With the violence and killings in the South East attaining an unprecedented dimension in recent weeks, Elders in the region have been speaking. Gboyega Alaka, Nwanosike Onu (Awka); Damian Duruiheoma (Enugu) and Chris Njoku, (Owerri) report.
The insecurity and tension in the South East of Nigeria took an unprecedented turn last Sunday when unknown gunmen reportedly hacked down a pregnant woman and her four children in Isulo, Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The woman, Harira Jubril and her children: Fatima, 9; Khadijah, 7; Hadiza, 5 and Zaituna, 2, were found in a pool of their blood, having been riddled by bullets by unknown gunmen suspected to be of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). It was said that the bike man who conveyed them escaped death by the whiskers.
It was the most horrid of the horrid news emanating from that region in recent months.
That same Sunday, five other motorcycle riders were also reportedly killed and their bikes burnt in Onocha Local Government Area of the state. Four of the bodies were recovered and deposited in a morgue, while the fifth was burnt to ashes.
Another man, identified as Abdullahi, who sold suya (roasted meat) by the roadside at Nnanka, was also killed at his suya spot, his body left by the roadside that Sunday evening.
All victims were of Northern Nigeria extraction, further aggravating the tension.
Leader of the Hausa community in Orunba North Local Government, Sa’id Muhammad, who decried the unprovoked killings, said Abdullahi’s body was left at the roadside until Monday afternoon, when the police went to evacuate it, due to the IPOB sit-at-home order.
In fairness, the killing has not been limited to Northerners, as more people of Igbo extraction have been victims.
A few days earlier, the rampaging murderers had beheaded an Anambra State House of Assembly lawmaker, Okechukwu Okoye, and thrown his decapitated head in a park Nnobi road, Nnewi South Local Government Area, where the police found it.
Okoye and his aide had gone missing on May 15, with anxiety heightening, as the days went by. A thoroughly embarrassed Governor Charles Soludo, has promised a reward of N10million for anyone who could provide useful information on the killers.
The recent killings were coming on the heels of the beheading of a soldier couple, Gloria Matthew and Linus Audu in Imo State, said to be on their way to performing the traditional rites preparatory to their wedding.
Gory video
This is not to forget the horror video, which has circulated for a while on the social media, where a naked woman’s head was severed after her nude body had been paraded in a humiliating manner. In the background in that same video, were lifeless beheaded bodies of a number of other men lying in shallow graves. The perpetrators were speaking Igbo language and heavy Igbo accented English. No one has publicly identified or traced the origin of the video, but many believe it is one of the horror killings being perpetrated in the Southeast.
Police stations have also been serially attacked, alongside traditional rulers. One cannot forgot in a hurry the murder of two traditional rulers in Imo late last year.
In Anambra, where the recent killings took place, the people are already apprehensive and appear largely caged. As a preliminary measure, Governor Soludo has imposed a dawn to dusk curfew, restricting movement in eight local governments in the state, namely: Aguata, Ekwusigo, Ihiala, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Orumba North, Orumba South and Ogbaru.
This, of course, is complicating an already restricted people, who have for nearly a year, not been able to go out on Mondays. The governor also placed a ban on motorcycles, tricycles, shuttle buses on Monday sit-at-homes until further notice.
Our correspondent in Anambra, reports that the situation is such that the people now literally sleep without closing their eyes.
Genesis
Remarkably, the Southeast was not always like this. Reports from a survey by The Nation’s Southeast correspondents suggest that most respondents in the region, cited the rampant attacks on indigenes of the region by men of the Fulani extraction of Northern Nigeria and the seeming inaction of the people in authority, especially the Federal Government and the governors, as the root cause of the violence.
They also cited how the Southwest region responded to the same challenge with Amotekun, while their own governors waited until forever before coming up with a feeble attempt, which they tagged Ebubeagu.
They said it was as a result of this, that IPOB came up with the Eastern Security Network (ESN), its paramilitary wing, which, expectedly was well received by a beleaguered people.
Unfortunately the arrest of the IPOB leader, Kanu, seemed to have derailed the focus of the group, as it literally went berserk, starting with its attempt to enforce the Monday sit-at-home order initiated to press for Kanu’s release.
