Igbo women under the aegis of the Igbo Women Assembly (IWA) have called on the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, to direct his focus on tackling Fulani terrorists displacing communities across the South East if he is truly committed to restoring peace in the region.
Responding to Musa’s recent warning against promoting the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the women insisted that the real threat to peace in the South East is the rampaging herders, not IPOB.
The CDS, who spoke during a community engagement in Omor, Anambra State, said that the spread of unverified information “not only endangers the region but also poses a threat to national unity and peace.”
The CDS who was represented by Group Captain Ibrahim Bukar, said that “IPOB’s actions are detrimental not just to the South East, but to Nigeria as a whole” and should not be supported in any form.
But IWA, in a swift response, argued that contrary to claims by the federal government, “IPOB is not a terrorist group but a peaceful movement protesting the marginalisation and continued exclusion of the South East from the scheme of things in Nigeria.”
IWA, in a strong—worded statement by its National President, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, challenged the CDS to advise the federal government to listen to the agitations of IPOB and engage the group in a dialogue with a view to addressing its genuine concerns, instead of resorting to propaganda to blackmail its members.
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The statement read: “We want to remind Gen. Musa that IPOB members are not terrorists but our children who are protesting the ill-treatment and marginalisation of the South East from the scheme of things in Nigeria. Since the civil war, the Southeast has been grossly marginalised by the Nigerian State.
“From 1966, after the assassination of Gen. Aguiyironsi till date, no Igbo man has been President of Nigeria. Ndigbo has grossly been marginalised in political appointments by successive administrations in the country.
“They have been denied their rightful promotion, especially those in the security agencies. And that’s part of the reasons Igbo youths are losing interest in military recruitment.
“They have refused to join the military and even the police because they hardly get promoted, unlike their colleagues from other tribes. In other federal establishments, the story is the same. The quota of the South East is always shortchanged.
“So, these are the things these children are protesting. When they graduate from school, like their fellow youths from other tribes, they don’t get equal opportunities for employment. That’s what they are protesting because they believe that they are not included in Nigeria’s structure. They feel unjustly excluded.
“They want inclusion and full integration into the Nigerian system. We can no longer foolishly shy away from the plights of our children.”
The women queried the rationale behind the constant release of captured terrorists who claim to have repented, while peaceful agitators like IPOB members are held in perpetual detention.
“Why is the federal government killing IPOB members but granting amnesty to bandits and mass murderers who have not stopped killing innocent citizens, including security agents? Why is the government killing our youths on peaceful protests, but allowing armed herdsmen on a killing spree to keep roaming our communities with guns?
“Fulani herdsmen do not need AK-47s in the South East because there has never been any incident of cattle rustling in the region. For them to carry AK-47s to shoot people shows they have an evil agenda because they don’t shoot and run, but shoot and stay.
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