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Tag: South East

  • Why South East Deserves An Extra State – Ekweremadu

    Why South East Deserves An Extra State – Ekweremadu

    The South East deserves an extra state to match up with other regions in the country, especially in the areas of governance and distribution of resources, among others.

    Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, made the demand during a programme ‘Open Square’ which aired on Channels Television on Saturday.

    He decried the ratio of lawmakers from the region to those from other geopolitical zones, saying the situation was affecting the South East representation in the National Assembly.

    “The number is lopsided because of the way the states were created,” the lawmaker said. “Right now, South East has just five states when others have seven and six. With the Senate of three senators per state, we have just 15, some have 18 and some have 21.

    “When it comes to voting, even in terms of resources distribution, we are short-changed. If you go to the House of Representatives, it is a similar thing. I believe that the fair thing to do is for the country to agree for us to have an extra state for the South East, so that it will enable us to match with the rest of the country in terms of opportunity at the National Assembly.”

    As of when it gained independence in 1960, Nigeria was a Federal State with three regions – northern, western, and eastern, before an additional mid-western region was created in 1963.

    These regions were replaced by 12 states in 1967 as a result of military decree while seven more states were created nine years later, making a total of 19.

    By 1991, the nation already has 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the number had increased to 30 states and the FCT by 1996, before another development which resulted in the present number of 36 states and the FCT.

    While the South East and North West have five and seven states respectively, the North East, North Central, South West, and South South all have six states each.

    Call For Equity
    Ekweremadu also called for fairness and equity for the region in terms of developing its infrastructure just like other parts of the country.

    According to him, his first call is to take side with the people who elected him into office when the issue of conflict of interest arises.

    “For you to return to the Assembly, you need to ensure that you will take seriously matters that concern them (the constituents),” the lawmaker said. “Most times, they don’t conflict (national and constituency interests).

    “If they do conflict, definitely you have to side the people who you are representing because without the you won’t be where you are. Say you want to construct a rail line from Lagos to Kano which is of national interest anyway because that is a good corridor, but you are not seeing anything happening in the eastern corridor – between Port Harcourt and Maiduguri, there is a conflict.”

    “Naturally, I will speak for my people and say if you are spending money for the western corridor, you should also spend for the eastern corridor; if you don’t have money for both of them, then you have to wait.

    “Those are very rare times when we have those kinds of issues and that is why we need equity, we need justice, we need fairness for you to have a country that you can say is democratic,” he added.

  • Residents panic as gunmen return to South East, unleash mayhems

    Residents panic as gunmen return to South East, unleash mayhems

    By Joyce Babayeju

    Widespread attacks by gunmen engulfed the South East last week, fueling fear of the dreaded unknown gunmen that held the region hostage some months back.

    In the last weeks, no fewer than 15 people, including policemen, were shot dead in different parts of the region.

    The situation has once again created an atmosphere of insecurity, fear, anxiety, suspicion and uncertainty among the people in the five states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.

    Sadly, no trace of the killers has been made.

    Enugu has been worst hit with latest resurgence. Just last week, three attacks were recorded in the city with five persons, including two policemen shot dead.

    Those gunned down in cold blood included three policemen killed at a checkpoint in the Lomalinda Area of Indepedence Layout, Enugu.

    The gunmen, who were said to have abducted some persons, attacked the policemen who were on stop-and-search duty, opened fire on them and killed the three policemen on the spot.

    “The gunmen kidnapped a man around that culvert where they sell tyres, perhaps their gunshots attracted the police on duty nearby and they tried to block them and engaged them in a shoot-out which claimed the lives of three policemen”, one account of the incident said.

    Later in the night of the same day, a popular and strong civilian security man in the city, Ogbonna Ani, aka Jango, was also killed around Menuiru area of the city, while some people sustained gunshot injuries.

    Residents’ accounts of the incident said the gunmen operated with sophisticated weapons.

