• CAN, NEF, Ohanaeze, others decry S’East homicide, preach peace

The Presidency has sued for restraint following the viral videos of alleged killings of non-indigenes by suspected members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) in the South East.

While expert agencies are verifying the authenticity or otherwise of the claims that accompany the horrid pictures being circulated, the Presidency called on citizens to shun hasty conclusions and acts that could worsen the situation. It urged conduct that would allow the law take its full course.

In a statement, yesterday, by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the Presidency cautioned the public against indiscriminate sharing of posts on social media to avoid overheating the polity.

CONDEMNING the murder of the pregnant Adamawa woman, Harira Jibril, and her four children by unknown gunmen in the South East, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) demanded justice and called on security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.  

The group, in a statement by the Special Assistant to CAN President, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, stated: “This criminality is totally unacceptable, unjustifiable and reprehensible to CAN and all right-thinking people.”

It implored the leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to stop “these criminalities in the pretext of fighting for independence.”

“Are they fighting for a country for the dead or the living? They should know that their criminalities are not helping the case of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu. They should not turn the South East to a ‘No Man’s Land’ in the interest of the founding fathers of this country, who hailed from the zone,” CAN appealed.

ALSO, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), while lamenting the murder, cautioned northerners against reprisal. Seeking action against the masterminds in a statement issued by its Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, yesterday, in Abuja, the forum charged Arewa leaders to raise their voice against the recent happenings in the South East and take responsible steps to calm nerves.

SIMILARLY, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, described the spate of killings in Igboland as “strange.” Saying the development was an indication that “Satan is on the prowl in Igboland.” Ohanaeze maintained that Igbo culture “strongly abhors killing of mankind, no matter the circumstance.”

In a statement issued in Enugu by the National Publicity Secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, the body also deplored the grisly murder of Anambra lawmaker, Okechukwu Okoye and the public display of his head, sympathising with the Hausa community in the state over their recent loss.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide equally condemned the recent attack on northerners, especially the pregnant Adamawa lady and her kids in Isulo Orumba Local Council of Anambra State.

Reacting via a statement issued by the Secretary General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, yesterday, the Igbo socio-cultural group submitted: “Those behind these carnages are criminals. They must be made to face the consequences of their actions with stiff penalties through death.”

Isiguzoro continued: “We are shocked at how the Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo is not defending the oath of office he took as the chief security officer of the state to protect life and property.”

IN the same vein, South East South South Professionals of Nigeria (SESSPN), Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) and Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) decried the unfortunate incident.

At a press briefing, yesterday, in Lagos, SESSPN President, Hannibal Uwaifo, said the orgy of killings calls for concern. He regretted that what started as agitation for self-determination had assumed this frightening dimension.

MURIC, in a statement by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, appealed to northerners against retaliating the aggression, noting that such would only ignite a cycle of violence.

Expressing its displeasure through a statement by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA also condemned the rash of killings by ISWAP of 50 young boys in Ran, Borno State, and 12 persons in Katsina by terrorists. The rights group said the patience of Nigerians “is running out with the current patently incompetent Federal Government.”