Solutions To Rising Insecurity
willful killings, kidnapping and attack of public institutions. When we migrate from mere robbery to attacking public institutions, then the government is in trouble. We all have to find out why it is so and put up measures to contain it. The government seems to have compromised on security, apparently for fear of what Abuja will say. Now it is here with us. I have this fear that the way they are going, it might be difficult to find police protecting the people in the near future,” he stated.
IPOB and MASSOB Come Into The Fray
The pro- Biafra groups have continued to deny any involvement in the attacks. IPOB, which recently unveiled the Eastern Security Network ( ESN) following the inability of the governors of the Southeast to float a regional security outfit, has insisted that its members operate only in the bush to flush out gun wielding herdsmen who have continued to make life unbearable for farmers and community members.
They stated that attributing the attacks to them was a subtle way to find reasons to militarise the zone and in the process kill its members and other innocent people, stressing they they would resist the attempt.
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra ( MASSOB), on its part, accused the Federal Government of, “sponsoring attacks on Igbo land to intimidate the people and frustrate their clamour for presidency.”
The Federal Government has not responded to any of these allegations. Rather, it has continued to make promises of getting to the root cause of the entire development, which assumes fresh dimensions by the day.
Police Withdraw From Checkpoint, Solicits Public Support
It would appear that what is happening has restricted the police officers to their various stations. They no longer mount security checkpoints as they used to neither are they commonly seen in their uniforms on the streets. Patrols seem to have been suspended temporarily. At the various formations, the entry gates are no longer left open, while movements in and around the stations are seriously monitored and regulated. Unlike before when residents freely drove into the police stations, they are now required to park metres away from the stations.
An operative of the force told The Guardian: “We have been asked to operate from the station for now because of these attacks. We are studying the developments and we will do our best to live up to our constitutional responsibility.
“We now stay in the offices; we are there with our two eyes open. You never can tell what might happen. These people come under the cover of the dark to do whatever they want to do and because of that, more personnel are now drafted on night shift daily and several communication gadgets are being activated in case of any uprising.” Beyond the attempt to protect their various stations, the police chiefs in the zone have asked their men to do all they could to protect the people and their facilities. They also solicited the support of the public by way of information to check the rising insecurity.
Abia Residents Express Concerns
From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia.
IN Abia State, residents have been aghast over the recent happenings in the state. Meanwhile, security operatives did not respond to inquiries on the cause, saying that security issues are not discussed publicly.
A private Security Consultant, who pleaded anonymity, however, recalled that a foreign embassy in Nigeria had recently issued a statement wherein it warned its nationals that such attacks were imminent.
He queried the Federal Government and its various security agencies for not acting proactively to nip the attacks in the bud. Chairman of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Apostle Emmanuel Agomuo hinged the attacks on youths who after their education could not get employment.
To him, the attacks were natural human reaction to the hardship in the country. He stated that unemployment and non- payment of workers’ salaries and pension makes it difficult for families to cope with their responsibilities especially in the face of unbridled inflation.
He urged governments at all level to create employment opportunities for the teeming educated but idle youths who could be easily engaged to perpetrate crimes.
Chairman of the state traditional rulers Council, Eze Joseph Nwabeke, also tasked the governments to formulate policies and programmes that could put food on the table of Nigerians.
He, however, noted that inasmuch as the prevailing circumstances were not palatable, they didn’t warrant killings and destruction of public infrastructures.
Meanwhile, Chief Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to IPOB and its Leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has insisted that the organisation remains a civil group and not a militia. Ejimakor told The Guardian: “IPOB remains a civil group, not a militia. IPOB should be seen and treated as a self- determination or freedom fighting movement, peacefully asking for referendum on whether the former Biafra or Eastern Nigeria still wishes to remain in Nigeria.
“IPOB is a non- violent organisation registered in the United Kingdom. It has a certificate of registration with more than 30 branches worldwide. Its mission is to restore Biafra, not to levy prison breaks.”
According to the lawyer, “the haste to blame IPOB evidences the rising institutional prejudices that have made the Biafran agitation more popular than ever. That the witch cried at night and the baby died in the morning does not mean that it was the witch that killed the baby.”