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‘South East must not slide into anarchy’

By Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri
20 April 2021   |   3:55 am
The Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development (FENRAD) has cautioned operators of the system in the South East against allowing the security breaches...

The Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development (FENRAD) has cautioned operators of the system in the South East against allowing the security breaches in the region to degenerate into “anarchy of solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”

In a statement yesterday by its Executive Director, Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, the group regretted that the once peaceful zone had begun to witness crisis.

It stated: “Generally speaking, the security situation in the South East, if not fully and duly addressed, might plunge a hitherto peaceful region into a primitive Hobbesian nature state where life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

“FENRAD, a human rights and pro-democracy group, strongly condemned the killing of security agents and citizens by mostly non-state actors across the South East region, the most recent being the attack on a police formation– the Safer Highway Patrol Team – stationed at Nwaezenyi in Izzi Local Council of Ebonyi State few days ago.

“We had urged all regional stakeholders to save the zone from looming anarchy in an earlier release dated April 14, 2021, and yet no significant improvement has been made nor has any success along this line been recorded.”

Citing a statement issued by the Abia State Government uncovering a plot to unleash mayhem on residents of the state, FENRAD, therefore, appealed to governors of the five South East states to walk the talk by vertically reviewing the current security situation of the area through a regional security summit involving all stakeholders.

This move, according to Nwafor, would engender a robust regional dialogue that could ameliorate the worsening security situation.

“It is true that the regional governors are tinkering with a community policing idea under the Ebube Agu outfit, but wider consultation is required to ensure that peace as well as security of life and property in the region is not undermined,” he added.

The group urged security agencies in the region to deploy all intelligence logistics in their repertoire to forestall attacks.

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