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As humanity continues to be aghast and the media abuzz with the news of the pervasive, wanton killings that are currently bedeviling Nigeria, it is the thrust of this article to assess the ominous development and make a case for why a stop must be put to the gory trends in the country, if truly the citizens genuinely desire to existentially break the jinx of their collective utopia for sustainable peace, security and development. Did our history begin with the curse of Cain? It is a gory tale of murder, assassination and torture in any event. So much blood has been spilled throughout history that the whole world could be painted red with it – with plenty to spare. When will man stop killing his fellow men? When will his thirst for blood ever be quenched? The above thought-provoking questions were raised by Hadrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad [who later became the Supreme Head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 1982-2003] in the opening paragraph of his master-piece titled Murder in the Name of Allah, written on the heels of the 1953’s Public Disturbance in Pakistan which shut down the 5-year old independent country amidst carnage and curse. More particularly, in his historical novel titled “A Carnage before Dawn”, published online by Okada Books, the author, Ayomide Akinbode, took us on a gory tale of Nigeria’s First Coup D’état which took place in the night of 14-15 January, 1966. Today, over 50 years after the bloody event, it is still the same bloody story of killings, as Nigeria has not known peace and security of lives and properties. Would it be inconsequential to remark, for instance, that the gory tale of bloodbath in the Nigeria’s first Coup D’état did signal an ominous repetition of the history of Cain’s carnage and curse which re-occurred to change the national fate of the nascent independent state of Nigeria, barely 3 years after her 1st republic in 1963? The atrocious event saw the shedding of the blood of Nigeria’s First Prime Minister, the Premiers of the Northern and Western Regions, the Federal Minister of Finance, and most of the senior army officers.Of course, cases of bloodshed had earlier occurred across the three regions of the country, particularly, on the heels of the crises that greeted the 1964’s National Census and the Western Region’s election in 1965. However, considering the ominous effect the above 15th January bloodshed bore on the national destiny of the country, one may conclude that, if bloodletting is both a sin against the God of life and crime against humanity, then the bloodshed was, symbolically, an ominous incident that profaned the Nigerian soil and marked a turning point from humanely giving of life to violently causing of death in the history of Nigeria. Since then, the number of the cases of assassinations, extra-judicial homicides and wanton killings caused by the various recurring political power struggles, electoral crises, ethno-religious conflicts, inter-communal/intra-communal conflicts, vigilante killings, civil war, insurgency, militancy, suicide terrorism, banditry, abduction-for-death killings, armed robberies and alleged killings for ritual purposes etc are as uncountable and unimaginable much as they are dastardly and disturbing.Let us look into few of the notable data. According to Wikipedia, during the two and half years of the 1967-1970’s Nigerian Civil War, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation. In the same vein, the 1980s were bedeviled by the Maitatsine riots which were a series of violent uprisings instigated by Islamist Muhammad Marwa on December 18, 1980 in Kano and resulted in 4,000 deaths (including Marwa). To jump from the late histories and come closer to the recent ones, the last two decades have arguably been the bloodiest and most disturbing periods in Nigeria as a result of the increased spate of mass killings in the country. Again, captioning on religious violence in Nigeria, Wikipedia also recalls that the events of Abuja in 2000 and Jos in 2001 were riots between Christians and Muslims that took hundreds of lives. Another such riot killed over 100 people in October 2001 in Kano State. In 2002, the Nigerian journalist Isioma Daniel wrote her sarcastic article which led to the demonstrations and violence that caused the deaths of over 200 in Kaduna. Similarly, the reaction to the Mohammed cartoons brought about a series of violent protests in Nigeria. Clashes between rioters and police claimed several lives, with estimates ranging from 16 to more than a hundred. This led to reprisal attacks in the south of the country, particularly in Onitsha. More than a hundred lost their lives. On June 28, 2018, Tribune [Online] published the checklist of killings in Nigeria from 1999 to 2015 released by Femi Adeshina, the Senior Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media. The list shows 2,500 recorded