With the repeated focus on the South East states by the military and current siege in Imo State following the recent assassination of Ahmed Gulak, a former aide to Goodluck Jonathan, by unknown gunmen, the geopolitical zone is affected across board as people live their lives on the edge, businesses suffer and investors are looking towards other zones.
South East, which is known for its entrepreneurial prowess, often said to be without government support, is currently fighting for survival if the military siege persists as the youthful population, which is the major workforce is hiding.
For the zone that survived the civil war, the recent three-day sit-at-home impacted its economy adversely as no economic activity took place, people feared for their lives and stayed at home.
Residents are worried that the current siege to the zone by soldiers will result in shutting down of many businesses in a zone where government work is very scarce. Logistics and transport companies are already reducing their business volume across eastern states as tension heightens because of the ongoing military siege.
Emeka Nwanganga, a supermarket owner in Egbu, a suburb of Owerri, the Imo State capital, has not opened his supermarket since the sit-at-home order for fear of uncertainty in the air.
Some business premises have been visited often by security men looking for people the owners don’t know, while the parents are advising the children to stay at home for now. The situation, according to Nwanganga, is worrying as the environment seems to return to the Covid-19 lockdown era.
The serious thought for many is the fact that the government is not paying salaries and businesses are made to suffer, they wonder how the people will survive.
BusinessDay Sunday gathered that many young men that have meaning businesses, or those who manage shops have abandoned their shops in some parts of the zone for the fear of being arrested on trumped-up allegations.
Bede Eke, a member of the House of Representatives representing Abor Mbaise and Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency of Imo State, Thursday raised the alarm that security agents were killing innocent people in his constituency.
He said that some of his constituents had fled to the bush due to fear of being harassed by security operatives in their homes.
Eke particularly lamented the alleged killing of a young man, “who until his death owned a Shawarma shop just to make ends meet. He was shot by the Army.”
Reacting to the development, a founding member of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chekwa Okorie warned security agencies to be careful not to degenerate the already tense situation in the South East, alleging that several killings were going on secretly.
According to him, “The attitude of the security agency is creating tension in the South East; I mean what is happening now defies logic. When you said you have apprehended and killed the killers of Gulak why are you going round villages and communities and arresting and killing young men?
“A lot of people have been tortured and we don’t know because it is not in the news. The leaders of the security agencies should be careful so that they do not further degenerate the tension in the South East”.
Speaking in a similar vein, a former presidential candidate and activist, Martin Onovo condemned the situation, alleging that the situation in the South East was a deliberate plan by the current administration to forcefully take up lands belonging to the region.
“What is happening in Imo State is unfortunate and clearly shows the double standard of the Buhari administration. For me, I think what is happening there is a deliberate plan by this government to Fulanise the country, an expansionist agenda.
“The killings have been deliberately carried out in Imo State; or how do you explain it when you said Gulak killers have been arrested and killed and you are still going after innocent people. The armed forces are conniving with bandits and Fulani people to cause havoc, killing and causing confusion across Nigeria,” he said.
Onovo further stated that he was not surprised with the spate of insecurity and killings across Nigeria, alleging that the security agencies were abating the criminals and terrorists to cause havoc on Nigerians.
“This people want land, even Danjuma and Baraje confirmed that they were brought in here from other countries. So, there is an expansionist agenda by this administration and what is happening has further confirmed it.
“We should ask questions, even journalists should ask questions; this is a country where the Court has been shut for months and nobody is talking. Nigeria is a failed state, and the better we realise this.
“These people are Fulani’s, Bororo’s, they want land to establish their home as a military base. It is a conquest agenda. The facts are clear, it is documented; all the missing arms money, why is the media not doing enough in questioning the government?
“The government said they know where the bandits are and their sponsors. Why not arrest them? The Fulani were repelled in Kogi and Plateau States and after recovering their weapons, it was discovered that they were using Nigeria military weapons. The APC is the sponsor of these people,” Onovo added.
In his response over the activities of soldiers and other security agents in South East, particularly in Imo State, Dubem Ofodile, an Abuja-based lawyer, said there was no justification for turning the zone into a war zone.
“We all heard the outcry of Governor Hope Uzodinma that over 70 percent of some criminals arrested were not Igbo and that majority of the crimes going on in the state are perpetrated by elements outside Igboland and the Ebonyi governor confirmed that. So, the invasion of security agents can only be interpreted to me a calculated attempt to kill easterners in large number,” Ofodile said
Toeing the same line, Joel Amakubi Amanze, an Owerri indigene and maritime lawyer, said that soldiers’ rampage in Imo communities is illegal and uncalled for since Gulak’s killers have been apprehended and executed by the police.
“With the ongoing rampage, it means the military does not trust the police despite the evidence of the killed assassins. I think the soldiers are in Imo for some ulterior motives,” the angry indigene said.
The lawyer lamented that sending soldiers to Imo communities is illegal, counterfeits police efforts and would result in bloodbath of innocent citizens.
Also worried over the reason for sending soldiers on rampage in the zone, observers query why soldiers were not sent to other parts of the country where people are being killed every day, especially Benue and Plateau states where the killers are even boldly brandishing their weapons and openly claiming responsibility for heinous crimes, including murders.
“Why did soldiers not invade Ondo communities to fish out killers of Afenifere chieftain, why are they not after killers of Governor Samuel Ortom’s security aide a few days ago? They are obeying orders and such orders are not good for the unity of this country; some people shouldn’t die, while others live”, Yinka Owoyemi, a public analyst and girl-child activist, said.
“Does it mean the Federal Government will be sending soldiers to any place they kill someone to fish out the killers. For me, the Imo case is selective treatment, which is not good,” she wondered.