    Less than 48 hours after the Lomalinda attack, gunmen struck again, at a checkpoint, Saturday afternoon, at Obeagu, outskirts of Enugu, allegedly killing 4 policemen.

    The gunmen said to have operated in a Sienna bus and Lexus Jeep, attacked the checkpoint and killed the policemen on duty.

    Also last week, in Umuahia, Abia State capital, the chairman of Ebem Ohafia Development Union, Umuahia branch, Mr. Ebere Okoro was shot by gunmen.

    Okoro was said to have been attacked on his way to bush market along Osaa Road where he normally buys palm oil for retail.

    However, it was suspected that his attackers could be robbers in police camouflage as he and his co-trader, Chinenye Eze were robbed of the sum of N1.5 million.

    The traders were said to have earlier made withdrawal at an old generation bank located along Bank Road Umuahia for the transaction.

    In Anambra State, some gunmen attacked the Uli Police Station in Ihiala council area, last Friday.

    However, the policemen on duty who engaged them in gun battle were said have repelled the attack forcing the criminals to abandon one of their operational vehicle, a Lexus 330 Jeep, while they fled.

    Last Tuesday, gunmen operated in Aguata Local Government of Anambra State, killing four persons.

    One of their victims was an official of the Anambra State Traffic Management Agency, ASTMA, directing traffic at the ever-busy Ekwulobia Roundabout in Aguata Local Government Area of the state.

    They were said to have also killed two other persons at Oko and Igboukwu and yet another person close to Ekwulobia Girls Secondary school.

    Eye witness accounts claimed that the gunmen operated in a Mercedes Benz 4Matic and black Hilux van and came from the direction of Aguata Council headquarters which links the State to Orlu areas of Imo State.

    In Ebonyi, the story is the same as a group of gunmen on February 2, attacked a military checkpoint at the boundary intersection of Uburu, Governor Dave Umahi’s town, in Ebonyi and Mpu/Oduma in Aninri, Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s area of Enugu State; and killed a soldier on duty.

    They were also said to have burnt a military van at the spot.
    Gunmen also killed one Sunday Nwafor, an Ebubeagu security operative in Ekpelu, Ikwo Local Government Area of the state.

    In Imo State, in addition to the series of attacks and killing going on in Orlu area, a retired Chief Superintendent of Police, Chris Kpatuma was brutally murdered by gunmen on February 2, at his country home in Mgbala Agwa Autonomous Community of Oguta council area in Imo State.

    Worried by the development, Igbo youth group, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, the umbrella body of all the youth groups in the South East region, has called on the governors of the region and heads of security agencies to rise up to the occasion to defend the people.

    The group lamented the resurgence of insecurity in the zone, particularly Enugu, and called for an urgent action to tackle it.

    “We are alarmed over the renewed spate of killings and insecurity in the region, especially in Enugu State in recent times especially the broad daylight killings of security men and residents by men of the underworld without any challenge to neutralize the dare-devil gunmen.

    “We call on the state governor Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who is the Chief Security Officer of the state and the security agencies to rise up and protect Enugu residents and citizens.

    “ Enugu State is the pride of Ndigbo given the fact that it has been the capital of old Eastern region.

    It will be very wrong on our side to keep quiet when the state is engulfed in insecurity and fast drifting towards anarchy and destruction without making a move to redeem it”, the group said in a statement signed by the leader, Hon. Goodluck Ibem.

    Reacting to the resurgence of insecurity, former governor of Enugu State, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo blamed on the security agencies, saying they have dropped their guards in the South East.

    Chief Nwodo attributed the rise in the activities of unknown gunmen in South East region to lack of commitment by security agencies to fight the criminal elements.

    He challenged the security agencies to be on top of the situation and restore the confidence of the people of the zone in coming out every Monday and other days to do their normal businesses.

    He equally bemoaned lack of personnel and materials by the armed forces but urged them to use what they to have to restore peace and tranquility in the region.

    “I think the security agencies have dropped their guards and that is why these criminal elements are becoming bolder that they can do anything they like and get away with it.

