The continuing killings in the South-East, particularly in Anambra State, demand immediate and intense attention. Hopes that the mutually destructive bloodletting in the region will soon diminish seems to be fading away. These wanton killings are amorphous. Recently, gunmen overran a funeral ceremony at Ebenebe in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State. Not only did they murder at least 20 mourners, but they also expurgated the corpse in a casket by shooting at it severally. This is delusional.
Daringly, multifaceted armed men, whose identity remains in dispute, physically assaulted citizens, security agents and formations repeatedly in the region. On January 14, this year, such violent disturbance reared its dreadful head again in Imo State. The criminals descended upon the Mgbidi Divisional Police Headquarters, exterminated an inspector and wounded another officer. This is a very terrifying situation for the residents, the region, and society at large.
The bloodcurdling murder of a Nigerian Army Master Warrant Officer, Linus Audu, and his partner, an Army Private, Gloria Matthew, accentuated a turning point in the persistent violent onslaughts on security personnel, public infrastructure and civilians in the South-East. According to reports, Audu and his fiancée, Matthew, who hailed from the Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo State, were travelling to the State for their traditional marriage rites when they were intercepted by gunmen.
The hooligans reportedly raped Matthew before her fiancé and shot the couple. Thereafter, they decapitated them. The gang then circulated a clip of their heads and other dismembered remains on the Internet. This is the zenith of depravity and savagery! Sadly, the terrorists who perpetrated this unconscionable act are yet to be identified and apprehended by law enforcement agents for abrupt punishment.
Criminals have lately run amok in the South-East, turning a hitherto non-violent place right into a conflict zone. Almost every other day, people are cut down in cold blood or abducted. The recent abduction and beheading of a member of the Anambra State House of Assembly painted in scary strokes the hazard that lurks in nearly each corner of the South-East, specifically in Anambra State.
But the latest event was the vicious and mind-altering killing of a pregnant woman, Mrs Harira Jubril, and her four children by gunmen in Anambra State. The incident happened in a community in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state. This provocative and heinous killing which has assumed an ethnic dimension portends grave danger to national peace and security. The state is gradually descending into anarchy. The Federal Government must take full responsibility for the security of life and property in the area.
A new approach must be adopted to end the senseless butchery in the region. The Federal Government has failed because it controls the apparatus of state security such as the police and the military, both of which have been unable to contain the onslaughts from criminals generally referred to as “unknown” gunmen, even though these have been operating for, at least, two years.
Usually, the security forces arrive on the scene of attack long afterwards. Where they arrest anyone, it is mostly the wrong people, giving the real criminals another moment to mobilise and launch new blitzes. Lamentably, the police have become the main target of such incursions, leaving untold numbers dead.
Political leaders, in particular the governors of the region, are also guilty of non-performance and lack of political will to do whatever is necessary. They speak with superficial plausibility and with a false assurance of safety, when in fact they do not do much. For instance, they, knowing full well that security in the region is too significant to be left alone with the police, set up a regional security outfit called Ebube Agu only to abandon it, soon after its establishment.
Surprisingly, state security agencies, including the police, cannot unravel the mystery of “gunmen”, whether known or unknown. Clearly, the security apparatuses are deluged and require crucial redirection. The present police force is highly imperilled, and it is only a matter of time before it is wholly over-run.
Signs of weakened and subdued police are already discernible all over the country. The earlier the authorities at both state and federal levels start exploring state police options, the better for Nigerians. This would assist to deconcentrate the system and entrust the regions and states with funding and control of the police. Under such fenestration, policemen recruited from the localities can identify and undrape any unusual and mistrustful face in the state or region.
The real matter is to recognise the source of the bloodletting. While the Nigerian state promptly tracks it to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the group denies it, claiming it only seeks to secede from Nigeria and wants its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, released from detention by the federal authorities. It contends that it is being sabotaged by criminals, who carry out their activities using IPOB as a cover. The truth probably lies in between. The security agencies have to establish the truth and get a lasting solution.
Poverty and unemployment have also activated the security crisis. The current rate of unemployment in Nigeria is a remarkable 33.3 per cent. This means that many youths are idle and have become willing tools for crime. They take sundry hard drugs, making them lose value for human life. A few weeks ago, the South-East was designated as a haven for drugs. Drugs and crime go together. Youths who consume them can go to any length to perpetrate evil.
Small arms ontogeny in the region also fuels the situation. Last year, gunmen went on a killing spree of security agents. Accomplishing the killing mission, they dispossessed them of their weapons. In 2020, the EndSARS protests against police brutality led to the killing of over 60 policemen and the burning of about 200 police stations across the country. These actions considerably countermined the police. Now, criminals have a field day and operate without much ado in the region.
Agitation to secede must not be violent. Scotland is planning a second referendum to quit the United Kingdom; the initial one in 2014 failed by a 55 to 45 per cent vote in favour of the ‘remain’ bloc. In Spain, the political leadership persuaded the Basque Separatist Movement to end its armed struggle in 2011, as part of negotiations with the Spanish authorities on secession. The Federal Government can negotiate with IPOB on the group’s secessionist agenda. Against this backdrop, armed violence will decline. Governors in the region must muster the political will to drive the Ebube Agu project to protect their people. This is the time for the communities in the South-East to rise up and tame the roaring monsters which have held the region hostage.