Benin Violence: Looking Beyond the Surface

By Ohikhuare Isuku

Hoodlums have hijacked the peaceful protest in Benin-Ciy. Robbery, arsons, rapes, intimidations, etc have been reported across the city. On Monday 19th, the worst yet happened: there was a jailbreak, and from the videos circulating the online space, thousands of inmates may have been let into the wild. 

But my curiosity is: how did a peaceful protest meant to press home key demands for the betterment of our country degenerate to such a shameful anarchy? How did a federal correction facility meant to be fortified by humans and technology become so exposed to be broken into?

There is a painful irony that bares itself in all these occurrences, and it points to the fact that our systems which gulp billions of our budgets to maintain on a yearly basis are in real sense wobbly fortresses which break down when a little quake occurs. 

It should be noted that pockets of violence are normalities of purposeful and genuine struggles in every clime and time. Sure, we'll have anarchists among us who will lend themselves to be used by the oppressors to foil the struggle for a better life. But this won't deter us. We must run this race to the finishing line and touch the tape with our torsos. We move!