    “The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, has repeatedly said that it has suspended the sit-at-home order it formerly declared on Mondays across South East states.

    Yet, the security agencies have not been able to give people the confidence that they can come out on Mondays and go about their normal businesses.

    The criminals have taken over.

    “If you take members of IPoB by their words, they are not the ones terrorizing people on Mondays across South East states but armed robbers and criminals.

    The security agencies who are supposed to protect us from those people have dropped their guards.

    If they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, these things should not be happening.

    They have given the criminals in South East the leverage to operate but the security agencies are also getting the wrong end of the stick from the security situation in the zone.

    “Those who are killing policemen doing their normal duties are people who want to rob and steal.

    The security agencies really need to be on top of the game to arrest the situation.

    It may be said that they are short of men and materials, but let them do the best they can with what they have now and help us fight criminals in South East.

    “My take is that security agencies in the South East have not been up and doing.

    “Why I say so is that it has been more than three months now that IPOB said that it has lifted the ban on sit-at home and it has said it consistently, but you know, criminals, armed robbers have taken over Mondays in the whole of South East and they attack anybody they want to kidnap or they want to harass and anybody they have issue with and they go to people’s shop to force them to close their shops.

    “Now, we have got to a point where these people have taken up the space.

    “Criminals have taken over to a large extent and even when you call the police, they will give one reason or the other on why they are not coming, especially at night.

    “So, until the policemen and the military and the other national security agencies take over the space and reassure people that they can be protected, banks will go on, markets will go on and people will go about their businesses on Mondays.

    “But gunmen go about intimidating the police and when you intimidate the police what happens to the rest of us? We are just at their mercy.

    “So, I believe that our security agencies need to do more to create a deterrent to these kinds of things going on”, Nwodo said.
    A retired military officer decried the development, saying: “This is an ominous situation, it is the beginning of the end, it shows nobody is safe in South East.

    “The governors are not doing enough to protect the people because they are interested in politics; they want to become President or other positions.

    “The people of the zone are paying the price of laxity of the leaders. As a matter of fact, if you talk to them, they will use the commonwealth under their control to harass you.

    “That is why all those people who are supposed to talk are quiet. In a situation where security personnel are being killed, who will protect the ordinary man?

    If anybody tells you he has an answer to that, the person is deceiving you”.

    An academia, Prof Obasi Igwe, on his own, said that unknown gunmen attack in South East and elsewhere in Nigeria will not stop until the federal government reverses what has been generally criticized as a violent pro-fulani policy.

    The Don said that as long as the real identity of unknown gunmen is not known, common criminals will continue to take advantage of the situation.

    He alleged that unknown gunmen is a product of President Muhammadu Buhari’s rule, stressing that it is his administration’s responsibility to end it and return peace in South East.

    “We recall that many of the bombers and other operatives were observed, arrested and/or captured, and it was found out they were not Igbo.

    “We concluded that the unknown gunmen saga appeared as one of the results of the efforts to export or replicate the Northern violence to the South, above all Igboland.

    “IPOB has announced a definite stop to their sit-at-homes, and condemned those enforcing it, yet, they are still being enforced by some Unknown Gunmen.

    “The IPOB/ESN has equally dissociated themselves from the unknown gunmen and their burnings, beheadings, disemboweling and other killings, and yet again the orgies continue.

    If we imagine that quarrelling politicians are behind the Imo and other killings, can they do it successfully without some official connivances? Some people are certainly gaining or enjoying in the destruction of the Igbo/East, and they won’t like it stop.”

    Vanguard News

  • Coalition tells Northerners to boycott goods from South East

    Coalition tells Northerners to boycott goods from South East

    Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has directed all Northerners to boycott the sale, purchase and consumption of goods from the South East from April 2022.

