The persistent insecurity in the South-East region has been attributed to the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu; the evil activities of Fulani herdsmen; bad leadership on the part of the governors and the marginalisation of the region by the Federal Government......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
Some of those who commented on the situation included General Ijioma Ijioma (retd); a senior lawyer, Mike Ahamba, SAN; a chieftain of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prince Richard Ozobu, among others.
Ijioma in his comment, blamed the lingering insecurity on leadership failure, greed and misplacement of priorities by the governors.
The retired General accused South-East governors of being in power with the wrong motives and not for selfless sacrifice to the people. He regretted that the governors collect humongous sums as security votes but failed to adequately deploy them for that purpose.
“Is there any governor that is not collecting security votes every month? What are they doing with it? Some of them collect up to N1 billion a month as a security vote. What are they doing with it? Why should they turn around and start complaining after collecting such an amount?
“I want to ask them: Why should a stranger know your forests more than the locals? So, the failure of the governors to appropriately deploy their security votes is a problem. They should also deploy other resources at their disposal.”
Ijioma also identified a lack of security architecture and intelligence gathering as part of the reasons insecurity has refused to abate in the South East.
Ijioma submitted that the continued detention of the leader of IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is among the factors fuelling insecurity in the region, but he noted that Kanu’s release without sincere commitment on the part of the governors to positively engage the youths would not proffer the needed solution.
Dig deep to find out why
A senior lawyer, Mike Ahamba, SAN, said security agencies should dig deep to find out why the insecurity persists in the region.
He said: “How will I know? I don’t know; let the security people put more effort. They should put their noses on the ground and smell the ground and they will know what is happening.
“I am not in a position to know. The governors should improve their security network and find out those behind this insecurity.”
Activities of separatists, cult groups
A community leader in Isiagu in Awka South council area, Mr. Ndubuisi Okeke also attributed the unending insecurity crisis to the activities of evil-intended separatists and cult groups.
Okeke said: “The problem of insecurity heightened during the period the leader of IPoB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu held sway and his subsequent arrest and detention.
“Many youths were indoctrinated to see Nigerian security operatives and some prominent Igbo people as enemies. It was during this period that many police stations and other public infrastructure were damaged.
“Added to this is the growing rate of cultism in many communities where youths have identified themselves with the dreaded cult groups who have formed the habit of eliminating their rival groups.
“Another cause of insecurity is the menace of the Fulani herdsmen who have swarmed many communities with their cows where many of them kidnap the local people and demand ransom, rape women and destroy crops.”
Economic distress, social discontent
In his view, renowned pharmacist and former chairman, of Nigeria Economic Summit, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, identified economic distress, social discontent and the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, as the major reasons insecurity persists in the South-East geo-political zone
He called on the Federal Government to quickly address the causative factors if truly it were genuinely committed to restoring peace to the zone.
In his contribution, a former security chief at Exxon Mobil, Sam Otoboeze, identified youth empowerment, the election of people of integrity into leadership positions as well as quality representation and development of key infrastructure as a panacea for the insecurity in the South East.
Unmask unknown gunmen
Adding his voice, President of Ogbako Ndigbo Worldwide, Ambassador Azunna Akpelu, urged the security agencies to sincerely unmask the so-called unknown gunmen in the region, saying that would help in tackling the security crisis.
In his opinion, the President of the Coalition of South East Youths, Goodluck Ibem attributed the persistent security crisis to youth unemployment and lack of empowerment by South East Governors.
He said: “There is this issue of politicians who empower the youths with weapons to rig elections for them. After that, they leave these weapons in the hands of the youths who later use the weapons to carry out evil acts. They engage in all forms of criminality. They use it to help themselves.
A chieftain of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prince Richard Ozobu said insecurity in the zone is mostly caused by the inability of the South East political office-holders to use the resources accruing to the zone to develop the area and make life more meaningful to the people.
He stated that the people are angry that political office-holders are living in affluence while the people they represent wallow in abject poverty and lack the necessities of life.
Ozobu insisted that if the people of the South-East could begin to hold their political office-holders accountable, the high rate of insecurity and insensitivity to community development would be highly reduced.