By Ori Martins
Currently, there has been disturbing cases of gun attack on security installations, security men and even harmless civilians in the South East. All the attacks usually leave with them high range of casualties – either dead or seriously wounded. This is not the way of Ndigbo as they have been described as peace loving. What is the motivation of the perpetrators of these well orchestrated attacks in all the states in the South? Who are their sponsors? The region known for its green vegetation is now discoloured with blood everywhere you go. Why?
On Thursday, April 2, 2021, former governor of Central Bank, CBN, Prof Chukwuma Soludo who is also an aspirant in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra, was meeting with youths at Isuofia community when the gunmen stormed the area and opened fire. Three police officers attached to Soludo were confirmed killed during the attack.
After the attack, Soludo maintained that the attack might not be politically motivated. Speaking to Channels Television, he said; “We were having an interactive town-hall meeting. We finished the diocesan crescent mass at about 2pm, and by 4:00pm, they scheduled an interactive town-hall meeting with the Isuofia youths. And by the way Isofia happens to be my hometown… I’m a village boy; this is where I feel safest anywhere in the world. I walk the streets, I jog on the streets, I take long walks, I mean I’m everywhere as a village boy’’.
He added, “With this interactive session with over a thousand youths seated, and I was just making preliminary remarks to open up the interactive session with other dignitaries from the community, commissioners and members of the House of Assembly, former commissioners, former members of the house, and several other dignitaries were in attendance And just as I was about to wrap up, and for them now to open up comments, questions and answers, I heard gunshots.
At first I thought maybe the policemen were shooting in the air and concurring with the kind of exuberance in the hall itself. And until I began to hear people screaming, and all of that, and everyone scampered for safety, but then when it was all over, it took several minutes about 10 to 15 minutes of continuous gun battle, going back and forth…stopping and starting again. By the time we all came back, we saw three dead bodies lying in the pool of their blood – they were the three policemen… and like I said earlier, may God grant their soul eternal rest… we’ll continue to pray and support the families. And then, the commissioner was abducted. I understand that when they ran and jumped the fence, some people grabbed and took him away… our prayers are with him. We pray for his safe return.”
Few days after the mindless attack on Soludo, the unexpected happened in Ebonyi State. The attack on the Ebonyi community was so severe that Governor Dave Umahi, a newly converted APC apologist said ‘’governors of the region were currently hiding their faces in shame’’. The governor made these remarks in Abakaliki, the state capital, when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo paid a condolence visit to the state on Sunday.
According to him, “Even when the killings happened; very unprovoked killings, some people said they gave the governor of Ebonyi State 21 days to resign. We have been called all kinds of names and we feel ashamed that the same people we fight for day and night as governors and leaders of South-East to ensure the oneness of this country would know about attacks on Ebonyi State and they were asked to leave and they left, and we were slaughtered and killed. What face do we have then to face our people? We feel so ashamed to face our people. When this thing happened, Your Excellency, there was going to be very violent retaliation. But I thank God for the leaders of this state. I thank God for CAN, the youths and traditional rulers’’.
He continued, “We immediately called for a stakeholders’ meeting and reached an agreement and said for the interest of this country, there would be no retaliation. But we are happy that you (Osinbajo) have a document that has been given to you. We are not saying it shouldn’t be investigated, but that document is information that came from the phone of the murderers and that’s what the community printed out and handed over to you. We demand a proper investigation.”
Umahi said three communities of Obeagu, Egedegede and Amaizu in the Ishielu Council area and the Effium community in the Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state, needed the sum of N5bn from the Federal Government to rebuild their homes and resettle. Umahi added, “We demand that justice be given to the victims. This is the agreement and this is the promise I made to the people of Ebonyi State during our extra ordinary meeting on how to calm the situation’’.
Meanwhile, about three weeks before the Soludo and Ebonyi attack, gunmen were said to have killed unspecified number of policemen and soldiers in different locations in Anambra State. It was gathered that policemen were killed in Neni, Anaocha Local Government Area at a checkpoint, while the soldiers were killed at an outpost in Awkuzu, Oyi Local Government Area, both of Anambra State. The gunmen also set ablaze a police van in Neni, and carted away arms belonging to the late policemen, while in Awkuzu, the felled soldiers also lost their weapons to the attackers.
The spokesperson for Anambra State Police Command, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, said the command had received the report and was working to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incidents.
Probably, the attack, Sunday night by gunmen on federal prison and police command headquarters in Owerri, Imo State, by gunmen has sparked off a fresh round of fear in the South East. The number of inmates released from the facility is yet unknown as various figures have been flying up and down.
It was reported the police command and some vehicles parked in the area were set ablaze by the attackers. The police command spokesman Ikeokwu Orlando, confirmed the attack but did not get further.
After the attack in Owerri, fingers were pointed at IPOB’s Eastern Security Network (ESN) but the Biafra agitators have denied involvement in the attack, insisting it is a non violent movement.
Following the attack on Sunday, the Imo State Government House and indeed, the entire Owerri is now heavily militarized. Around the government house alone, there are about 27 hillux 4WDs with over 60 stern looking soldiers and mobile policemen guarding the place.