    This comes in response to IPOB calls for ban in consumption of Fulani cow in the south east

    CNG Spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, stated last night that the IPOB’s order last Monday “amounts to grave provocation and serious threat to Northern commercial interests in the South East, and by extension to the physical wellbeing of Northerners living as minorities among Igbo communities.

    “It is a renewed resolve to pay coin for coin any direct or indirect attack or threat to Northerners and their interests anywhere in the country.”

    The group also called on Northerners to decline support for any political party, formation or movement that has the active participation of South-East politicians.

    Suleiman said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the North, while maintaining its tradition of tolerance and accommodation, shall, however, no longer be disposed to condoning further acts of irresponsibility in the form of deliberate threats of intimidation or harassment targeted at Northerners living and doing legitimate businesses elsewhere in the country.

    “Since such targeted utterances had, in the past, been the prelude to physical attacks on Northerners and destruction of their properties, particularly in the South East, we urge Northern transporters and suppliers of goods to consider alternative trade routes to avoid the imminent risks that come with this IPOB threat.”

    According to the coalition, the North has had enough of the antagonism from the South East and IPOB, and will no longer remain passive under such deliberate and sustained attacks, but will henceforth be forced to react to every provocation and unwarranted abuse and violation.

    “All those who have no other useful vocation than attacking Northerners under the slightest of pretexts should know that our patience has reached its nadir.

    “The North’s reticence in speaking out or taking action is not borne out of fear or ignorance of how to respond in kind,” Suleiman added.

    According to the coalition, the North has had enough of the antagonism from the South East and IPOB, and will no longer remain passive under such deliberate and sustained attacks, but will henceforth be forced to react to every provocation and unwarranted abuse and violation.

    “All those who have no other useful vocation than attacking Northerners under the slightest of pretexts should know that our patience has reached its nadir.

    “The North’s reticence in speaking out or taking action is not borne out of fear or ignorance of how to respond in kind,” Suleiman added.

  • It is Unjust to Deny South East of Functional Railways – HURIWA

    It is Unjust to Deny South East of Functional Railways – HURIWA


    “We commend President Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring that there is continuity of the revolutionary railway resuscitation programme of the immediate past administration of the hitherto moribund Nigeria Railways in some parts of the Country, particularly in the North, South West, and South South geopolitical zones.

    However this commendation is incomplete because there is a stark injustice being meted out to the over 60 million Igbo speaking nationality and their neighbours in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers who don’t have the privilege of seeing their moribund railway tracks revived so services can be restored with speed and equanimity as are being done in Northern Nigeria and South West of Nigeria and some parts of Delta State”. 


    Making this commendation is the leading Civil Rights Advocacy group:- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) which observed that the revival of the Railways with modern coaches and reconstructed railway lines in the North, South West and around Warri in Delta State has seen a remarkable improvements in the smooth

    transportation of citizens and thereby saving millions of commuters a lot of man hours that would have been wasted commuting through the crime infested and malfunctional national networks.

    HURIWA is also happy that movements of goods from the Seaports are now in progress directly enroute or through the Railway services which will inevitably save the national roads network from damages that are unleashed by heavy duty vehicles that hitherto ferry haulage by road from the Apapa Seaport. 


    HURIWA in a media statement by the National coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director, said the resuscitation of the Nigerian Railways will surely go down in history as one of the surest legacies of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration, only if the federal government will fix the missing gap which is the non- availability of any sort of railway resuscitation in the South East, Rivers,  Cross Rivers axis of the Country.


    HURIWA is therefore appealing passionately to President Buhari through the transportation minister Mr. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi to redress the injustice against the South East, Rivers and Cross Rivers axis of the Country by immediately commencing work to revive the Railways in Enugu Okigwe, Umuahia, Port Harcourt Aba, Uyo, Calabar which if done will significantly boost the transportation sector, and informal trades and would create thousands of Jobs.   

    The Rights group cited a recent scholarly work on the economic gains of efficient transportation system thus:- “Transportation is a non separable part of any society. It exhibits a very close relation to the style of life, the range and location of activities and the goods and services which will be available for consumption.