Although our Enugu correspondent reports that the state has been generally peaceful, he nevertheless reported that there have been attacks on security agents at checkpoints and stations.
President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Professor Obiozor traced the genesis of the violence in the region to attack on the Owerri Correctional Centre on April 5, 2021, where 1844 inmates were set free by unknown gunmen.
He said, “Since then, South East has been in a macabre dalliance with siege, atrocities, abominations, arson, all forms of violence and to the worst of the extremes- killing of human beings.”
He lamented how “burning of buildings, police stations, killing of human beings and kidnapping have become the order of the day in the region and wondered what benefits such savagery is expected to serve in the quest for self-determination.”
Obiozor also lamented the seeming incapability of the security agencies at handling this situation.
“Sometimes, we begin to wonder whether the local non-state actors have the strategic capacity to overwhelm the well-fortified correctional centres, police stations, etc or the benefits one stands to derive from such savagery.”
Conspiracy of silence
Many have ascribed the heightened insecurity to the conspiracy of silence, which they claim greeted the violence in its early stages. They argued that if the powerful and influential voices had spoken up against the trend or taken action against it, it would not have got to the hydra-headed level it is now.
Vice President of Ohaneze Ndigbo (Southeast), Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, while proffering the way out, called on the government to look into the agitations of the youths, which he said bordered around a perceived marginalisation of Ndigbo by the Federal Government.
He advised the government to “sit down with the stakeholders from the region and other eggheads in the country to address the issues, including the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
He said the people do not want and can indeed not afford another war, noting that many homes are yet to fully recover from the effect s of the last civil war over 50 years after. He stressed that “We the elders will continue to preach peace and dialogue to end the insecurity challenges in our land and hope those at the centre will listen to the pleas.”
Okeke-Ogene, however, pleaded with the agitators to sheathe their sword and allow peace to reign.
Nze Modestus Umenzekwe, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress and an Igbo leader in Anambra told The Nation that Governor Soludo should look inwards by engaging the youths to find out the real issues behind the agitations, adding that the use of force cannot solve it.
Notably, Umenzekwe said a middle ground should be sought in the matter of the touts who were stopped from collecting money at the parks, stressing that this could be part of the remedy they seek.
A former Special Assistant to former Governor Willie Obiano, Comrade Obi Ochije said the agitators should embrace dialogue. He said the sit-at-home introduced by the IPOB has collapsed the economy of Ndigbo.
He also said the only way to stop the insecurity is for the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu.
Violence not the way out
In Imo, the widespread opinion is that political bandits have held the Southeast by the jugular and are throwing the region into a state of emergency.
Renowned media professional and chieftain of the APC in Imo State, Chief Alan Onyemaechi, alleged a plot by political bandits to plunge the state into a state of emergency through the engagement of criminal elements who are perpetrating terrorism in the state and the Southeast region in general.
He argued that those pushing for an end to Igbo marginalisation and for the actualisation of a State of Biafra through acts of terrorism are only living in a world of fantasy, stressing that killing and destruction of property cannot bring their agitation to fruition.
He said hiding under the guise of freedom fighting to perpetrate mayhem in the region will only compound the problem of the detained IPOB leader.
He stated: “Orlu has become a theatre of IPOB with lives and properties belonging to APC members being destroyed daily and so it is not out of place to accuse political opponents of Governor Hope Uzodimma of being responsible for this. They want the crisis to continue unabated, so as to frustrate the governor, possibly see a state of emergency in this state”.
He however backed the agitation for an Igbo president, saying it would go a long way in soothing nerves and ending the agitation of IPOB.
A traditional ruler, who pleaded anonymity, said the killing in Orlu has become unprecedented. He said the beheading of fellow human is not only inhuman but against the culture of Ndigbo.
“Igbo culture abhors the shedding of human blood. It is a sacrilege, abomination for a man to split another’s blood,” he said.
He called on those responsible to desist, adding that “what goes around comes around.”
President of Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth Council, Comrade Igboayaka, said the first step to peace would be the release of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, stressing that he would be able to identify and fish out those behind the unwholesome acts. He opined that people that are perpetuating this crime are not IPOB or ESN.
“ESN was established to fight crime not to commit crime.”
President general of Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, Goodluck Ibem, described the killings as unfortunate, adding that hoodlums want to turn Igboland into a killing field.
