South-East, Insecurity, and IPOB -By Paul Iwunwa

Lately, there’s been a pattern in the press to always tag IPOB whenever a crime is committed in the southeast. I have watched this happen with dismay.

For example, if cultists are arrested by the Police, rather than call them by their name “cultists”, the press finds ways to label them IPOB. If some notorious kidnappers get busted, rather than call them “kidnappers”, you hear them say “IPOB kidnapped”. Lastly, as seen in Imo where gunmen go about targeting traditional rulers and law enforcement officers, the press helps them with the hideous facade by not calling them out by their true names “killers” or “bandits” but rather IPOB. 

While I don’t support the activities of IPOB, we should be mindful of how we are quick to pass judgement. If the press are sincere, they would have known that before the coming of IPOB, criminals existed in the east. IPOB was not born when Derico made Onitsha his base. IPOB weren’t in existence when Osisikannkwu n’ Aba made Ngwaland a living hell. Are the Police saying that every criminal or murderer caught in the east is a member of IPOB? The supposed confessions of all these arrested criminals who say they are working for IPOB, who vetted their confession? 

The Blame Game

But who do we blame for the insecurity in the southeast? For me the blame goes to the federal government, state government and IPOB. 

On the part of the federal government, they should be blamed for not living up to their responsibility by allowing insecurity to thrive in the east. The same way the government kept mum until the bandit situation got out of hand in the north and the middle belt is the same way they kept silent when criminals took charge of the east. Some pro-establishment supporters will say Kanu’s arrest will stem the tide of insecurity. I don’t believe so. A lot needs to be done, whether by dialogue to whom deserves that dialogue and by brute force to those who deserve that brutality.

For the state government, they allowed the criminal menace to thrive. The Southeast Governors weren’t proactive by setting the mechanism in place to curb the criminal activities at the early stages. The Ebubeagu formation came late as criminals had already gotten emboldened by the snail-speed will of the eastern Governors. Even when Ebubeagu was set up, they were no personnel and equipment to set the ball rolling.

For IPOB, I’ll make use of proverbs. A regular proverb says that a person should not throw stones in the marketplace he might hit a loved one. Another proverb says that a person who brings an ant-infested wood home takes the blame when things go awry. If truly the DSS is acting the script of insecurity in the Southeast, who assisted them with the idea and approach? When Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was in command of IPOB, he was warned by peace lovers to be mindful of his utterances. But some fanboys kept cheering him on. Many of us condemned some of these utterances. For example, the Owerri prison break and the moral support it got from IPOB leadership was one of them. The formation of ESN which culminated in arming unemployed youths is another bad move by the group. Some of these boys are part of the unknown gunmen disturbing the east. The same goes with reckless videos and audios of threats to carry out actions from some supposedly IPOB leaders abroad. Some of whom have not learnt any lesson and are still making the threats.

The Way Forward

First, IPOB must stop making the situation worst by their utterance and actions. As we see from the press release by Emma Powerful who seems to be pointing blames in all directions yet absorbing themselves from the root cause. Truth be told, IPOB pushed the insecurity to another level by forming the ESN. You don’t become stupid by making things worst than you met them. An illegal group have no right by law to provide security to a region. Only terrorists enforce laws when there’s an existing government. After arming boys how then do you monitor the use of these weapons handed to them? And what is the correlation between fighting for freedom and supporting criminals? Freedom fighters and activists should never be caught justifying criminal actions even if you are dissatisfied with the corrupt practices and extra-judicial acts of the Police. The actions and inactions of IPOB leadership should be a lesson to future groups in the Southeast. You don’t cut your nose to spite your nose.

Second, it’s high time Ndigbo takes the bull by the horn. Beginning from the Igbo leadership and down to the masses. The Southeast Governors, traditional rulers, Intelligentsia and indigenes home and abroad must come together to nip this insecurity in the bud. The insecurity has led to the destruction of economic activities in the east. Folks travelling home for the annual December holidays are sceptical about such movement as people are conscious about getting harmed or kidnapped. This affects the FDI’s that should accrue to eastern households and businesses.

Third, the federal and state governments must liaise together to find lasting solutions to the insecurity in the Southeast. The Ebubeagu security that was set up by the South-East Governors Forum must be empowered with the necessary personnel and equipment to begin their mandate.

Fourth, the press must stop labelling all criminals in the east as IPOB members. Call them by their names as being done with the bandits terrorising the north.

Why All Hands Must Be On Deck

There was a time when Onitsha and Aba were terrorised by criminals, it took the intervention of the people to form a security outfit called Bakassi boys to flush them out. The same happened in  Aba when Osisi-ka-nkwu and his boys made Ngwaland a living hell. Ndi-Aba had to call on the government who wasted no time to destroy the camps of the criminals and send them packing. Ndigbo must come together to find a lasting solution to the insecurity in the South-East. The same way the President-General of town unions and community leaders are finding solutions to the drug abuse and mkurumiri menace in the east is the same way everyone must get involved in security.