Monarchs Want FG to End Show of Force in South-east

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The federal government has been urged to use dialogue to put an end to the ongoing agitations in the South-east geopolitical zone.

The royal fathers under the Umuahia North Council of Traditional Rulers made the call in a statement signed the chairman, HRM Eze Innocent Nwaigwe and Secretary, HRH Eze C. Emelike, made available to the media yesterday.

They noted that past governments at the centre had chosen to believe that “brute force” would quell the agitations, adding that the President Bola Tinubu administration should not follow the same path that has not achieved the desired results.

“For 25 years since the agitation began in the South-east, no government has reached out to the agitators to genuinely engage them in a dialogue, to find out why they are pissed off with Nigeria as presently constituted,” the royal fathers said.

They pointed that the regular deployment of brute force by the federal authorities against the agitators has only resulted to mindless killings of youths while the agitation continues.

The royal fathers recounted the carnages that have resulted from such show of force against agitators “to crush them by fire by force.”

They cited the past bloody incidents at Bridge Head Onitsha, Aba High School compound, St. Edmund Catholic Church, Nkpor, as well as the massacres at Emene, Enugu State and Obigbo, Rivers State, among others.

“In all these, the agitation has not been crushed since 1999. Not on one occasion has

the authorities demanded a genuine tet-a-tet, to identify the grievances of the agitators and the reason for their agitation. Never,” they said.

The monarchs wondered why government is using double standard to solve the same problem in different sections of the country.

They noted that the federal government had sent Ibe Kachikwu to the Niger Delta to engage the Niger Delta Avengers to a dialogue that eventually yielded peace dividends.

“The same government dispatched Godswill Akpabio to the creeks for a peace meeting with Tompolo, leading to peaceful reconciliation and resolution,” the royal fathers further stated.

“The reason Igbo agitators and activists for justice and equity must be crushed forcefully, befuddles fair minded citizens.

“If after 25 years, 1999 till date, isn’t

enough time for the realisation that only sincerely engaging the agitators to a dialogue, will bring about resolution and closure, we wonder if another 25 years  suffices.

“Those blocking direct engagement and dialogue with the agitators for whatever

reasons are the ones actually responsible for the crisis in the land,” the royal fathers said.

They warned: “Those manipulating the system in order to use the agitators to achieve certain ends” saying that karma would eventually catch up with them.

According to the traditional rulers, it was the same anti-peace elements that pretend they want Nnamdi Kanu released,  “while they are simultaneously working under the table blocking his release.”