By COLLINS UGHALAA

For some time now, Imo State hitherto reckoned as one of the safest states in the country, has been battling with security challenges. Hoodlums in some parts of the state resorted to carrying out all manners of daredevil activities. They attacked police stations in some local government areas in the state, killed innocent policemen on duty and carted away arms and ammunitions. Most of the policemen killed in line of duty are undoubtedly Igbo sons and daughters. However, the attacks on the police headquarters in the state and the Custodial Centre in Owerri, where over 1,800 inmates were released against the society, and the brazen attack on the country home of Governor Hope Uzodinma, are recorded as the height of the dastardly attacks.

Apart from the attacks on public facilities and the killing of security men, some civilians have been reported killed either from stray bullets or outright mishandling of firearm by some security officials in the course of enforcing peace and security in the state, or in the hands of hoodlums. These deaths are avoidable, unnecessary, and do not in any way help the cause of Ndigbo. Specifically, it does not in any way help in addressing the marginalisation of Ndigbo.

Imo State had maintained its peaceful nature until the ill-fated #EndSARS protests. The #EndSARS protests that rocked the country last year took a toll on security agencies across the country. The protest, which took off peacefully, gradually turned violent, with shocking records of daredevil actions, including attacks on security personnel, security formations and custodial centres. With the attacks on the security personnel, our security officers hitherto known for their gallantry became demoralised. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Alkali Baba, recently said that the disbandment of the strike force, the (notorious) Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), demoralised the police and created a vacuum in policing. Speaking during a media parley organised by the Presidential Communication Team on Thursday, May 27, the IGP said: “With the proscription of SARS and the establishment of SWAT, which has not been able to take off fully, we had a vacuum in tackling most of the violent crimes from a position of strength in terms of having a strike force that is dedicated to that, and having our conventional police doing the policing in a conventional way. So, we try to marshal back the courage of our personnel.”

It is clear that what is going on in Imo State is an unprecedented carnage. It is barbaric for anyone to think that the ongoing carnage serves his interests, or that it affords him the opportunity to cut a pound of flesh from the governor. It has become imperative to point this out following unguarded comments from some persons that parade themselves as members of the opposition, who see in the crisis a chance to get even with the government. The opposition figures who express these barbaric thoughts are unpatriotic. They believe that the insecurity in the state is in response to the ruling of the Supreme Court that Uzodinma was validly elected governor of Imo State in the March 9, 2019 governorship election. This group of opposition party elements remain stuck in the past and wish the heavens could be pulled down, as a way to get even with the governor. They, therefore, suggest that Uzodinma should step down as a precondition for peace in the state. These weird thoughts are antithetical to common interests of Imo people.

The crisis in Imo State and the South-East in general is largely fuelled by a lot of lies and deception as a deliberate strategy to hoodwink a lot of unsuspecting people into supporting the cause of the hoodlums. Sadly, many are falling for this booby-trap. Apart from the false narratives created by some political actors, there is a false claim that governors of the Yoruba nation fully back the secessionist group in their domain. This falsehood almost gained a stronghold on many Igbo youths but for the Governor of Ondo State, Alakurin Akeredolu, who busted the lie. He said that South-west governors do not support the secessionist group.

In a statement by Richard Olatunde, the governor’s spokesman, Akeredolu said it has come to his knowledge “that some group of persons who held a rally under the cover of what they term ‘secessionist agitations’ in Akure, on Saturday, May 22, 2021, erroneously claimed to have had his support for the rally. Governor Akeredolu wishes to state clearly that while he acknowledges the right of individuals and groups to hold peaceful rallies, it must not be misconstrued to mean support for secessionist agenda and or balkanization of the nation. Far from it! Unequivocally, the governor’s opinion on the Akure rally or any other of its ilk, is only to the effect that he is not opposed to any civil protest, which is not in breach of the extant laws of the nation...Governor Akeredolu stands by a virile, united and indivisible Nigeria as demanded by the Southern Governors’ Forum.”

Like the hijacked #EndSARS protests, the agitation for actualisation of Biafra seems to have been hijacked already. Hoodlums now seem to lend themselves for use by disgruntled persons to settle personal scores. The attack on Orji Police Division purportedly based on ownership tussle over the piece of land housing the police division; the recent killing of Alhaji Ahmed Gulak on Sunday – which many believe is politically motivated; the hijacking of truckload of onions at Afor Enyiogugu and Afor Ogbe in Mbaise area of the state; the reported killing of a policeman at IMSU Back-gate and reported killing in a community at Awo-Omamma by hoodlums, point to the possibility that the group has been hijacked by other interests.

The apparent hijacking of the agitation for Biafra Republic is not the first time groups like this have been hijacked. In the early 2000 a group known as Bakassi Boys emerged to checkmate rising armed robbery and kidnapping in the South-East. Sooner than later, the group which had its origin in Ariaria Market in Aba, Abia State, was hijacked and used by unscrupulous elements to settle personal scores, leading to the killing of many innocent prominent Igbo sons and daughters on trumped up charges. In no time, the group was divided into two factions. And, of course, they were disbanded and consigned to the dustbin of history.

We cannot continue this way. The hostilities in Imo State and the South-East in general have to end. We do not have to turn against our people because we feel we have been marginalised. We don’t have to cut off our nose to spite our face or set our house ablaze because we are fighting our neighbour. We should imbibe the habit of talking things over, because it is better to do so than fight over things. Pundits posit that Biafra is an idea that cannot be crushed by any military force anywhere. It is utterly meaningless to engage in armed struggle in pursuance of an idea. Ideas are intellectually based, and the best way to actualise ideas is through intellectual engagement. The Yoruba nation did not resort to armed struggle to actualise the ideals of June 12. We cannot resort to armed struggle to actualise Biafra either. It would be in the interest of Imo people for everyone across the political divide to come together and realise that what is going on is a collective calamity. According to Police Public Relations Officer, Imo State Command, Bala Elkana, it is “a battle for all of us.” No one should play the ostrich. No one should think for one minute that he is not involved.

Nevertheless, it is heartwarming to read reports of how community youths are mobilising and assisting security officials to repel attacks on public facilities, especially police stations, instead of standing by applauding and praying for the hoodlums, or collecting bags of onions from hoodlums who do not mean well for us. We should continue to stand by the government and the security officers while tasking them to operate within the rules of their engagement and minimise deaths by “stray bullets.” If people continue to die by stray bullets, obviously many would recoil and may not make themselves available to assist in the fight against the hoodlums.

We do not have to give room for another pogrom. Should Nigeria fight another war, it does not have to start from Imo State. We cannot make our state the warfront, because it is the man in whose house a fight occurred that records the most loss. Our generation did not see the 1967-1970 Nigeria-Biafra war, but many of us have seen enough violence in our communities to teach us the destructive nature of war. Let us join hands and end the hostilities, because there is no alternative to peace.

•Collins Ughalaa KSC writes from Owerri. He can be reached viaughalaacollins@gmail.com