“Stop it” Femi said now obviously enraged “i am warning you for the last time..” “you dey vex me” Tunde retorted, “give me the Fifty Naira i wan enter bus” he said again. Now the atmosphere was looking tense and people were beginning to gather. Femi pushed Tunde and an alteracation ensued. within minutes Tunde had femi lying on his back. He threw a punch right to his neck and that obiously broke his cervical. Femi lied on the school steps and didnt seem to move, he gasped for breath a few times and slowly lost consciousness. All this while, Tunde hitherto feeling victorious was beginnin to understand that he might have just murdered a human, his eyes which only seconds ago were blood shot was now very snow white and his initial seemingly angry face was now washed away in an vast ocean of intense fear. Femi was rushed to the hospital and was immediately pronounced dead. Tunde Murdered him! and over what, Fifty bucks.
Altercations are now becoming an everyday affair., In the bus, at the park, in our homes, people fight each others for different irrational reasons. Friends fight for girls, brothere fight for money, Muslims fight the Christains simply to prove points as to whose religion his superior, wives fight their husbands for kitchen allowances and even members of our Parliament fight for pieces of the Natiional Cake. One thing underlies all the various fights, someone or a group of people get hurt. Somone looses out, someone dies, some one cry and someone suffers tremendously.
Fighting shows the moral weakness in humans. The erosion of our inhumanity, the absence of our basic values of respect, dignity amd love. Fighting one another however genuine the reason is a reflection of our inability to appeal to rationality in settling dispute and most especially, fighting occasioning death of a person is way costly for the assailant than the victim as he both as to come with terms with the fact that he murdered a human and that he is bound to be hanged for the heinous crime he committed. The Nigerian courts have encountered many cases of murders which stemmed for mere altercations.
Should one be accussed of culpable homicide (murder or manslaughter) which arises as a result of a fight, it is not a defence that the accussed did not intend to kill the victim as he only landed a blow on his face. Once the law can impute an intention to cause grevious bodily harm, woe betides the accussed! it is probably not the best defence that the victim was fragile, pale or sick which contributed to his death. Take your victim as you find him.
In a nutshell, the consequences of altercations are severe and avoidance is so soothing and inexpensive. As we go about life’s activities, we would find people who would annoy, irritate or probably dare us. We would get into terribly hot arguements. We would find ourselves in infuriating circumstances with everyone convincing us that giving a physical fight would now be unavoidable in order to maintain one’s swag and ‘your reputation has been dragged into the mud’ they would say. But hey, hold on, take a very deep breath and just as you form that terrible Mike tyson’s sized fist, ask youself one quick question ‘is throwing that punch even worth it?’
