Igbo women, under the aegis of Igbo World Assembly (IWA), which is also the umbrella of Igbo women in Nigeria, have announced that they are “utterly appalled at the unprecedented killings going on across Igbo communities,” stating that their greatest shock is that these barbaric attacks and senseless killings have continued to fester unchallenged despite the heavy presence of security operatives and multiple checkpoints on the roads.

In a statement, the IWA President General (PG) Lolo Nneka Chimezie disclosed that preliminary investigations revealed the dire need for further investigations to unravel the true perpetrators behind these atrocities.

“IWA also calls for investigation into the activities of the Ebubeagu security outfit operating in Imo and Ebonyi States to ascertain their true mission, and we also want to know if there are any links between the Ebubeagu outfit and the boys of a former Niger Delta militant leader who once claimed that he was engaged by the federal government for security operations in the South East.”

She added that IWA found out that Ebubeagu was formed around the same time there was a jailbreak in Imo State, “but since we don’t know the background of the personnel of that security outfit, there is also need for further investigation on the quality of people who are recruited into Ebubeagu.”

She further stated that in December 2024, a former militant leader allegedly claimed to have been contracted to guard the South East, and added that his men were on the ground in Imo State fighting against criminals.

“The questions are: who contracted him? Whom was he killing? Was there any war in Imo State? How come the Federal Government has not debunked this or arrested him for questioning? How come the conventional security agencies are not enough to quell insecurity in the South East, that a non-state actor had to be hired?

“Most of the places he said his men were fighting are the hotbeds of insecurity in Imo State today. Who is actually behind the barbarism in Imo State? Could it be that there is a veiled plot to sponsor a guerilla war in the South East while the government pretends to be fighting insecurity?” the IWA PG queried.

Revealing other IWA findings, the PG opined that some of the criminals behind the atrocities in the South East are being sponsored to demonize members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB).

“These criminals are the ones committing all the atrocities, especially in Imo State, while the security agencies and media keep pointing accusing fingers at IPoB and ESN (Eastern Security Network).”

She noted that IPoB started the observance of Monday sit-at-home to protest the abduction, extraordinary rendition, and continued incarceration of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, “but after many appeals by Igbo leaders, they discontinued, and consistently distanced themselves from the barbaric killings in the South East.”

“Hence the question should be, why then have the security agencies continued to point accusing fingers at them (IPoB) without verifiable evidence?

“It’s also our belief that the federal government cannot pretend to be serious about the restoration of peace in the South East, when it has refused to release Nnamdi Kanu despite several pleas and court orders.”

IWA argued that since Kanu’s continued detention is alleged to be fueling insecurity in the South East, simple logic demands that he should be freed as proof that the federal government is genuinely committed to the restoration of peace in the region.

“We therefore challenge the Government at the centre to do the needful if indeed the disturbing situation in Igbo land is not serving its interest.”

Recalling allegedly that a Northern Governor once said that the Fulanis are in different countries and that they wanted to settle them in Nigeria, the IWA statement questioned if the Insecurity in the South East could have any links with where the Fulani would probably be settled.

According to IWA, the rate of genocidal attacks in Benue, Plateau, Edo, as well as parts of the South East, calls for concern and further investigations to establish possible links with the said Fulani re-settlement agenda.

“Our findings in Imo State revealed the need for further investigations on the link between the troubling insecurity in the state and possible attempts to suppress suspected political enemies. Why have innocent citizens continued to be killed while the Government, whose primary responsibility is to secure lives and property, has done little or nothing to end this silent genocide?

“Igbo women are determined to take a risk to end this nonsense if the federal and State Governments fail to act expeditiously against these senseless killings in the South East, especially in Imo State, which can no longer be allowed to fester.

“Igbo women will rise to defend our ancestral land rather than watch our children being slaughtered like cows after surviving the 1967–1970 genocidal war that claimed over 3 million of them.”

Decrying armed men invading communities and shooting everybody on sight, IWA cited the recent massacre at Arondizogu in Imo State, with no single arrest despite the heavy presence of Ebubeagu and federal security checkpoints on the roads.

“This cannot be allowed to be swept under the carpet; hence, Igbo women demand accountability because the victims are our children and husbands. In that same Arondizogu attack, a couple from Umuafai Umuahia, together with their house help, were gruesomely murdered in one day.”

On the impact and consequences of these ugly scenarios, IWA noted that many communities in Igbo land, especially Imo State, have been deserted due to the ongoing senseless killings of innocent and defenseless people; this atrocious evil cannot therefore be allowed to continue.

“We equally call for an end to the ongoing disappearances of youths in Okigwe. The insecurity in Okigwe town and neighbouring communities is getting out of proportion. Our youths in these areas are being killed like chickens on a daily basis. Communities like Agbobu, Umulolo, Aku near Ihube, and Umuowa in Mbato are all deserted. It’s the same story at Isieke, Awomanma, Akokwa, and parts of Anambra State. Even traditional rulers of these communities, as well as their subjects, are now refugees in other lands while gunmen have taken over their communities.

“We want proper investigation into the identities and real sponsors of these criminals driving away Igbo men and women from their ancestral homes. Security operatives should explain their role, action, or inaction in the continued killings and disappearances of Igbo youths in Okigwe town. Okigwe has virtually become a ghost town. Who is moving from house to house abducting youths in Okigwe? Why are the Nigerian security agencies not stopping this madness, or will they pretend not to be aware of it?

“If those behind this strange act in Okigwe are non-state actors, why is the Government quiet? If they are security agents, where are those they have been arresting? Okigwe, because of its geographical location, is home to many including staff and students of Abia State University Uturu, who are now being forced to abandon their homes and relocate to other towns.

“Many businesses in Okigwe have since collapsed because the owners were forced to desert the town due to unprecedented insecurity. Why is the Government pretending not to be aware of the pathetic situation in Okigwe?

“Okigwe, a strategic town and gateway to many states in the South East, has become too dangerous to live in. It has also been taken 30 years backwards because of insecurity. If there are forests taken over by criminals, security operatives should go after them and engage them there, but to tag every youth in Okigwe a terrorist is unacceptable to Igbo women.

“Igbo women are crying out because we know that our political elite have been conquered, coerced, and cowed into submission. Igbo women can no longer wait but must rise to tell the world the true situation in our ancestral land. We won’t consider any sacrifice too big to stop the desolation of Igbo ancestral land should the international community also look away in criminal silence.”

Opining that the killings in Igbo land have the signature of terrorism and the face of ethnic cleansing, especially the disappearances of youths in Okigwe and its environs, the IWA statement urged the Federal and Imo State Governments to tell the world what they are doing or have not done to stop the ongoing atrocities.

“This strange development is taking a toll on the entire Igbo land. Our youths are migrating abroad in droves, not just in search of greener pastures, but for fear of the unknown. Many businesses are equally relocating from the South East, and investors are scared to come in. The adverse economic impact is enormous.

“Igbo women want to condemn, in very strong terms, the unprovoked xenophobic attacks against Ndigbo in South Africa, Ghana, and even in Lagos. All those behind these animalistic acts—inciting attacks against Igbo both within and outside Nigeria—should retrace their steps.”

Ndigbo are enterprising, loving, hospitable, non-violent, and do not in any way deserve the incessant attacks against them, whether at home or abroad.

According to IWA, “probably, because the Government has failed to punish those who attacked Igbo businesses in Lagos in the build-up to the 2023 elections, others have seen the unprovoked attacks against the Igbo as an act of heroism. But now, Igbo women shall no longer keep quiet!” (The Guardian)