The growing insecurity in the South East is worrisome and calls for urgent action to stem the tide before it consumes the entire region. The insecurity has risen to a level that some residents are fleeing the region to avoid being killed.
A situation where residents cannot go about their lawful businesses for fear of being killed or maimed by 'unknown gunmen,' amid sit-at-home order, questions the competence of the government both at the federal and state levels.
In Anambra State, for instance, some areas especially in the Southern and some parts of Central Senatorial zones are no-go areas as kidnappers and criminals have taken over.
In the opinion of this newspaper, It is time South East leaders rose to the occasion to deal with this monster before it becomes too late. The continued silence of critical stakeholders in the face of this challenge is no longer golden.
The Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which earlier ordered the every Monday sit-at-home as part of the group's strategies to persuade the federal government to free their leader, has rescinded that order following wide spread condemnation by the people.
The order was beginning to have severe effects on the economy and wellbeing of the people in the region as criminals and other street urchins took over its enforcement.
The South East governors have also been accused of sponsoring insecurity for their selfish political ambitions as one of the ways of looting the treasury in guise of fighting insecurity.
It is regrettable, in our opinion, that more than one year after they launched the ineffective Ebubeagu security outfit, the South-East governors are yet to show any seriousness in funding and equipping it as their South West counterparts have done so far with Amotekun.
There's poor governance in South East which has resulted in gross unemployment, poverty and hunger, and invariably, insecurity in the region. Why the South East governors are yet to take decisive action against insecurity that is destroying the region is a matter for concern.
The Ebubeagu has reportedly been converted into a hit group against members of opposition parties by the governors. Apart from the allegations of abuse, the Ebubeagu is yet to get the desired support from the governors, prompting the chairman of the South-East Security Committee, Major General Obi Umahi (retd)to resign.
The neglect of Ebubeagu by the governors paved the way for and boosted the masses' confidence in the Eastern Security Network (ESN) formed by the IPOB. Nature, they say, abhors vacuum, so the IPOB capitalised on the lack of political will by the governors to jointly tackle insecurity in the zone. The ESN, though a non-state actor, received accolades from the residents, as they saw it as the only alternative.
Unlike the Amotekun that is thriving in the South-West, the Ebubeagu could not gain momentum in the South-East and it is a big minus. The governors should wake up to their primary responsibility which is the protection of life and property.
Insecurity has caused a lot of damage to the economy of the South East. The importance of the region to the nation's economy cannot be over-emphasised. Cities like Onitsha, Aba and Nnewi have established themselves over the years as manufacturing and commercial hubs, with export links to other Central and West African countries. Manufacturing makes up 31 percent and 30 percent of businesses in Onitsha and Aba.
As a newspaper, we see the silence by South East governors and other leaders amid the attacks and killings in the region as negligence of duty. We demand that governments in the zone live up to their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property. It is a duty that government cannot side-step without violating the sacred oath to uphold the provisions of the Constitution.
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The South East leaders must rise to the occasion; they must unite and speak with one voice against the menace of insecurity. The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and the South-East Governors' Forum should convene a meeting of all leaders in the region with a view to finding solutions to security challenges.
The urgent intervention by the security forces, the federal and state governments is also required to restore sanity in the region. Thegovernment should also consider dialogue as panacea to end the killings and destruction of lives and property in the South East, before we have another Boko Haram situation in that economically strategic region.