He said “No sane society will accept such acts of wickedness perpetuated by these criminals. Something urgent needs to be done to stop these ugly incidents in our land.
“The perpetrators and sponsors of the vicious attacks in South East want to scare investors from coming to invest and want to destroy all businesses in Igboland. These criminals are fully aware of the consequences of their actions and they are fully committed to perpetuate the evil.”
He therefore clamoured for “all stakeholders, businessmen and women, youths, traditional rulers, and all those who have the interest of their home at heart to rise up and defend their homes and communities. We must rise up in unity to defend our land against terrorists and cannibals.”
Satan on the prowl
In a statement titled: ‘Satan on the prowl in Igbo land’, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Dr. Alex Chidozie Alex condemned the incessant killings, saying ” The Igbo culture strongly abhors killing of mankind, no matter the circumstance.”
“Amongst the Igbo, the killing of a human being is an abomination which attracts heavy sanctions, including ostracism for a stipulated number of years. If the ostracised dies before the expiration of the sanction period, the corpse is condemned to an evil forest or will not be accorded a befitting burial.”
He said even the Christian religion, which the Igbo have largely bought into, frowns at killing, and concluded that “We are at a loss over the ugly development in Igbo land.”
Former governor of Enugu State, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, stated that the absence of sincere dialogue with the young people is a major fuel for the insecurity.
“The young people, apart from having no jobs, also feel extremely marginalised in a country of their own. The country offers them no hope and they accuse us their leaders of having failed them.
“So, they want self-help and we have to work very hard to convince them that self-help cannot take them anywhere and will only bring federal action.”
Way out by Ohaneze
Ohanaeze has, however, insisted that the solution to the current crisis is for all the community vigilantes, youths, community leaders, traditional rulers and all well-meaning Igbo to rise to the occasion in collaboration with the security agencies to wipe out the ugly trend.
“The only option available to us is to resolve among ourselves to stop the insecurity. Everybody should gear up because if the situation is allowed to continue, evidently, all of us are in trouble.
“Even if you bring military troops in Southeast, it will rather aggravate the already bad situation. All we need to do is just hold a meeting at our various units and understand that we are undoing ourselves. What we’re doing is to the detriment to the Igbo nation.
“Again, instead of the presidency sending military troops to the Southeast, one policy statement alone can turn around agony to jubilation.
“An instance is if the president announces now that the presidency of 2023 will come to Igboland, all these things will end. All these things are signs of agitation no matter how you look at it”, Ogbonnia said.
Former Governor Nwodo stated: “We need negotiation and that is where we have come repeatedly to the federal government, appealing that they negotiate with our youths.”
Nwodo insisted that the problems were not insurmountable, adding that the country had the capacity to address the problems being faced by the youths of the region.
He recalled that the federal government successfully solved the problem of the Southsouth during President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration and the success story of the engagement with the Southwest after the annulment of the election when the country decided to pick the next president from the Southwest.
He said, “I believe that if the federal government decides to dialogue with the young people in the Southeast, and the government there and entrepreneurs can create jobs for the youths, there will be peace there”
A former local government chairman in Enugu State and public affairs analyst, Barr Ray Nnaji called on the governors to deploy the use of intelligence in rural areas to unravel the perpetrators.
He said, “If you’re pressure groups, you don’t need to destroy for you to achieve your results. Destruction has never given any good results anywhere.
“Our governors must deploy more intelligence to unravel the people behind the attacks. There are brains behind all these things. Government should dialogue with them to find out what their grouse is.
“There must be reasons for doing this and find a way to checkmate those reasons by attempting to solve them even if not 100 percent.
“An overtly militarised response to violence has not resolved Nigeria’s security challenges. The use of force may lead to the arrest and killing of criminals and stop their logistics and enablers, but won’t remove the underlying drivers of violence. These include generalised feelings of alienation, widespread youth unemployment, perceived political marginalisation, and repressive responses by state forces”.
According to Portable’s sister Aminat Okikiola, a petty trader, who runs a groceries store in Oke-Osa area of Iyana Ilogbo, Ado-odo/Otta Local Government Area of Ogun State, where the singer grew up, Habeeb (Portable) started showing traits of his singing talents right from childhood, before their mother died and she took up his upbringing.
