“Those who do you wrong will eventually face their karma”-kushandwizdom.

For the people of my native Kano, particularly the residents of Dorayi, in the outskirts of the old Kano city, the word peace of mind had long vacated their vicinity. They are struggling to recover from the state of despondency, which was visited on them by some ruthless gunmen, who broke into a house in the neighbourhood, and gruesomely killed a woman and her six children, on Saturday, last Saturday. The anguish left everyone with a conscience, overwhelmingly distressed.

The perpetrators of the unexplained and clearly worrisome crime might have thought of getting away with it, but that is only because, perhaps for reasons of bad upbringing, they were unaware of the submission of Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Roman Stoic philosopher, tutor, statesman, and dramatist, who said, “every guilty person is his own hangman”. And indeed, as promised by karma, they have been apprehended by the executioner, who would stand firm for their hanging, or insist on their being condemned for life.

The police in Kano, pursuant to the commendable efforts of CP Ibrahim Bakori, acting on the directive of IGP Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector-General of police, have arrested them. Karma has demonstrated its keenness for justice.

The speed with which the arrests were made is indeed praiseworthy, but the shocker is in the identity of the principal perpetrator of the horrific act, who turns out to be the nephew of the deceased. By our cultural African setting, a nephew, who is the son of your brother or sister, is considered as your own child. It is unimaginable, that such a close relative could be so merciless as to murder you.

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It is not only cruel or brutal, but barbarically outside our society’s standards of acceptable moral behaviour. Like karma, Kushandwizdom, the popular online brand that has made a name for sharing inspirational and thought-provoking quotes about life, love and relationships, said, “Those who do you wrong will eventually face their karma”.

And in compliance with the keenness of karma, which states that, the energy we put into an action will eventually find its way back to us in some form, the police carried out discreet intelligence-led operation, under the supervision of CP Ibrahim Bakori, the Kano state commissioner of police, and their findings unravelled one Umar Auwalu, who is the nephew of the deceased woman, as the ring-leader of the crime.

According to the police spokesperson, Auwalu has openly confessed to the crime, alongside similar ones that were carried out in the past. That is in conformity with the position of karma. “Before you act, you have freedom, but after you act, the effect of that action will follow you, whether you want it to or not. So said the law of karma.” — Paramahansa Yogananda.

“They entered the house of the deceased, slaughtered the mother and six children, including an infant child that was dumped in a well.”- Isiyaka Yakubu, the neighbour of the deceased. “Auwalu admitted that the group had carried out previous killings, including the murder and burning of two housewives at Tudun Yola Quarters in Kano.”-police spokesperson, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa.

Umar Auwalu, a 23-year-old and nephew to the late mother of six, acted with some accomplices, who were also apprehended. Among the arrested are Isyaku Yakubu, otherwise called ‘Chebe’, 40 years old, and Yakubu Abdulaziz, alias ‘Wawo’, 21 years old. Beyond the sinfulness of murder and its repulsion by every religion, the crime of murder is exceptionally immoral, because it generally hurts a lot more people than the person who has been murdered.

Families, dependents, businesses, and the entire environment are negatively affected. Murder makes society worse off by sowing the seed of distrust and suspicion amongst strangers. For a friendly state like Kano, where strangers are accorded uncommon acceptance, crimes like these have the potential of destabilising the social settings of the state.

The people must stand up against it, and the police, particularly the indefatigable CP Ibrahim Bakori, must be commended and applauded for a job well done. To the criminals, who think they can kill and get away with it, they need to be reminded about the keenness of Karma. “Those who do you wrong will eventually face their karma.”