An advocacy organization, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), has highlighted that the current insecurity in South-East Nigeria should not be solely attributed to secessionist groups advocating for the actualization of the Biafra Nation.
This revelation was made during the presentation of a report titled “Unveiling the Roots of Insecurity, Healing the Wounds of Human Rights Violations in Southeast Nigeria: A Path Towards Peace, Open Democratic Space, and a Prosperous Future.”
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RULAAC accused the Nigerian government of adopting a counterproductive approach in addressing insecurity in the South-East, driven by what they perceive as then-President Muhammadu Buhari’s disdain for the region.
Comrade Okechukwu Nwanguma, the Executive Director of RULAAC, explained that the report aimed to provide insight into the true nature, roots, patterns, dimensions, and effects of the government’s approach to tackling insecurity in the region.
Nwanguma emphasized that the federal government seemed unwilling to heed the voices of reason concerning Southeast development and peace.
He criticized the government for not sincerely addressing the plight of the people or solving their problems, opting instead for a single-minded brute force approach.
He further pointed out that while pro-Biafra agitation and insurgency contribute to insecurity in the South East, attributing the problem solely to these factors paints an incomplete picture.
RULAAC’s findings depict a bleak picture of public security policies in the region, heavily reliant on repressive police and military action, often executed with excessive force.
The report documents instances where the police in the Southeast have acted in compliance with reckless directives such as the ‘’shoot-on-sight’’ order by President Buhari in 2021 and the subsequent order by the Inspector General of Police to go after IPOB members without concern for human rights violations.
The chairman of the occasion, Prof Okey Ibeanu, expressed regret over the transformation of the Southeast from a bastion of peace into a theater of war.
Dr. ChiChi Aniagolu, the Regional Director (West Africa) at Ford Foundation, which provided financial support for the report, called on Igbo leaders to urgently address the situation, emphasizing that without peace, development would be elusive.
