RESTORING ORDER IN THE SOUTHEAST  

All major stakeholders should join forces to restore peace in the zone

Last Thursday in Enugu, all the governors of the five Southeast states met to discuss the security situation in the region. It was the first time Alex Otti (Abia), Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra), Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Peter Mbah (Enugu), and Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi) would be meeting after the 2023 general election. That all were in attendance is an indication that the current governors in the zone are serious about tackling the challenge that has almost ruined lives and livelihoods in the zone. We commend their efforts while urging the federal government and other stakeholders to join in the bid to restore law and order in the Southeast.  

In the past three years, the security picture in the Southeast has been very troubling. Hoodlums masquerading as ‘unknown gunmen’ have killed hundreds of people, including personnel of the army, police civil defence and civilians. Dozens of these innocent victims were summarily executed on the street by those the governors have declared criminals who should face the full wrath of the law. “The Forum firmly resolved to fight insecurity decisively in the region individually and collectively, in partnership with the federal government and other stakeholders,” said Uzodinma, the Forum chairman who read their communique. “We wish to state categorically that the perpetrators of the insecurity in our region and their sponsors are criminals and should not be seen as legitimate agitators. Therefore, upon arrest, they should be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the land.”  

We endorse the position of the governors. Today, socio-economic activities in the Southeast are systematically being laid to waste. An ill-conceived series of disruptions to social life, work, and business under the guise of ‘sit-at-home’ order is frequently imposed by a foreign-based renegade and his brutal enforcers throughout the zone. Fear of rough vigilante enforcement of these orders has led to ruinous impact on the domestic economy. Besides, due to the protracted breakdown of law and order, businesses are relocating outside the region while the queue of unemployment is lengthening.   

However, the governors must learn from the past. In the wake of the upsurge in crisis three years ago, the then governors hurriedly met and announced the formation of ‘Ebube Agu’, a regional security outfit. But the chairman, Brigadier General Obi Umahi (rtd) was soon to resign for lack of attention to the organisation. His committee was not only starved of funds, but it also operated for two years without an office. In the absence of any serious containment measures, criminals seized the zone by the jugular while others like the so-called Eastern Security Network (ESN) spread their campaign of terror under the pretext of working for the release of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.   

The governors must be more serious this time. At his inauguration last year, Soludo put the situation in proper context when he lamented that “a significant part of our state economy is powered by artisans, Keke drivers, vulcanisers, hairdressers, cart pushers, petty traders, bricklayers, women frying Akara, and all those who depend upon daily toil and sweat to feed their families.” Yet every day there is a sit-at-home, according to Soludo, “these poor masses lose an estimated N19.6 billion in Anambra alone.”  

To stem the insecurity crisis in the zone, the ultimate responsibility lies with the federal government that should come up with a winning strategy. While a combined technique of intelligence and law enforcement may help in containing the resurgence of criminality, it is also appropriate, like the governors suggested, to look beyond the legal to the political in resolving the Kanu conundrum. We urge President Bola Tinubu to explore that option.

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While a combined technique of intelligence and law enforcement may help in containing the resurgence of criminality, it is also appropriate, like the governors suggested, to look beyond the legal to the political in resolving the Kanu conundrum