NGO laments insecurity in Imo, canvasses peace
Former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has decried the profiling of Nigerians of Igbo and Fulani stock as killers.
Speaking on the floor of the senate in Abuja, he called on security agents to fish out those behind the killings and destruction of properties across the country.
Okorocha, who represents Imo West in the National Assembly, said it behoves Nigerians to remain grateful to God that the country had remained an indivisible entity despite multifaceted challenges.
The senator, who is eyeing the Presidency in the 2023 election, maintained that a just and equitable treatment of Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity and religion, remained the panacea for national growth.
He stated: “In Imo, Borno and Sokoto states, there are cries for justice, and we must, as a senate, stop this ethnic profiling of our people. We must be able to separate criminals from where they come from.
“Today, in the recent killings in Imo and in the South East, Nigerians would be quick to profile the Igbo as killers, just like Fulani are profiled as herdsmen and killers. For the unity of this country, we must do everything we can to stop ethnic profiling, so that we can separate criminals from where they come from.”
HOWEVER, the Imo Economic Development Initiative (IEDI), a not-for-profit, non-partisan organisation, has decried the insecurity in the state, even as it called on all concerned to embrace peace.
Equally, IEDI expressed determination to facilitate an all-inclusive stakeholders’ meeting soon to address the worrisome situation and fashion a way forward.
The group, which has former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, as chairman, made this known in a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday.
In the statement signed by Chief Jerry Chukwueke, the chairman of the ad hoc committee set up to address the security situation in Imo, IEDI condemned the wave of bloodletting, wanton attacks on security personnel, security formations and destruction of government facilities, including prisons, police stations and INEC offices in the state.
“We plead with all concerned to stop these bloodletting and destruction going on in Imo, as this is no way to advance the cause of any legitimate agitation and/or frustration as regards the feelings of marginalisation, inequality, injustice and lack of inclusion by most of our people, real or perceived, in the Project Nigeria,” the statement read in part.
