, theirs may really not be completely indiscriminate as they attack people who seem to be affluent. Riding a good car, and looking fresh on top of it, is all you need to incur the wrath of the unknown gunmen. This very qualification describes a lot, if not the bulk, of the financial supporters of the Biafran movement -especially those who live abroad. Therefore, any theory becomes very questionable that gives this random killings -targeting folks whose description fits snugly into that of lots of Biafra financial supporters- to wrath from aggrieved Biafra agitators.

When you shoot a man riding an SUV, what makes you think he is not the chairman of the Biafra movement in Thailand? When you shoot another whose skin is so fresh, what makes you think she is not the one who led the protest in Switzerland to call attention to the Biafra question? Truth is that the randomness of the method of the unknown gunmen makes the theory that they are aggrieved Biafra agitators very questionable. I cannot because someone injured my brother, then I go to a market my family members trade in and open fire randomly… e no make sense at all, at all!

That these unknown gunmen took some holidays on Christmas to become gonemen accentuates my suspicion that they are not likely who some theorise they are. The randomness of their killings shout to the fact that it is not sympathy for us that made them take a break. Anyone who can give answers to why the gunmen became gonemen on Christmas may have provided clue to who the gunmen are.

My own thinking on why the gunmen disappeared during Christmas is that the Christmas environment in the southeast, by several multiples, makes escape difficult. The southeast population at Christmas periods makes the southeast very congested. Many roads during that period experience gridlocks; even the villages brim with people and human activity. Such an atmosphere reduces the chances of quick escapes and increases the chance of being caught.

If my postulations are right, then the gunmen have real concerns of being caught. This means that their attacks are no attacks of military-like confrontations where the actors have chosen death if their cause demands it. These are folks who really hope to make escapes, slip into the society and live like everyone else. No one will undertake such risky ventures as theirs, with hopes of surviving, who is not doing it for material gain; theirs is no different from the undertaking of the armed robber and kidnapper who hope to survive their criminal adventures and enjoy the proceeds from with. However, they differ from the armed robber and kidnapper in that these afore mentioned are visibly going for their material gain. We are left to conclude that the unknown gunmen’s material gain is supplied outside their direct activities. Simple, they have sponsors they work for! Theirs is paid activity!

So, more than the gunmen themselves, the last thing their sponsors would want is exposure; and that can happen when the unknown gunmen are caught… not just by law enforcement agents, but by the people themselves. Christmas becomes a very inauspicious and terrible time to operate; any unknown gunman polluting the fraternity of that period, who is unfortunate to be caught, will surely not be spared. So, the unknown gunmen and their sponsors suddenly become unknown gonemen.

What this tells us is that whatever will lead to the exposure of who these guys (and their sponsors) are, will automatically see the phenomenon of the unknown gunmen disappear from the southeast. Technology can come in handy here; especially anything with cameras. Routes that have become notorious for the activities of the unknown gunmen should have drones that are fitted with artificial intelligence, that can be attracted to scenes of gunshots, helping out; all such drones need to do is to trail the gunmen to wherever their hideouts are.

It is better for the government of the various southeast states to handle such arrangements, because individuals who go out of their way to provide such intelligence might become targets. With accusations in some quarters that some state governments are actually the sponsors of the unknown gunmen, should we give up all hopes? We cannot give up hope! One way or the other, we must set up the necessary structures to rid these soulless ones of that darkness that provides them a false sense on invincibility.

While we fathom how to do that, maybe the southeast may for the moment consider making everyday Christmas so that the unknown gunmen remain unknown gonemen.

Ike Eluigwe