And the Senator's son died [Pulse Editor's Opinion]

On Sunday, August 29, 2021, 36-year-old Abdulkareem Na' Allah was chilling in his gated residence in the pristine Malali GRA neighborhood of Kaduna, when gunmen slipped through the roof behind the house, shattered the ceiling, tied him up and strangled him to death.

Abdulkareem, a professional Pilot, was the eldest son of Senator Bala Ibn Na'Allah, the 54-year-old lawmaker who currently represents Kebbi South in the upper legislative chamber.

"We express the hope that my son's death will play a major role in finding solutions to the problem facing our great nation," the lawmaker said afterwards, tears cascading down his face and through every orifice of his body.

Senator Na'Allah's submission reminded one of President Buhari's remarks after the fortress that is the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), was laid bare and ransacked by terrorists.

"The heinous action would accelerate the total uprooting of evil in the polity, which members of the Armed Forces are solidly resolved to accomplish in the shortest possible time," the president thundered from the safety and comfort of his Aso Rock cocoon.

President Muhammadu Buhari. (Guardian) Pulse Nigeria

The tragedy that befell the Na'Allahs last week, is the daily, lived experience of millions of ordinary Nigerians.

Nigeria has never been more unsafe, more poorly governed. Today, it is a norm for school pupils and students to be plucked from their classrooms by terrorists and murdered in cold blood.

Today, only the very brave embark on road trips. Those who can't afford air travel, just stay where they are.

Our economy is suffering so badly because bandits, insurgents and kidnappers now lie in wait in every corner, to pounce and kill.

People are afraid to move around Nigeria to buy and sell. Tourism is dead and the Naira is in the mud due to the blanket of insecurity that has enveloped the nation.

Each passing day, Nigerians are murdered and their corpses tossed into surrounding bushes like they are some insects.

Africa's most populous nation has morphed into one huge killing field.

The attack on the defence academy, for instance, has been described as a national embarrassment, another chink in Nigeria's national security armour and a threat to the nation's territorial integrity.

My heart and condolences go out to the Ibn Na'Allah family. May Abdulkareem's soul rest in peace. If anything, this should remind the low, high and mighty in our society that no one is safe and that securing this country is now a national emergency.

It is the senator's son today. It could well be anyone's son tomorrow.

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You can interact with the writer on Twitter via @egbas.

*Pulse Editor's Opinion is the viewpoint of an Editor at Pulse. It does not represent the opinion of the Organisation Pulse.