deaths during the November 20, 1999 Odi killing. Similarly, between February and May 2000, about 5,000 people were killed during riots over Sharia law in different parts of the North. In 2001, hundreds of people, including the old, infirm, women and children were killed in Zaki Biam. Between September 7 and 12, 2001, Jos, Plateau State, erupted in internecine killings. Between 500 and 1,000 people were killed. In 2010, 992 people were again killed in Jos. Just a year after, on 16th May, 2011, Reuters reported Human Right Watch’s record in which more than 800 people were killed and 65,000 displaced in three days of violence following a presidential election in April won by President Goodluck Jonathan. In fact, according to a report titled Ethnic and Religious Crisis in Nigeria, published by ACCORD on 29th August, 2016, between 1999 and 2013, more than 11,000 deaths have occurred in Nigeria. This statistics is however an extremely modest one when compared against the report published on December 12, 2011, by International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law on Nigerians who died outside the law since 1999. According to it, there are over 54, 000 unlawful deaths in

Maulvi Nurudeen Okubena By the special grace and mercy of the Almighty Allah, I was privileged to attend the 2018 Jalsa Salana Qadian, India. It was actually my first presence and experience in Qadian, the birthplace of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), the Promised Messiah and founder of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. As an African Missionary leaving the shores of Africa for the first time, I was filled with happiness and a great aspiration to see Qadian. On arriving at Qadian after a journey of several hours on road from New Delhi, and despite witnessing such cold weather for the first time in my life, the sight of Qadian was indeed pleasing and I was more pleased when I saw more than thirty (30) fellow Africans at the Conference with a very high spirit and great enthusiasm to participate in all the Jalsa proceedings. I was exceptionally marvelled with the spirit of brotherhood at the Jalsa and, most especially, with the high spirit of sacrifice displayed by the workers at the Convention; both the young and old were always ready to offer every sacrifice for the comfort of the guests of the Promised Messiah (as). The volunteers on security duties were always there at every moment, even in the extreme cold of the night. May Allah reward them all abundantly. One great thing about Qadian was that everyone meets with cheerfulness and happiness. Most especially when some of our Indian/Pakistani brothers realised that an African Missionary, like myself, could speak and understand the language of the Promised Messiah (as); they all showed great love and affection. Another wonderful scenario I witnessed at Qadian was that, despite the extreme cold weather, you would find people very early in the dawn trooping in large numbers to participate in the Tahajjud (the supererogatory night Prayer). I could remember that while there, I tried on so many occasions to observe prayers at the Mubarak Mosque but on every occasion, I was told the place is filled up; but, I eventually had the opportunity to do so. Alhamdulillāh! It was indeed pleasing to have the opportunity to pray at Baitu Dua, Baitul fikr and several other rooms of the Promised Messiah (as). One surprising fact is the enthusiasm and zeal in every attendee to get an opportunity to pray in these holy rooms, and one could see a feeling of contentment and conviction of acceptance of prayers in the countenance of everyone who had the opportunity of praying there. While in Qadian, considering the distance we traversed to reach there, one thing that always struck my mind was how the message of the Promised Messiah (as) was able to spread from such a remote village to the entire world, it then dawned on me without any iota of doubt that indeed he was a Chosen One of the Almighty Allah. Another striking thing about Qadian is the feeling of tranquillity one experiences while there. One always feels secured in Qadian and even adherents of other faiths who live nearby show a high level of love and affection to all Jalsa attendees. Also, witnessing the attendees at Jalsa who travelled from different parts of the world, I could see the fulfilment of the prophecy vouchsafed to the Promised Messiah that: يأتيك من كل فج عميق That is, “He shall come to you from every far region.” I was able to meet people from virtually all the continents of the world and everyone displayed a great level of love for the other. I was extremely pleased with the various speeches at the event. The facilitators were versatile and learned and the speeches were really soul inspiring. Qadian is a place to be visited by all, to experience the bounty and favours bestowed by Allah to the Imam of the age. May the Almighty Allah give us all the grace to do so. Aameen