Opinions
Selective Outrage Will Not Bring Healing Or Unity, By Buhari Olanrewaju Ahmed
It is an irony that those who once justified violence in the name of religion are suddenly posing as defenders of peace and sovereignty.
Those who supported the brutal killing of Deborah Samuel are the same people now condemning Trump’s proposed intervention.
It is an irony that those who once justified violence in the name of religion are suddenly posing as defenders of peace and sovereignty.
Since Deborah Samuel was lynched by a mob in Sokoto over allegations of blasphemy, the Nigerian government has failed to arrest, prosecute, or convict her killers.
Years later, her death remains a painful reminder of the nation’s selective justice system and its unwillingness to confront religious extremism.
The story is the same in many parts of Nigeria. The mass killings in Southern Kaduna, Benue, and Plateau States continue without justice or closure for the victims.
Entire communities have been destroyed, and families displaced, yet the perpetrators walk free.
Each attack deepens mistrust among ethnic and religious groups, while government officials issue the same empty promises of investigation and peace.
In the North-East and North-West, millions have suffered similar fates. In Borno, Katsina, Sokoto, and Taraba States, countless lives have been lost to banditry, terrorism, and communal violence.
Sadly, many of those who now speak passionately about foreign interventions have remained silent as ordinary Nigerians die daily.
Even when reports surfaced that the Nigerian military accidentally bombed civilians during Maulud celebrations, killing hundreds of Muslims, the so-called defenders of human rights and democracy barely raised their voices.
Selective outrage will not bring healing or unity.
Nigeria cannot move forward when empathy and justice are reserved only for certain groups.
The defence of humanity should not depend on religion, ethnicity, culture, or political ideology.
Until Nigerians collectively accept that all lives matter—Christian or Muslim, Northerner or Southerner—the cycle of violence and hypocrisy will persist.
Real progress begins when justice is blind and compassion is universal.
