South-east Govs’ Silence in the Face of Insurgency

Notes for File

With the incessant killing of innocent citizens and security agents in the South-east, the region is no doubt heading to a full blown insurgency.

Despite this tragedy that has befallen the South-east, the governors and other political leaders of this region have continued to play the ostrich, with some of them claiming in the media that their states are most peaceful.

The South-east governors have failed their people in the area of providing security. The excuse that they are not in control of security agencies is unacceptable.

A few days ago, attacks on a cattle market in Abia State left no fewer than seven people dead. At the same time, police stations and checkpoints from Enugu to Anambra to Ebonyi to Imo, all recorded attacks with many casualties.

A few days ago, Justice Rita Pemu of the Court of Appeal, Owerri escaped death by the whiskers in the hands of these gunmen.

Last week, a renowned industrialist from Nnewi in Anambra State, Chief Gab Ofoma had his life cut short by these beasts. As Enugu was celebrating its most peaceful state toga, no fewer than five people were said to have been killed in Nkanu West Local Government Area during an ordinary local government election in the state.

On a daily basis, the social media records different experiences of innocent people in the hands of gunmen.

The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) had since ordered the suspension of Monday’s sit-at-home directive. The group has also denied being responsible for the series of attacks and the enforcement of the non-existent sit-at-home.

But the governors who planted their loyalists in all the wards and local government areas as chairmen and councillors, have failed to deploy these grassroots leaders to unravel the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.

It is a shame to the governors that schools no longer open on Mondays in the South-east.

Even most police stations, particularly those outside the major cities have surrendered to these gunmen as their officers and men are no longer visible on Mondays.

This handshake has since gone beyond the elbow and the political leaders should stop their fixation on inordinate ambitions in 2023. The people that elected them deserve to live and their businesses deserve to be protected.