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Women seek convocation of security summit in South East

By Silver Nwokoro
15 June 2021   |   2:57 am
South Eastern mothers, under the auspices of Credible Igbo Women Initiative, have urged the Federal Government to convene a security conference to stop killings in Igboland.

Spokesperson of Credible Igbo Women Initiative (CIWI), Onyeka Onwenu.

South Eastern mothers, under the auspices of Credible Igbo Women Initiative, have urged the Federal Government to convene a security conference to stop killings in Igboland.

The group also urged the government to systematically and transparently embrace diversity and inclusion to enable every citizen to achieve their potential whether in the public or private sector, irrespective of tribe, creed or association.

In a statement, the group said the Federal Government has the duty to protect its citizens, especially in Igboland, which is currently under heavily armed attack daily.

The statement signed by its Chief Spokesperson, Onyeka Onwenu and 12 others, vehemently condemned the activities of unknown gunmen, arsonists and brigands whose actions are clearly calculated to create an atmosphere of civil unrest in Igboland.

“For the avoidance of doubt, these are not our children and they are not acting under the authority of Ndigbo (Igbo people),” they declared.

According to them, the sustained instability in Igboland has resulted in the children being dragged out of their houses, cars and even pedestrian walks, captured, arbitrarily branded Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) members and often summarily executed with impunity and without a trial.

Those captives that survive the ordeal, they said, are subsequently displayed to the media as proof of the security forces’ success.

“Our children are daily being dehumanised to the extent that concerned citizens, such as Archbishop Anthony Obinna of Owerri Archdiocese, have raised the alarm on unidentified corpses in the morgues.

“Such concerns have been reiterated by corporate bodies, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), which has decried the grossly over-crowded detention centres in Alaigbo.

“We state that, having lost our means of livelihood because of the invasion and destruction of our farms by ruthless herdsmen, our hope lies in the government to ameliorate our heart-breaking circumstances, including providing security generally and compensation for the death and destruction of our children and property,” they lamented.

The group noted that the systematic neglect of their youths over the years, through lack of social and financial incentives, scholarships and skills acquisition support, had resulted in mass unemployment and distortion of the social fabric.

They also observed with deep concern that the market men and women continue to suffer greatly in the hands of security forces in Igboland with the result that markets and shops are often under lock and key and are constantly looted with impunity.

The group, therefore, urged the Federal Government to take urgent action to restore their confidence in the security forces.

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