Umahi: South-east declared as red zone by FG ministries — projects won’t come

David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi, has expressed the fear that the declaration of the south-east as a “red zone” owing to insecurity will deprive the area of federal projects.

Umahi said this on Tuesday, in Abakaliki while inaugurating the leadership of the south-east traditional rulers council.

The governor said the federal government’s ministries recently declared the south-east as a red zone because of the high wave of insecurity in the area.

According to him, the insecurity in the region, occasioned by agitation for self-determination, amounts to “self-inflicted injury” by the people.

“The declaration of south-east as a red zone by these ministries means that what is due to us would be difficult to come,” Umahi said.

“It is time for the zone’s leaders and people to collectively say no to the killings in the zone because we no longer see the real agenda of the agitations.

“The people should support governors from the zone and other leaders to permanently stop this bloodshed because we know the parents and communities of the perpetrators of the heinous acts.”

Umahi said the agitation for secession had been hijacked by cultists, kidnappers and other criminal elements, hence the need for the freedom fighters to critically review the situation.

“It is presently difficult for trucks with goods from other parts of the country to come to the zone as we did not harmonise adequately to determine areas of comparative advantage,” he said.