    Advances in transportation has made possible changes in the way of living and the way in which societies are organized and therefore have a great influence in the development of civilizations.

    This chapter conveys an understanding of the importance of transportation in the modern society by presenting selected characteristics of existing transportation systems, their use and relationships to other human activities.” 

    HURIWA quoted the scholars as affirming rightly that transportation is responsible for the development of civilizations from very old times by meeting travel requirement of people and transport requirement of goods.

    Such movement has changed the way people live and travel. In developed and developing nations, a large fraction of people travel daily for work,shopping and social reasons. But transport also consumes a lot of resources like time,fuel, materials and land.

    “HURIWA agrees with the academic conclusion that economics involves production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.

    People depend upon the natural resources to satisfy the needs of life but due to non uniform surface of earth and due to difference in local resources, there is a lot of difference in standard of living in different societies.

    So there is an immense requirement of transport of resources from one particular society to other. These resources can range from material things to knowledge and skills like movement of doctors and technicians to the places where there is need of them”.   

    HURIWA is therefore calling on governors of the South East of Nigeria, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers to work in synergy with the minister of Transportation to address the clear lapses in railway resuscitation in their States. 

  • IPOB issues sit-at-home order in the South East for September 14

    IPOB issues sit-at-home order in the South East for September 14

    The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared Tuesday, September 14, 2021 as another sit-at-home day to commemorate victims of the ”genocidal” invasion of the compound of its Leader, Nnamdi Kanu at Afaraukwu Ibeku Umuahia, Abia State.

    The group in a statement released by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful, alleged that no fewer than 28 Biafrans were killed that day by the Army during the raid. The group advised people of the zone to stay indoors as a mark of honour to these fallen heroes and heroines.

    It maintained that no sacrifice would be considered too much for those victims who had “watered the tree of Biafra freedom with their blood.”

    “We the global movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wish to remind all Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of Biafra freedom across the globe that the sit-at-home order issued by the IPOB leadership to be observed tomorrow, Tuesday, 14th of September 2021 is sacrosanct.

    The peaceful protest is for the remembrance of the victims of the genocidal invasion of our Leader’s compound at Afaraukwu Ibeku Umuahia on the 14th of September 2017. No fewer than 28 innocent Biafrans were killed that day by the Nigeria Army during the raid.

    We advise all Biafrans both men and women to stay indoors tomorrow@ as a mark of honour to these fallen heroes and heroines. We must not fail to remember the supreme sacrifices of these great freedom seekers. Nothing done to honour them should be considered too much for they have watered the tree of Biafra freedom with their blood.

    Our Leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has also made a lot of sacrifice for the restoration of Biafra. So, all of us must be prepared to play our roles to accomplish this great task. Biafra independence is a mandate that we must live to accomplish.

    We won’t be deterred by the killings of Biafra agitators by Nigeria compromised security agencies who cannot confront Fulani bandits and herdsmen rampaging the country. They derive pleasure in killing and torturing innocent people agitating for their freedom while fleeing from real terrorists.

    Despite the tacit support by the Fulani controlled federal government, these jihadists chasing villages and other communities out from their ancestral lands cannot succeed in Biafra land.

    IPOB is well organised and prepared to repel them. They can continue with their false media propaganda to demoralize people from supporting IPOB but they know that our people now know better. The political elite have deceived us enough.”

  • Insecurity: Bakassi Boys Return In South East

    Insecurity: Bakassi Boys Return In South East

    Years after their disbandment, the Bakassi Boys, a vigilante group in the South East, have returned to some parts of Awka, Anambra State capital.

    They were seen in two vans, singing and warning criminals.

    However, it could not be confirmed who invited the dreaded vigilante group.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ikenga Tochukwu, said he was not aware of the development.

    He said, “I received this as information from you. I don’t have any such details before me.

    “Meanwhile, I will make enquires please.”

