Sixteen innocent northerners—migrant hunters, fathers, sons and brothers—were brutally murdered and burned alive in Edo State. Their only “crime”? Traveling home to Kano for Sallah. This is barbaric, inhumane and utterly indefensible.

But let’s not pretend this happened in isolation. Our country has been poisoned by suspicion and mistrust, fueled in no small part by how the media irresponsibly frames crime and ethnicity. For too long, we have seen certain crimes ascribed to specific groups, entire communities demonized, and narratives twisted to fit divisive agendas. And now, here we are—where innocent people are targeted simply because of who they are or where they come from.

We must call out criminals as they are—not by their tribe or religion, but by their actions. A murderer is a murderer. A terrorist is a terrorist. Period. If our outrage is selective, if it is shaped by bias rather than justice, then we are complicit in the cycle of violence. Because when we allow ethnic profiling to dictate our perception of crime, honest people get caught in the crossfire—just like these 16 men who never made it home.

This must stop. We cannot continue down this path of tribal suspicion and collective punishment. Justice must be swift, and it must be blind to ethnicity or religion. Otherwise, today’s victims could be anyone tomorrow.

May Allah bless the souls of the innocent lives lost. May their killers face the full weight of justice. And may we, as a nation, find the courage to fight the real enemy: criminality, division, and those who profit from both.

 

helpedrahim Shehu Adamu is the Chief Operating Officer, Trust TV