By Isaac Ojo
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, a human rights lawyer and commentator on national issues, Barr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor (Dunu-Ezeugosinachi), has raised the alarm over increasing cases of political violence across the country.
Ejiofor said incidents that may presently appear as isolated skirmishes, billboard controversies and clashes between rival supporters could, if left unchecked, develop into a far more dangerous national phenomenon.
He said recent reported incidents in parts of the country should be viewed as red flags capable of marring the 2027 general elections.
“Political billboards are not worth human blood. Political parties are not worth the destruction of friendships, communities or lives. No candidate, however beloved, should become the reason one Nigerian raises a weapon against another Nigerian.
“The tragedy is that the youths who are most frequently recruited into these confrontations are often the very citizens bearing the heaviest consequences of unemployment, insecurity and poor governance. Yet, for a token payment or the fleeting satisfaction of defending a politician, some willingly become instruments of violence.
“There is an old wisdom that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. In our political ecosystem, however, there is an even more painful irony: the elephants often return to the dining table, while the grass is left to count its wounds,” he asserted.
Ejiofor insisted that a politician who sends a young man into a street fight is unlikely to stand beside him when the police arrive at the scene. He added that the same youth may discover that his political benefactor has developed the remarkable ability to forget the names of those who fought his battles.
He warned youths against what he described as “a curious political investment: sacrifice your life for another man’s ambition and receive neither a dividend nor a guarantee.”
