by Morakinyo Babajide-Alabi
May I first apologise for my unusual long absence from writing in the past weeks. I must confess, I have been overwhelmed by events in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world in recent times. In my beloved Great Britain, there have been tears, blood and sorrow as aftermath of evil deeds perpetrated by equally evil minds.
It was not long ago that peace loving individuals of different faiths, colours and backgrounds, from all over the world were mourning the killing of innocent people in Manchester. They had gone out on the night to enjoy themselves, smile and spend precious moments with their loved ones. But the evil mind was at work and he succeeded in sniffing lives out of innocent people.
Every one was grieving and wondering how a few twisted individuals can make the world so unsafe. We were still getting used to the fact that looking over our shoulders every time we are out is now part of our lives. Many were yet to get over the fact that evil could be next door and could lose “it” anytime.
In the midst of these sobering moments, some individuals were meeting and thinking of how to get the world weeping again. In manner reminiscent of all attacks on innocent people all over the world, these individuals choosed prime time to inflict the maximum damage. This time around, evil moved down south to the ever bubbling and joyous city of London. The way and manner the attacks were planned and carried out brought to mind a similar one that happened a few weeks ago in the city.
It was a Saturday night when Londoners love to come out and celebrate the weekend. The London Bridge area is reputed to be a choice location for people looking to have nice time and enjoy the breeze of the city. However, these young men had other intentions of theirs. They were out to kill as many as they could possibly lay their “van and knives” on.
And within a few seconds of the attacks they had wrecked lives, damaged futures and sent innocent people to their early graves. I won’t bore you with the details, because it is really heart breaking. The most tortuous of the story of the night was the gentleman who had come to London with his girlfriend from France. They had dreams, they had hopes, they came to enjoy themselves, but unfortunately they fell into the “plan” of the evil terrorists. As at the time of writing this piece, a body was recovered from the Thames River. Although not yet identified to be that of the Frenchman, there are speculations this might be. The girlfriend is still on hospital admission recovering from injuries sustained during in these senseless attacks.
The identities of the three attackers have been revealed by the police. And this has set people in and outside talking. Not for anything but on how these three men had managed to escape the long arms of the law, despite all indications that they portend far more danger to the UK. Many people are disappointed in the country’s intelligence agencies. But we also have to understand that these men and women are working round the clock to beat these terrorists. We cannot imagine how many terrorists attacks must have been nipped in the bud and thereby saving innocent lives.
But to be frank, this is no excuse not to keep openly confessed terrorist such as Khuram Butt at bay. When I watched the documentary “The Jihadist Next Door” on Channel 4 sometime ago, my worry (at that time) was trying to see the relevance of the film to the situation around the world. I kept on asking myself why these men would come out and openly air their extreme views on public television. Were they craving notoriety or popularity?
While there is respect for individual opinions in Britain, people with extreme views such as Butt should have been caged a long time ago. This brings my thoughts to other individuals with extreme views that were literally walking the streets of UK until recently. An example was Anjem Choudary, who literally got away with “murder” by his hate preaching and “mentoring” young Muslim men and women to take up arms against the world. Thank goodness, he was eventually put behind the bar for a couple of years.
My heart goes to the family of the innocent people killed in the senseless attacks. So also I sympathise with the physically and emotionally wounded. In the midst of all these, we must come together as one and fight these evil people.
The resolve not to be defeated by these terrorist was demonstrated by the attendance at the Manchester Charity Concert put together by the international superstar Ariana Grande. Many people defied the possibility of attacks to identify with the world in solidarity for peace.
Here is hoping acts such as these will restore humanity in these evil terrorists attack who have been brainwashed to think they have to kill innocent people in the name of religion.
PHOTO CREDIT:- BBC NEWS