A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, has opened a new can of worms on the exacerbating security crisis ravaging the South East due to the activities of the unknown gunmen enforcing the IPOB’s sit-at-home orders.
The lawmaker representing Ideato Federal Constituency in Imo State on the platform of PDP, in an interview with Arise News on Monday, accused some governors in the South East of benefiting from the insecurity, claiming that the governors liked the chaos caused by the enforcement of the sit-at-home orders.
Hon. Ugochinyere, in what was a revelatory outburst, specifically pointed an accusing finger against the Imo state governor, Hope Uzodimma, disclosing that he is the one fueling the unknown gunmen crisis.
He alleged that Uzodinma hired vigilantes from neighboring states, who turned out to be the unknown gunmen.
Ugochinyere said, “Some of the governors in the southeast are enjoying the crisis. Some of the governors like the confusion because, possibly, they are benefiting from this atmosphere of insecurity and the feeling of being unsafe among our people. And some of them, let me say boldly without mincing any words, recruited vigilante groups from neighboring states into their state security architecture, and then what you see is that the same security vigilante people they recruited turned out to be unknown gunmen, also part of the problem.”
“Of course, the governor of Imo State and the vigilante he is running are political outfits that are going after their political opponents. Houses are being burned; people are being killed left, right, and center. I am saying that he is fueling the crisis, and I have evidence to back that.”
Ugochinyere then said that the Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo will be holding a meeting where they plan to bring up solutions for the insecurity and economic issues in the South East.
He said, “Lawmakers in the South East are working together, especially at the House of Representatives, where we have started meeting on how to form a common position in tackling all these challenges.” He then said that the meeting will contain discussions on how they can promote inclusion, security, and economic growth to maintain a sense of peace and progress in the South East.
Speaking about meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ask for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the representative said, “I think that meeting the president is very important. Our governors, our lawmakers, captains of industry, businessmen, and all the different socio-cultural interest groups—it’s very, very important. I agree to that.” He then said that it will be a follow-up to Mbazulike Amaechi’s visit to former President Muhammadu Buhari during his administration, where he advocated for Nnamdi Kanu’s release. “This visit is also important for other areas that need to be sorted out before you go into the full discussion of letting him go home. Because it’s not just letting him go home, other conversations are also going to be discussed.”
When Ugochinyere was questioned on ways to solve the issues in the South-East, he then replied, “The things that led to the agitation were the issues of marginalization, the issue of unfair treatment, and the issue of a lack of integration and full acceptance. And the issues that led to the insecurity were all rooted in equity, fairness, and justice.”
So, in trying to solve the problem, we have to now say, Okay, how do we build bridges of unity? How do we have a Nigeria where every component feels included? That inclusiveness is very important because the feeling of exclusion is fueling the agitation. The feeling of exclusion is fueling the belief that separation is the only way to have a solution.”