    Asked whether the police would be ready with such arrangement, the PPRO said, “We are ready to work with any stakeholder in security.”

    But a source said, “The boys came mainly for alleged cult groups which have taken over Awka town in recent time without any response from the Police. I think they were invited by traders.”

    A Senior Police Officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some security men arrived at the state, but failed to confirm if they were sent by the government.

    The source said, “That is the only thing I can tell you, for now. Let’s see how things work out in the days and weeks to come.”

    The Bakassi Boys are usually armed with machetes and guns and an array of black magic artefacts worn around their body.

    They have been accused of extrajudicial killings.

    Their targets are suspected petty thieves, armed robbers, ritual killers, murderers, corrupt persons, and generally, anyone considered evil.

  • BREAKING: Twitter deletes Buhari’s “threat” tweet against South East

    BREAKING: Twitter deletes Buhari’s “threat” tweet against South East

    Twitter has deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet threatening genocide against the people of Igbo-dominated South-East.

    Recall that Buhari had on Tuesday after a security briefing about the attacks on facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the South East, categorically threatened to deal with those who, according to him, want to destroy his government.

    He had said such individuals or groups will receive the shock of their lives as they will be treated in a language they will understand.

    Following the development, Nigerians on social media took to Twitter to drag the President for making such threats towards a particular tribe.

    While some slammed him for pleading with Fulani herdsmen and bandits who have killed and are still killing innocent Nigerians, others slammed him for threatening the South East with another civil war that killed almost 3 million Igbos.

    They also reported the tweet and also called for the suspension of the President’s account by the management of Twitter.

    However, we gathered that the complaints were received by the management of Twitter and the comment by the President has been deleted.

    Also, the Nigerian leader may also be locked out of his account for 24 hours and faces a temporary suspension for the offensive tweet.

  • South East Governors Meet Over Attacks In Region, Vow To Tackle Insecurity

    South East Governors Meet Over Attacks In Region, Vow To Tackle Insecurity

    Members of the South East Governors’ Forum met on Monday as part of efforts to tackle the rising security challenges in the region.

    This follows the incessant attacks that have claimed lives and left several injured in various states in the region, with police stations and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) being the targets in most cases.

    At the virtual meeting of the governors, the leaders discussed ways to tackle the security threats in the region and secure the lives of the people.

    They vowed to leave no stone unturned in tracking and bringing to justice all those involved in what they described as the armed banditry currently ravaging the South East.

    The governors also sympathised with the families of all those who have lost their lives during the moment of violent hostilities in the region.

    They, however, appealed to the people to exercise restraint and allow the security agencies to continue with their investigations.

    At the meeting, the governors condemned the killing of a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Gulak, by gunmen on Sunday while on his way to the Sam Mbakwe Cargo Airport in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

    They resolved to stand with the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodima, and the security agencies in their efforts to unravel the masterminds of the killing.

    The leaders also commiserated with the immediate family of Gulak, as well as the government and people of Adamawa State over the unfortunate incident.

    They noted that the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to the security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators would further strengthen the bonds of unity and trust between the people of the South East and their northern counterparts.

    The governors thanked their colleagues in the North for their understanding in the face of the killing and give an assurance that the masterminds would be made to face justice.

  • Ebube Agu Not After IPOB/ESN – Gov Umahi

    Ebube Agu Not After IPOB/ESN – Gov Umahi

    Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi has said that the newly created security outfit in the southeast, Ebube Agu, is not against the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).

    The governor stated this on Friday during the handing over of some vehicles to security agencies to aid their work of bringing safety to lives and property of the residents of the state in Abakaliki.

    Governors from the South-East had on April 11 have established a security network as part of plans to checkmate the rising unrest in the region, stemming from an increase in criminal activities.

    According to a communique put out by governors of the Southeast, the agency is to oversee and monitor the activities of vigilante groups in the region.

    But Umahi, who is also the Chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum said the regional leaders did not float the security outfit because they were at loggerheads with the outlawed IPOB.

