The carnage in the south-east

While most Nigerians thought the killings in the south-east had become a thing of the past, there seems to be a recent spike.

It’s a mystery how one of the safest regions in the country has now turned into an epicentre of senseless killings.

Earlier this month, two persons were killed when gunmen attacked some residents at New Market in Enugu South local government area of Enugu state. The attack came barely 24 hours after gunmen attacked Imo communities, killing a police officer and Prince Iheme, an elder brother to Nollywood actor, Osita Iheme.

Like in Imo, the gunmen who carried out attacks in Enugu were said to be enforcing a controversial five-day sit-at-home declared by a faction of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

I also recall that in April this year, gunmen killed 31 people in Ebonyi and Anambra states in a space of 72 hours.

Also, the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was attacked twice this month in Imo state. Apart from Imo, several INEC offices in the south-east have been attacked by gunmen.

The south-east zonal chapter of the African Democratic Congress Emphatically had disclosed that no fewer than 100 people die every week in the south-east as a result of the rising cases of kidnapping, armed robberies, banditry, ritual killings, amongst other crimes.

These, they said, have scared away investors and tourists who were willing to come and invest in the region.

These days we hear funny monikers like ‘unknown gunmen’ committing all sorts of atrocities in the south-east. These are all tales by moonlight, a deliberate effort to shield the identity of the killers.

The irony is that most people from the region will never admit it’s their kith and kin carrying out the orgy of killings and destruction. They will tell you it is people from other regions who are responsible for the killings. How long will they continue to play the ostrich?

This same scenario played out in the north at the dawn of the Boko Haram insurgency. Many northerners were giving all kind of excuses. They said it was a ploy to kill northerners and all. They pampered Boko Haram until it became a full-blown monster. Now trillions of naira are needed to rebuild the damage Boko Haram has done to the north.

Now the south-east is making the same mistake. You hear silly excuses for the killings in the region. There is a deliberate attempt to change the narrative. A silent insurgency is brewing in the region and nobody seems concerned.

Now, most of the people in the south-east are scared of going home for Christmas. I don’t think there is any region where its people go home to celebrate Christmas like the south-east. People even come from outside the country to spend Christmas and the end of the year in their country homes. Now going to celebrate Christmas in the south-east seems like a suicide mission.

It’s time for the governors, and political, traditional and religious leaders in the region to speak up. They can’t sit and watch the destruction of their region. Business men and women have lost millions due to the sit-at-home orders on Monday and the insecurity. This madness has to stop.

Insecurity has no tribe or religion. The people carrying out these killings have no tribe or religion. The sooner we stop the ethnicisation and politicisation of killings in this country, the sooner we will find a solution to the killings.

Insecurity is a monster that confronts all us — rich, poor, Christian, Muslim, traditionalist, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Nupe, Igala, Ijaw, Kanuri and all. We need to join hands together to defeat this monster. Without security, they won’t be peace and development. Let’s always keep that at the back of our minds.