A fellow activist in the field of research, development, education and community health volunteerism once told me something during a discussion we were having in his Abuja resident on the trafficking, proliferation and used of small arms within a country such as in Nigerian context. He said “Monday, the truth is that it may not be out of place to say that at least over 2.5 million illegal small arms and light weapons could be in circulation in Nigeria today,” I didn’t believe him and never even wanted to count that statement as reality since then, until recently when with my two eyes I saw and beheld the wanton waste caused by hoodlums and furious unemployed youth/adult, who used all forms of illicit and sophisticated small arms and light weapons in carrying out the merciless and brutal killings, maiming and destruction of life-time properties through violent conflict that befell the calm city of Jos in November 28 2008.

This is what I called the flood of human blood and tears in Jos—-after the curfew for the elections was lifted at about 4.pm on Thursday, everyone left for their homes to await the announcement of results, which never came till the following Friday morning: 28th day of November, 2008 when all of a sudden, children, women, youth and men – all manner and everybody was running out of their homes to the main-road of Tudun Wada, the area I reside in Jos. By the time I followed suit to the road, I discovered the atmosphere was already tensed, “the September ninth 2001 thing has started up again” I whispered within me. And a little while, news came in that a place of worship was set ablazed at a location afar off where I was. Before I knew it, my area also was surrounded by smoke on all sides – dark undoubtedly black smoke rose up strongly, which later mixed up with white smoke. Houses were on fire; tires were also brought to the road and set on fire.

As if that was not enough, I saw persons coming in gangs and Clusters, armed with cutlasses, self-loading pistols, Dane guns, heavy sticks, arrows and bows locally made pistols and assaulted rifles, local bombs made from petrol canned in bottles and all manner! And for the defenseless ones, we kept running from edge to edge. I finally ran into a hospital close by, where my project, Youth Education and Leadership Forum (YELF) is situated. There I watched the remaining story as it unfolded bit by bit. It was already 12 noon and I started seeing the realism of my friend’s statement… people being cut on their heads, chest, legs and those shot with gun were rushed to the hospital with blood gushing out forcefully. Their blood (from injuries sustained) and the tears from the relatives that brought them mixed together and flowed down through the hospital pedestrian stair cases into the abyss, like a river of water. It was really terrible!