For Peregrino Brimah of Every Nigerian Do Something (ENDS) notoriety has really ended. It is the end of reason for Brimah as he strives in futility to re-acquire a relevance he never really had. His futile efforts at a time tales are being told about the Lion King, hyenas, jackals and other lower animals is a stark reminder that we have as a nation collectively ignored one category, the outcast level of the animal kingdom comprising of carrion eaters in the manner of vultures, which thrive only where there is death.
In his latest tirade at the incumbent administration, under a piece titled “Peregrino Brimah: Nass Should Review Buhari’s Boko Haram Amnesty for Possible Impeachment,” Brimah again wallowed in his fascination and pervert obsession with death, needless deaths if need be simply to satisfy his irreversible descent into a dark moral abyss without the hope of redemption.
Brimah’s angst is over the de-radicalization and rehabilitation of 43 surrendered Boko Haram members for which he wants the National Assembly to consider impeaching President Muhammadu Buhari. He specifically harped on amnesty not being granted to terrorists that have killed or raped. In the first instance, there was never any mention of amnesty when the surrendered Boko Haram members were transported to location where they would be deradicalized. A possible inference then is that Peregrino Brimah is in constant touch with Boko Haram members to have known what they confessed to, which would hardly be a surprise given his antecedents with the outlawed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN).
The dubiousness of his kicking against the deradicalization of those Boko Haram members that surrendered is best appreciated if one realizes that he is practically asking for the summary execution of the 43 persons and other persons that surrenders. This would be a recipe for unmanageable disaster since the counter-terrorism war has reached a stage where more is to be gained from radicalized members turning themselves in than them being killed during military operations. Massive intelligence could be garnered in the course of processing and profiling the former Boko Haram members.
Since they gave themselves up alive and having been profiled, the military authorities must have had the benefit of information to know that was the best line of action. If these persons were put on trial it would not have been surprising if Brimah had led protests as he did for IMN to allege that their rights were being trampled. He therefore only wants the execution of those that surrendered because he wants a new avenue to accuse the military and the Nigerian government of committing human rights related crimes.
Ironically, this same character will hail the same approach if it were adopted by another country. He would have touted it as the best thing to have happened since the creation stories. He however wants the Nigerian government to kill these Boko Haram members so that he can feast over their corpses like a vulture by using them as his latest props in the quest for relevance. He had similarly egged radicalized IMN youths on suicide mission only to become strident about why they died in a military operation to contain their attacks on the state. It is confounding that the same man that accused the government of high handedness is today accusing it of being soft handed.
The confused state of his reasoning must however be assessed from the correct perspective that makes it possible to appreciate the state of his tormented soul. Deep in his heart, which is wracked by survivor’s syndrome that makes him feel bad for pushing those poor IMN members to their death while he survived, Brimah carries the burden of knowing he should be in jail for “aiding and abetting ” an outlawed militarized group that terrorizes citizens.
As for the National Assembly, the nation has more pressing issues than pandering to the inanities of a man who is desperate to have his sins forgiven to a point where he thinks the impeachment of a president automatically makes his crimes go away. Federal lawmakers must therefore resist the invitation to make themselves into laughingstock by questioning one Nigeria’s approach to counter-terrorism, which has earned the Army international accolades. If they as much as raise questions along the lines suggested by Brimah many of them can be rest assured that their constituents will sack them at the polls for frustrating efforts at ridding Nigeria of terrorism.
One must however appeal to the Federal Government to be magnanimous in recognizing that Peregrino Brimah’s tirade may not imply belligerence, it might have had such intent in the past but his addiction to self-worship has left him a broken man in need of a new fix. Rather, his recent rantings must be seen for what they are, the cry of a tormented person pleading to be granted amnesty for all his evils against the land when he actively aided and abetted an extremist group to unleash terror on Nigerians. Fortunately, he has researched the procedure for granting amnesty, which the government can follow to grant him the one thing that he passionately craves to the point of being troubled.
Abiodun writes from Ibadan, Oyo State.
