Prof Protus Uzorma aka the Reformer is a Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Uyo. He has authored several Christian, Philosophical, Educational, Sociological and Theological books and many contributions in academic journals.
He is a Journalist, social critic and a one-time Deputy Governorship candidate of the United Progressive Party, (UPP). He hails from Okporo is Isu LGA. In this interview with our AFAM ECHI alongside other journalists, Uzorma takes the Igbo governors to the cleaners describing them as the cause of insecurity in the region.
Do you think the creation of Ebubeagu by the South East governors is face saving as alleged by many and to counter the activities of the Eastern Security Network alleged to be causing violence in the region? Why do you think they are coming now after all these while?
In the first place let me correct a wrong impression, an impression that has engulfed the consciousness of people in the wrong direction. Eastern Security Network is not causing any problem in our society.
That is my and which must be respected. In fact, I was on the Plus Television program for 20 minutes on politics few days ago and also in a BBC program on this same issue I made my stand very known. Security is the duty and function of the society. When I am talking of the society I mean the people in the society.
The South West established Amotekun, in the North we have the Miyetti Allah. For a very long time we have emphasized and been talking to our South East governors to be able to do something but they have been very docile in proper application of one of the tenets of democracy in our context-which is security. I was in a meeting of elders of the South East attended by all the governors when the Chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo elders ordered the governors, gave them 30 days to establish security network.
I am sure in keeping to that after the attack on Owerri Prison and Police they now met to establish Ebubeagau which is belated, absolutely belated. It negates the seriousness that ought to have been implemented, observed, upheld, seen and propagated by a governor.
Let me tell you something, Ebubeagu is a mirage, in the sense that South East governors have not been able to pay teachers. Some of them have not been able to live up to expectations. Tell me how they would be able to fund security.
I pray it happens but I see it clashing with ESN. Let Ebubeagu not just be a concept existing only in the world of form, an imaginary thing. But the truth of the matter is that I don’t see our S/E governors being serious because they are the problem of insecurity in the region. I have always accused them. I stated it yesterday on Television that the South East governors that they are not just part of the problem, they are the problem.
Why do you say that they are the problem?
This is because they have refused to do anything. Let me ask what it takes the S/E governors to adopt the ESN. If they adopt it they can refine it if they feel that there are elements that they are not comfortable with. They should adjust it to suit their taste. I see it this creation of Ebubeagu as a conflict. Let’s see how they would fund it and I would identify with it when we begin to see results but I don’t see the results coming.
Do you share in the view that the recent attack by gunmen in Imo was politically motivated?
You see every human being is entitled to his own opinion. The former Inspector General of Police, Idris Adamau, said it was done by ESN. That same evening Gov Hope Uzodimma said it was the handiwork of disgruntled politicians. They are called unknown gunmen. If they are unknown by security officers, and I am not one do you expect me to know them. I don’t know them but I must say in reality that the attack on Correctional Services and Nigeria Police came uninterrupted for good three hours.
The boys had their way but I was surprised that the boys chanted solidarity songs at the Okigwe round about before attacking the Prison and Police. Now you begin to ask yourself, were our security men hypnotized? The answer is No. Feelers we got is that they were over powered. It means that they possessed a more sophisticated weapon and I suspected that this must be a new idea in crime. It is usual that when criminal elements discovers that their modus operandi has been detected they make a change. I know that the ESN cannot perpetrate that act. Rather I suspect the herdsmen; they may be responsible because one of my friends who escaped from the prison told me that those guys were not speaking Igbo but language that they couldn’t understand.
I have investigated this and making a documentary on that. I subscribe to the view that the ESN cannot be involved in that kind of thing. When it was alleged that they were responsible, they refuted it promptly. Remember information from the DSS indicated that they had intelligence report three times but could not work on the intelligence they gathered.
May be there was a compromise somewhere, you never can tell. But the truth of the matter is that we are not safe in this part of the world. It makes people like us extremely bilious; situation where a sitting governor cannot secure the people that he is governing is the apex of aberration. Look at Amotekun and Miyetti Allah, who is funding them. Why can’t the governors come together and secure our people. Our women can no longer go to farm freely again.
With the jail break hardened criminals are now back to the society, what do you think is the best way now to arrest them back and save the society now that they are saying the prison records were burnt?
You cannot put a criminal behind bars without having details of his information. The Correctional Services, the Police, the DSS, the Judiciary should all have details of their information.
So if they claim those documents were burnt, they were not burned in all these agencies. The Judiciary should be able to provide their records. Let me tell you. There are people that should be kept in the prison. They have released the real lions (Ebubeagu) to the society. This will continue to threaten us until those people are rearrested and put back to the prison. Breaking the prison is not in our favour.
Thank you
