ABIA STATE AND IMO STATE GOVERNORS REVEAL SERIOUS PLANS

NIGERIANS were jolted last Sunday when media reports credited to the Department of State Services, DSS, to the effect that the Service uncovered 55 shallow graves in a forest in Abia State, where the bodies of five Hausa-Fulani men were allegedly buried.


Armed Fulani-herdsmen Armed Fulani-herdsmen The report also alleged that the said Hausa-Fulani persons were killed by members of Independent Peoples of Biafra, IPOB; a claim that the pro-Biafra group and its sister body, MASSOB, roundly rejected and heaped attacks on DSS accusing it of giving the dog a bad name in order to hang it. The allegation was so grievous that many Nigerians launched verbal attacks on the DSS, accusing the organisation of trying to trigger off ethnic cleansing against the Igbo.

The DSS critics said that even if such a thing took place, the DSS was careless, coming soon after a recent incident, when 76 men from a community from Awgu in Enugu State were detained for two weeks for trying to secure the release of two of their women allegedly abducted by Fulani herdsmen; which also drew national attention South East Voice gathered that the activities of Fulani herdsmen had become so explosive in the country, particularly in the South East, such that any incident involving them was like a powder keg which could trigger a national crisis.

Worried by this situation, the Abia State government denied the claim by the DSS, more so when the report emanated from Abuja without the knowledge of the security chiefs in the state. “Our attention has been drawn to a report in a section of the media claiming that the DSS uncovered 55 shallow graves in a forest in Abia State, where the remains of five Hausa-Fulani men were allegedly buried.

“The governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and the good people of the state feel very highly embarrassed by the report which is capable of causing ethnic/communal crisis in the country. The governor believes that stakeholders in information management in the country should be conscious of national security and therefore be cautious and reticent in their approach to such sensitive news.

“We feel even angrier because our check with the security agencies in Abia has confirmed that the information did not emanate from any of the security units in Abia. Both the DSS in Abia, Police and Army have all denied ever issuing such information. “If anybody or group wrote a petition to the headquarters in Abuja, the most professional approach should be for the headquarters to confer with their departments in Abia.

There is a Brigade Commander here; there is Director of DSS and there is Commissioner of Police, with a PPRO attached to his office. All the units have told me (Governor that) they never released any such information.

“We are also worried that the media organs that published this news did not consider the sensitive nature of that information to national peace and security as to have also conferred and confirmed from their correspondents in Abia. None of the reports came with the by-line of a correspondent in Abia State.

“We condemn this flagrant abuse of professionalism by all the parties involved in the dissemination of this volatile and sensitive news which has not only embarrassed the government of Abia State but is also capable of raising tension and ethnic acrimony in the state. “We re-emphasize that the government of Abia State has not received any official report in this regard and therefore warn the instigators of this bad report to rethink their mischief,” the statement signed by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s spokesman, Godwin Adindu, added. 

However, in a bid to nip any ugly reactions in the bud, both the security council of Abia and Imo State governments quickly met in Umuahia where the issue was the only item on the agenda.

At the meeting were the Military commanders of 14 Brigade Ohafia, Abia State and 34 Artillery Brigade Obinze in Imo State; the commissioners of police of the two states, directors of DSS in the states and the Chairman of South East traditional rulers’ council, Eze Eberechi Dick, among other members of the council. 

After over two hours of deliberation, the two governors dismissed the theory propounded by the DSS, even as they admitted that a shallow grave with seven corpses of five Fulani herdsmen and two Igbo men was discovered in a forest along Uturu axis of Abia State, adding however, that the killings were carried out by kidnappers who have been terrorizing the two states in recent times.

They did not mention the particular community but explained that it happened in a boundary community. Enquires made by South East Voice in the area administered by three traditional rulers from both Abia and Imo States also, did not yield fruit as all of them denied any knowledge of such ugly incident in their domain and swore to come together to tackle aggressively, the menace of kidnapping in the two states.

At a joint press briefing, shortly after the joint security meeting, the governors attributed the killing to activities of kidnappers which they agreed needed to be tackled aggressively.

They condemned the killings and said that some arrests had been made in connection with the killings in the forest. According to them, security operatives had been directed to raid the forest and clear it of miscreants, and warned that any property in which kidnapping activity was carried out would be demolished and the land taken over by the government.

First to speak was Ikpeazu who condemned the killings and dumping of corpses in shallow graves, and noted that his Imo State counterpart came with his security chiefs to enable them fashion out ways of improving security, especially kidnapping and other violent crimes which he said had become recurring decimals in the two states.

He said that they would “re-strategize and make bold statements about the security challenges facing the two states, one of such is that we condemn the spate of kidnappings, the killing of five persons including some Fulani men in the forest.

“And we are all united that that particular forest will not only be rid of all criminal elements but we will make sure that where ever they are (criminals) located they will no longer be within Imo and Abia. The time when criminals will launch attacks from Imo and hide in Abia or launch from Abia and hide in Imo has become a thing of the past.

“The security chiefs have been mandated to cross our borders, free and make sure they pin down these criminals where ever they may be. It is our responsibility to protect the lives and property of all citizens in the states doing genuine businesses.

“We have also agreed that this joint security meeting between Imo and Abia would be sustained. We will make sure that we exchange ideas and ensure that the two states are very safe,” Ikpeazu further said. In his own remarks, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State said: “We are here to join forces with Abia and to see how we will flush out criminal elements in the two states, particularly the recent kidnapping of five Fulani herdsmen.

We condemn the killing of five Fulani herdsmen and two Igbo who were buried in the forest. “Thank God the culprits have been arrested and they will face the full wrath of the law. I will assure you that all of them that were involved will pay the ultimate price for their action.

I also want to make the world understand that this is one the kidnapping cases we have been trying to battle, it was not issue of ethnicity or any group. It was the issue of kidnapping, which we have all been tackling.

“Again, we have involved our traditional rulers, charging them to corporate with security officers to make sure they give us information about suspected criminals in their areas so that we can take care of the situation faster.

“We have also looked at the issue of our borders, our borders are porous and for that reason we have declared a joint security patrol across the borders to take care of that.

And we intend to extend this meeting to Enugu and Rivers states, where we have a lot of cult activities and everything, so the meeting has been quite fruitful. “We have also agreed that the two governments will quickly purchase the necessary equipment to enable the security operatives fish out these criminals where ever they are hiding.”