Senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe, has linked the intractable insecurity in the South-East geopolitical zone of the country to the saga involving leader of the proscribed Indegenous People of Biafra(IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, and the group – IPOB.
In the last three years, Igboland comprising five states has been the theatre of insecurity leading to loss of lives, destruction of business activities and attacks on public facilities and security agents by unknown gunmen.
Also, many of the fear – stricken Igbo people have fled the region with their businesses and families, settling in neighbouring states such as Delta, Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa and largely Southwest geopolitical zone.
And at a time, Senator Abaribe was a known avid critics of President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled Federal Government’s manner of handling the IPOB leader’s matter and the group, occasionally referring to the separatist agitators as people fighting against injustice and marginalisation of the region.
But speaking in Enugu, Abaribe described some of the insecurity issues plaguing the South-East as contrived, which makes it seem as if the security agencies cannot tackle them.
The former Senate Minority Leader, however, said the economic downturn in the once bubbling region cannot be attributed to Kanu, IPOB saga.
He said: “As much as we know that we cannot do anything without security, I posit that we must while dealing with insecurity (some of which are contrived) also start to discuss some other pressing issues within our polity.
“I say contrived because it is obvious that it is the general malaise in our society today that makes it seem as if insecurity cannot be tackled by our various security agencies.
“These loose associations are today, pivotal to most development strides in our communities and of course, these efforts have expanded to the areas of community security associations to complement government efforts.
“Yes, Ndigbo today have insecurity issues but it was not the case in the recent past. Today’s insecurity started from the Nnamdi Kanu/IPOB saga in 2021. Did the economic downturn in the South-East start from that date? The answer is a resounding no.”
