According to the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), pro-Biafra organisations pushing for the actualization of Biafra should not be held exclusively responsible for the current level of instability wreaking havoc on the South East area.
It said that, among other things, the use of force by security personnel, the Federal Government’s approach towards infrastructure distribution, and the indiscriminate detention of young people on the pretence of bandits had all contributed to the region’s increased level of insecurity.
Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma, stated this in Enugu, yesterday while speaking during the official launch of the report, ‘Unveiling the Roots of Insecurity; Healing the Wounds of Human Rights Violations in South-East Nigeria: A Path Towards Peace, Open Democratic Space and a Prosperous Future.”
Nwanguma pointed out that blaming pro-Biafra agitation alone for the region’s instability would present a distorted and misguided image of the reality.
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However, he stated that in order to guarantee long-lasting peace, the solution to combating instability in the South East had to be viewed appropriately.
According to Nwanguma, the group’s results paint a dismal image of the region’s public security practices, which mostly rely on oppressive police and military action—often with excessive force.
He said: “The report documents instances where the police in the region have acted in compliance with reckless directives, such as the “shoot at sight” order by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021 and the Inspector General of Police’s (IGP) subsequent order on them to go after the indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), kill them and not worry about shouts of human rights violation.
“The police embarked on indiscriminate mass raids and arrests, incommunicado detention, torture, public parade and executions of accused, mostly innocent persons.”
In the meantime, a lack of patriotism among Nigerians has been linked to the nation’s socioeconomic and political problems, including nepotism, poor leadership, corruption, misgovernance, abuse of human rights, and insecurity.
During a one-day multi-stakeholder senatorial town hall meeting on “The Role of Citizens’ Participation in Good Governance, Transparency and Accountability,” which was organised by Alliance for Africa (AfA), an African feminist non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Owerri, members of civil society organisations (CSOs), lawmakers, and other key stakeholders in Imo State revealed this.
According to the Imo stakeholders, Nigerians’ failure to band together and resist the country’s shared path will only serve to exacerbate the nation’s problems rather than addressing them for the benefit of all citizens and the country as a whole.
They said: “Until every Nigerian thinks and acts beyond tribalistic and religious sentiments, prioritising nation’s unity, peace and development over personal gains, fearlessly speaking truth to power, efforts to get Nigeria of our collective dream will continue to remain a mirage.”