By: West Africa Desk | For Historical Documentation & Advocacy Archives of Ndi Igbo and Marginalized Nigerians
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ABUJA, NIGERIA — July 2025
As Nigeria mourns the death of Muhammadu Buhari, aged 82, a fierce countercurrent grows louder: those whose families were maimed, displaced, or murdered under his regime are not mourning — they are demanding justice.
Buhari’s presidency (2015–2023) is praised by allies for infrastructure and anti-corruption, but in the streets of Nimbo, the farmlands of Agatu, the silence of Lekki Toll Gate, and the blood-soaked compounds of Zaria, a different legacy persists — one of terror, ethnic bias, and unhealed trauma.
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Military Campaigns or Ethnic Warfare?
Operation Python Dance / Crocodile Smile (2016–2020)
Under Buhari, the military launched campaigns like Python Dance (targeted at the South-East) and Crocodile Smile (targeted at the Niger Delta).
In 2017, Abia State witnessed military invasion in Umuahia and Aba — areas densely populated by Ndi Igbo.
Videos and eyewitness accounts documented torture, killings, and arbitrary arrests of IPOB sympathizers.
No military officer has been prosecuted to date.
These operations marked a chilling return to the kind of state-sponsored violence that echoes Nigeria’s darkest civil war memories.
Zaria Massacre (2015)
The Nigerian Army killed over 350 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, including children.
Mass graves were later confirmed by Amnesty International.
Till his death, Buhari neither acknowledged wrongdoing nor sanctioned any official.
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The Lekki Toll Gate Massacre (October 20, 2020)
Perhaps the most iconic moment of Buhari’s rule:
Unarmed #EndSARS protesters, many from the South, singing the national anthem, were shot at by the Nigerian Army.
At least 12 confirmed dead, with survivors like Emeka, an amputee from Anambra, still crying for justice:
> “I need justice. That way all this wouldn’t have been in vain.”
A judicial panel confirmed state culpability, but no one was punished.
Let the record show: the Nigerian state killed its youth, and Buhari remained unmoved.
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⚔️ Ethnic Massacres Ignored — From Enugu to Plateau
The Nimbo Massacre (Enugu, 2016)
40 farmers hacked to death by Fulani herdsmen in just hours.
Intelligence reports had warned in advance, but the attack was not prevented.
No arrests. No investigation. No justice.
Plateau & Southern Kaduna (2023 Christmas Massacre)
Over 200 Christians murdered in coordinated attacks across Barkin Ladi and Bokkos LGAs.
Thousands displaced. Federal response was silence.
Agatu & Taraba (2016–2019)
Dozens of villages razed. Survivors described the attacks as “slaughter like animals”.
Again: no national mourning, no arrests, no tribunals.
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️♂️ Pattern of Protection and Impunity
Fulani Herdsmen, ranked 4th deadliest terror group in the world by the Global Terrorism Index, were never labeled terrorists by Buhari’s government.
The RUGA settlement proposal, viewed as an attempt to forcefully acquire land for herdsmen, sparked outrage across Igbo, Tiv, and Southern communities.
Bandit attacks in Zamfara, Katsina, and Kaduna were met with “dialogue and appeasement,” while Southern protesters were jailed, banned, or shot.
> “The three promises Buhari made — security, economy, anti-corruption — are still the issues bedeviling Nigeria today.”
— Bulama Bukarti, Conflict Analyst
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⚖️ Memory vs. Whitewashing: Why Documentation Matters
Since Buhari’s death, the northern political elite has focused on eulogies, ignoring the atrocities.
State-controlled media have avoided naming Nimbo, Lekki, Agatu, or Zaria.
Judicial panels from Lekki to Plateau submitted damning reports — but none were implemented.
We must not forget. Ndi Igbo and allied communities must archive every death, every statement, every unanswered cry. Our stories must populate books, documentaries, editorials, and UN petitions — not just tweets and hashtags.
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茶 Conclusion: History Will Record, Even if Nigeria Won’t
Muhammadu Buhari’s death does not cleanse his record.
His rule represents a cautionary tale of militarized governance, ethnic favoritism, and broken promises. It is up to us — the journalists, the communities, the witnesses — to ensure this history is not rewritten by state handlers.
For the mothers of Nimbo, the widows of Lekki, the children of Zaria, and the farmers of Agatu — this article stands as evidence.
Let this be archived, translated, printed, filmed, quoted, remembered.
Because Nigeria may forget. But we must not.
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Sources for Documentation & Archiving:
Amnesty International: Nigeria Reports (2015–2022)
Judicial Panel Reports on EndSARS and Shiite Massacre
Global Terrorism Index (2021–2024)
Eyewitness testimonies from victims and survivors (publicly documented)
Nigerian Human Rights Commission Reports