    “Ebube Agu is not after the Eastern Security Network (ESN) or after IPOB, no. Ebube Agu is meant to protect the people of Ebonyi State and her visitors,” he said.

    “I have asked every citizen of Ebonyi State to protect themselves against any killing, no Ebonyi person should be killed again by anybody for any reason.

    “We will not take the killing of any Ebonyi person lightly any longer. We have not deployed our Ebube Agu. The social media is saying we have deployed, we merely said this is the uniform we are preparing.”

    Umahi said Nigerian youths were aggrieved, adding that leaders must find a way of engaging them in order to bring the current partial breakdown of law and order under control.

  • #EndSARS: First Time FG Will Engage Youths From South East In Dialogue, Govs Tell Onyeama

    #EndSARS: First Time FG Will Engage Youths From South East In Dialogue, Govs Tell Onyeama

    Minister of Foreign Affairs in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet, Geoffrey Onyeama on Wednesday, said part of the fallout of a meeting between the Federal Government and stakeholders from the South East over the #EndSARS Protest was a confession from them that it was the first time government at the centre was having a direct interface with youths from the region.

    He said the meeting was quite fruitful as stakeholders from the region are committed to putting a stop to menace of insecurity that has bedeviled the entire country.

    Recall that in the aftermath of the ENDSARS protests, the presidency dispatched cabinet members and other party members to their states of origin to have heart – to – heart conversation with their people to unravel their grievances against the government.

    The Foreign Affairs Minister, while briefing State House Correspondents on Wednesday, noted that the South East Governors are committed to creating victims support fund to compensate and help victims of violence.

    He said they are also willing to engage more systematically with the youths to address the agitations that resulted in #EndSARS Protest.

    He also revealed that governors from the region came up with a number of proposals in that context to see better funding of the police and other security agencies as a way to achieving the right goal in addressing the security offices.

    “They were also very keen to ensure and guarantee the safety of all Nigerians living within the zone and also thanked the other parts of the country for assuring the safety of those from the South East living in other parts of the country.

    “They said they will set up a mechanism for constant dialogue with the youths and all the other stakeholders in the subregion. They appreciated very much that the enabling environment also had to be created so that the root causes of some of the agitations could be addressed and of course some of this enabling environment will be getting the economy back on track and they were supportive of the initiative of Mr. President in that regard.

    ” So all in all, it was an initiative the grassroots welcomed, they said it was the first time the Federal Government was engaging with the youths, “he stated .

    Speaking further, he said two days later, another stakeholders meeting was organized by myself where all the Presidents General from the state of Enugu were invited in addition to youths and traditional leaders. The discussions looked at larger issues of the country, governance issues and steps that could be taken to as it were stabilize the polity and to build a framework for peace, stability and development.

    According to Onyeama, it is work in progress and it is all about building trust. The South East Governors did address the issue of ethnicity in this whole situation and it was in that context that they committed to assuring the security of groups that are not from the zone of their protection and also reaching out beyond their zone to their counterparts to also ensure the security of South Easterners living in other parts of the country.

    “But I think this also speaks to just the whole security apparatus supporting the security forces to be able to defend and protect Nigerians wherever they are within the country, I think that is really what it has to be about.

    “Of course they may be other things that government issues that will come up to play but I think the most immediate one really would be having security forces that are enabled and empowered to be able to protect every single Nigerian wherever they might have found themselves in the country, “he emphasized.

    Asked to comment on the threat of sanctions by the UK Parliament on government officials, he said the Federal Government has reached out to the UK government.

    ” On the issue of UK Parliament, yes we have reached out to the UK government. The meeting that took place were Parliamentarians and don’t speak for U.K. government which acts for the United Kingdom has also heard the side of the (Nigerian) government regarding everything that has happened.

    “So, we have been in touch with them and engaging with them. And of course as in any democracy, the members of parliament are able to air their view.

    “But what is important is that balanced picture is made available to them before they take any decision, “he stated .