Goodbye, Michael!

The Registrar of Good Shephard Major Seminary, Kaduna, is a friend. Having not heard from him for a long time, I was pleasantly surprised to see on my phone, a notification of a massage from him very early in the morning last Sunday. Excitedly, I opened the Facebook Messenger which contained the message, only to read the sad story of the demise of a student of the institution, who was kidnapped along three other seminarians when gunmen invaded the institution at Kaukau, along Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, on January 9.
It was very devastating, considering that on Friday we Nigerians were jubilating over the news of the release of three of the abducted students who spent three weeks in captivity. Hopes were high, that the fourth person will also be released in good health only for the news of his death to break. And knowing that the late Micheal Nnadi was a poor orphan, who was raised up by his poor grandmother, heightened the pain. It raised a lot of questions in my head – what crime did this poor innocent boy commit by being in his school? What will be the fate of his grandmother?  What sort of people are these criminals that waste peoples lives anyhow, everyday in this country? Who can save us from these criminals?
If only the death of this harmless, innocent 18-year-old boy, that of the wife of Dr Agada, Bola and all the people who have been wasted by the blood thirsty criminals will cleanse the land and make Nigeria better. If only his death will make government to wake up to the responsibility of protecting the entire citizens irrespective of their tribe and religion. If only the blood crying for vengeance will make the beneficiaries from daily killings in the country and the sponsors of the criminals turn a new leave. If only they can be exposed and their evil plans for the country thwarted.
The God who owns lives will surely not keep quiet for so long.
Adieu the Priest that couldn’t be.

By: Vivien King