Igbo women’s group decry high insecurity in Southeast

 

A women’s group, Mothers of Ndigbo has decried the high level of insecurity in the Southeast, calling on the federal government to quickly wade in and stop the incessant killings.

The group which consists of Igbo women from the age of 60 and above at a press conference on Tuesday said the insecurity in the zone has gotten to a climax.

Mrs Chika Ibeneme who addressed journalists on behalf of the group said mothers can no longer watch while security deteriorates,

“The situation has gotten to the climax in recent time that we can no longer afford to stand and watch while the security situation in Nigeria, particularly in the South East region continues to deteriorate.

The group said since 2015, there have been systematic attacks on peace and tranquillity which has existed in the region over the years, with attendant economic hardships on citizens.

They said the attacks and other insecurity problem has forced the zone into poverty according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ rating.

The group chronicled some killings in the zone, while also protesting what it called the lopsided appointment of security personnel in the country, which has left the South-east with no representative at the security council.

It said, “To date, despite all these killings, it is on record that no single perpetrator of these heinous atrocities against the people have been held to account or brought to justice while the victims have neither been adequately compensated nor taken care of.

“Armed herders have been invading and violently seizing and occupying ancestral bushes, farmlands and forests belonging to the indigenous people of the South-east region and its outposts in Kogi, Benue, Delta, Edo, Rivers and Cross River States.”

Proffering solutions, the group said: “As an immediate remedial measure before the situation gets out of hand, the Federal Government must, without further delay, demilitarize the South East Region and its key outposts.

“We call on the federal government to immediately end the policy of flooding our land and its outposts with compromised Muslim military and police commanders.

“All killer herdsmen, clandestinely aided and protected by federal security forces who have now permanently settled in farmlands, bushes and forests in our land and our key neighbouring states must be moved out and relocated back to wherever they were brought from.”