By Gabriel Atumeyi
A Security expert and democracy campaigner, Emeka Umeagbalasi, has enjoined the Federal government to bring to an end its discriminatory policies against the South East region and initiate a national dialogue conference as the pathway to stemming the growing insecuriy in the region.
Umeagbalasi made this recommendation as part of a 16-point critical solutions delivered in a series of lectures held on Thursday 15th April to Saturday 17th April 2021, in an event that saw lettered stakeholders from across the region converging at Owerri, the Imo State capital to brainstorm on the role of state actors in the deteriorating security situation in South East.
The event tagged: Imperative of National Dialogue for Unity, Security and Development-Southeast Zonal Stakeholders Dialogue was organized by Neighborhood Environment Watch Foundation, founded by Okezie Kelechi, and funded by Savannah Center for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD), founded by Professor Ibrahim Gambari, a renowned diplomat and who is currently the Chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
In his presentation, Umeagbalasi, who holds a Masters of Science Degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution, said the present Federal Government of Nigeria and its security forces particularly the Nigerian Army are to be blamed for the rising insecurity in the region for promoting and sustaining policy of structural violence, physical violence and cultural violence against the region and its population.
He said years of unaddressed state actor injustices including massacre of hundreds of defenseless citizens, indiscriminate clampdowns on self determination activists and uninvolved others, ethnic profiling and hatred, crackdowns on the basis of ethnicity and religion, impunity and aiding of the jihadist activities of the Fulani Herdsmen, among others, can lead to ‘citizens’ reprisal radicalism’ and widespread defensive self help.
Umeagbalasi said: “The Nigerian Government must demilitarize the Southeast Region and its key outposts including its named gateway neighbors by removing them from the military and police siege and withdrawing all the deployed military and police personnel on their roads, boundaries and other strategic locations.
“The flooding of the Region and its outposts with Fulani-Hausa Muslim military and police commanders must be reversed and all the top officers named above and similar others removed or transferred out of the Region and its outposts. The percentage of Muslim senior Military and Policing officers to be posted to the Region and its named outposts must be drastically reduced to 30% so as to allow the Christian indigenous officers to fill 70% of the total slots or positions and give the indigenous citizens of the Region a true sense of security and safety.
” All Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen, clandestinely aided and brought by the military and the police of the Nigerian Government and permanently settled in farmlands, bushes and forests in the Region and its key outposts must be moved out and relocated back to their northern bases and others where they were brought from.
Umeagbalasi also advocated for a reversal of lopsidedness in appointments that allegedly favours a particular region to oversee key military and security agencies in the Southeast region which has led to violations while calling for consultation of indigenous stakeholders which also have the capacity to enhance their security in their own good.
“Fifteen of key Army and Police formations in the Southeast, twelve are headed by Muslims including ten Fulani-Hausa Muslims and two Southwest Muslims and out of the fifteen, only one is Igbo and two others Hausa Christian (CP, Anambra) and South-south Christian (CP, Abia). In the Southeast gateway States of Benue, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa, out of their fifteen key Army and Police formations, thirteen are headed by Muslims including ten Fulani-Hausa Muslims and two Southwest Muslims and only two are Christians including Rivers State Commissioner of Police who is from Delta State.
“The Nigerian Government must frontally address and reverse the top security appointment imbalances highlighted above especially flooding key military and policing formations in the Southeast Region and its outposts with senior military and policing officers of Fulani-Hausa and Southwest Muslim backgrounds and revert back to Constitutional Sections 10, 14 (3), 42 and 217 (3) in balancing the appointments and postings.
“Until the named top security posts’ imbalances are addressed and reversed, the Southeast Governors must steer clear or stay away from raising a regional security outfit and allow same to be operated by non state actors with capacity of being more independent and effective. Instead, the Southeast Governors, in consultation with critical indigenous stakeholders, shall send anti open grazing and odd hours grazing bills and get them passed into law by the Houses of Assembly of the Southeast Region and possibly that of Delta State.
He further called for investigations into the many arrest of Southeastern citizens on allege affiliation with IPOB and across board to include the El Zakzakky case and similar, that under that guise atrocities and impunities have been perpetrated.
“There shall be a special probe panel to criminally investigate the listed massacres or butcheries so as to fish out the perpetrators and put them on trial or hand them over to ICC for international prosecution and victims of the butcheries must be carefully and harmlessly identified and adequately compensated or catered for.
“The proscription of IPOB must be revisited and reversed; likewise that of Islamic Movement in Nigeria or Shiite Muslims and all their members presently abducted and held in secret dungeons by the Army, Police and DSS must be freed and all pending criminal proceedings against them and their members dropped and discontinued in all the courts across the country.
” The Nigerian Government must reverse its renewed crackdowns on IPOB activists and other innocent citizens labeled so and unconditionally release or free not less than 500 IPOB activists and innocent others secretly abducted across Eastern Nigeria since Jan 2021 by DSS, Army and Police and presently held in secret locations within and outside Eastern Nigeria without court bail and trial. Not only that the abducted Igbo citizens are presently undergoing torture and other inhuman and degrading treatments or punishments but also scores are most likely to have faced unlawful executions and extrajudicial killings in captivity.
“A National Dialogue/Constitutional Conference will address the concerns of Nigerians including the type of government (i.e. regionalism or federalism or confederacy and security arrangements such as decentralization of the military and policing forces), religious practices and freedoms and a new constitution to be put in place to replace the non inclusive and militarist 1999 Constitution.