Shortly after results of the poorly conducted Kogi State governorship election were announced, some thugs believed to be loyal to one of the parties in the election, raced to the home of Mrs. Acheju Abuh, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) women leader and burnt down the house with the woman inside.
Since the ugly incident, apart from the celebration of their victory, neither the governor nor the president had condemned the development, apparently the woman was a-nobody and so, her killing in cold blood was no big deal.
But, first, you want to ask, of what essence was the killing of Mrs. Abuh, when clearly her party was announced as having lost the election? Even if her party won, why the resort to such violence, when everyone knew ab initio that at the end of an election, there’ll be a winner and a loser?
Without doubt, the killing of Mrs. Abuh shows that the election of November 16 in Kogi was bloodstained. The attitude of the state since the development also shows that it is culpable otherwise the onus is on the state to make sure her killers are fished out and brought to book.
No one deserves to die that way, not even over choice of political leaders. It’s a free world and choice is the beauty of democracy. To want to gag everyone else and compel them to buy into a different choice is undemocratic and condemnable.
THE SUN, NIGERIA