Former Nigerian
Ambassador to Spain, Amb. Bianca Ojukwu, has decried the deteriorating
security situation in the South-Eastern part of the country.
She made this known at the
annual conference of the American Veterans of of Igbo Descent (AVID) on
Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, made available to newsmen in Enugu.
The theme of the conference is:
‘‘Stand Up For Your People,” which focuses on the current security challenges
facing South-Eastern Nigeria, the homeland of the Igbo ethnic group.
The widow of the late Biafra
leader, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, also called for the release of Mr
Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
“Once he (Kanu) is set free,
the security situation in the South-East would greatly improve,” she said.
She also called on Igbo people
in the diaspora to continue to uphold and defend their core values, sense of
identity and heritage.
According to her, their
concerns about the worsening security situation in the South-East are justified.
She noted that the security
situation was not only limited to the South-East, but a scourge ravaging most
states in Nigeria.
Ojukwu also called on the
governors of the South-East states to combine their collective will and
collaborate more effectively toward tackling the security challenge.
“The state of insecurity in
Igboland is posing an existential threat to life as we know it in our
communities,” she emphasised.
She decried the incessant
killings and kidnappings, the annexation and takeover of community farmlands by
armed herdsmen and other dangerous invaders.
According to her, theses
menaces have taken their toll on agro-economic and social activities in Igbo
communities.
“Opportunistic criminal
elements within Igbo land have hitched onto the separatist agitation bandwagon
to commit heinous crimes, and seem to have sufficiently degraded the
capabilities of security forces with their superior firepower.
“Many people are leaving their
villages out of fear and once thriving communities have become depleted and
devitalised and in some cases assuming the status and appearance of ghost
towns,” she said.
She called on the governors of
the South-East, who are the chief security officers of their states, to
intensify their individual and collective efforts towards bringing the alarming
situation under control.
Also speaking, Sen. Enyinnaya
Abaribe, (Abia North), said that the current state of insecurity in Igbo land
could be traced to 2021.
“This is following the arrest
and illegal detention till date of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” Abaribe said.
The senator wondered why the
South-East remained the zone with the highest number of police and army
checkpoints per kilometre in Nigeria.
“Yet, the so-called unknown
gunmen and sundry insecurity purveyors roam about fearlessly in Ala-Igbo
causing devastation without check,” he said.
He maintained that “it is only
when the government and its security agencies genuinely want to tackle
insecurity that it will be severely reduced across the country.”
Other speakers at the occasion
included a former lawmaker and past Secretary to the Government of Imo, Uche
Onyeagocha; business mogul, Chief Kingson Njoku and Haitian Senator, Jean
Moise, among others.
Dr Sly Onyia, AVID President,
announced that AVID was presently working on establishing a direct flight from
the U.S. to the South-East.
The conference also featured a
banquet, award presentations and the appointment of Ojukwu, who is a former
Miss Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant winner, as the Patroness of AVID.
The News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) reports that AVID is a non-profit organisation, which comprises U.S.
citizens of Igbo parentage.
They are either currently
serving or have served in various branches of the country’s military at
different times, in different conflicts and theatres of war. (NAN)
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