EVERYTHING about onions has changed with the importance the police accorded onions in investigating the killing of Ahmed Gulak, a former aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan. Until last week, onions served as medicament and spice for our foods.
Onions became almost more important than Saturday’s killing of Gulak near the Owerri Airport. Rather thanks to onions, the police concluded investigations into the incident with spicy speed. It is simply incredible.
The killers (not suspects) were found, killed, their vehicles were also killed, burnt beyond recognition all within hours of Gulak’s death. No accomplices are at large. What could the police have done without onions?
IPOB are the killers, a fact that seemed to have been established before the incident, again thanks to the intoxicating intricacies of onions. Gulak’s killers did not go into hiding. They did not choose to celebrate as Nollywood films suggest.
The irresistible lure of onions kept them in open public space waiting for the arrival of the police who are now armed with invaluable intelligence on using onions to smoke out IPOB.
Unfortunately, the onion approach could be limited to Imo State unless higher authorities appropriate it for addition to our national security applications.
Police spokesman in Imo State Bala Elkanah narrated how Gulak’s killers were eliminated while they distributed onions from an intercepted truck. Ever-gallant policemen killed them, thanks to intelligence gathered from the driver who was taking Gulak to the airport. Who is this driver? Does he not deserve an award for his brilliant recollections in the midst of bullets that rained on Gulak?
People asking questions seem not to realise that the matter has closed. The police expect applause for knowing its onions. Known, unnamed gunmen, an improvement from unknown gunmen, killed Gulak.
Shouldn’t we just call them onion gunmen?
Gulak’s death stresses the importance of security and the impotence of the pretences to securing Nigeria. Nobody is safe, no matter where. The authorities should be interested in why Gulak should be killed, and in Owerri instead of threatening more security invasion of the South East.
President Muhammadu Buhari is busy issuing discriminatory threats to the South East as if worse crimes were not being committed in other parts of Nigeria. The threats heighten tension, empower security agents to be more brutal and leave concrete impressions of the South East being targeted.
Gunmen killed Christopher Dega, a former Deputy Inspector General of Police, in Jos on Monday. Dega was a Principal Senior Special Assistant on Special Security to Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State. Will the President order a military invasion of the North Central zone over the killing?
Back to onions. Onions Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria, OPMAN, its President Aliyu Isah said, would stop supply of onions to the South East over attack on its vehicles.
The police should beg OPMAN to reconsider otherwise policing in the South East could suffer from the withdrawal of the police’s best weapon – onions.
FINALLY…
CONTROVERSY continued its partnership with Nigeria in different ways. Here are some –
AYO Fayose, former Governor of Ekiti State, swears that President Muhammadu Buhari operating a Twitter account. His aides should be held responsible for Buhari’s threat to the South East that resulted in a Twitter sanction.
FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo says Nigeria had turned to a land flowing with bitterness and sadness. Was he retorting to President Buhari’s minders who rated Buhari the best Nigerian ruler since independence?
DEPUTY Inspector-General of Police and Head of South-South Zone of Operation Restore Peace, Moses Jitoboh, said he has uncovered IPOB cells in Edo State. Does this mean more deployment of police power to the South East?
NO controversy here. Professor Onwuchekwa Jemie, author, journalism educator, who shepherded some of us through IMT, Enugu, was 81 on Thursday. Congratulations Sir.
Isiguzo is a major commentator on minor issues
