Obi condemns sit-at-home in South East, exonerates IPOB

Emmy Joe

The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party has finally spoken up against the rising spate of insecurity in the South East and North Central.

This comes after a number of allegations made by supporters of opposition parties that the former governor, who is quick to criticize the wrongdoings of the ruling governments in Lagos state and at the federal level, was refusing to speak out against the alarmingly high level of insecurity that is spreading throughout the South-East.

Mr Obi in a tweet on Thursday lamented that the mindless bloodletting particularly in the North Central and South East was becoming increasingly worrisome.

“The rising insecurity in the country leading to mindless bloodletting, particularly in the North Central zone of the country, and the continued disruption of business and social activities in the South East are all becoming very worrisome,” Mr Obi in the tweet said.

The Labour party’s presidential candidate said that the number of casualties recorded from attacks in would be mind boggling even far more than the deaths recorded at the ongoing Russia/ Ukraine war.

“The violent attacks in the North Central states of Benue and Plateau lately took a new twist with high records of kidnapping, arson, and loss of human lives. According to the 1st Quarter Mass Atrocities Casualty Tracking Report, over 1230 Nigerians were killed 79 of them security operatives, with over 600 abductions in the first quarter of this year alone. With what has been happening in the North Central and Zamfara state lately the figure as of today will be mind-boggling even far more than the deaths recorded in Russia/Ukraine ongoing carnage. It’s unacceptable that hundreds of innocent lives will continue to be wasted in Nigeria needlessly through communal clashes, bandits, and kidnapping activities. The situation in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau state has raised a lot of anxiety because of the number of lives and properties lost with very little resistance from security operatives,” the tweet added.

“ Also disturbing is the continued disruption of business and social activities in the South East region over the Sit-at-Home directive purported to be coming from the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, when the body has publicly denied issuing such directive. What is going on in the South East therefore is essentially a criminal activity that must be nipped in the bud, with all hands being on deck, security agencies, and the people alike.”

The former Anambra governor commended South-East governors for their renewed effort at tackling the ongoing insecurity in the region; he however called for the need to be more strategic and intelligence-driven.

“The South East Governors are to be commended for their renewed efforts at curbing this menace but there is a need to be more strategic and intelligence-driven in our approach to reducing the suffering of innocent people.Security agencies should take necessary and quick steps to arrest the ugly incidents because the country cannot just be spilling the blood of innocent citizens. We as a people through our various governments should up our value for human lives in the way and manner we respond to issues that touch lives. The implications of an insecure environment for development are far-reaching because no investor will consider going to an area where their resources will not be safe and secured.”