ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – A coalition of civil rights groups led by
International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law and the
South East Based Coalition of Human Rights Organisations, has called
on South East governors and National Assembly legislators to intervene
and stop the on-going militarisation and extortion in Igboland.
Sundiata Post investigations reveal that soldiers have been stationed
at the Asaba end of the Niger Bridge and their presence has made entry
into Onitsha very challenging.
According to reports, soldiers have also been deployed to many many
parts of the South East, where they have been stationed along major
roads extorting money from motorists and other road users in an
operation the Nigerian Army has code-named ‘Python Dance’.
The civil society groups made this call in a statement sent to
Sundiata Post on Monday.
According to the CSOs, Python Dance is part of orchestrated plans to
collapse the 51-year-old Onitsha Niger Bridge, a major gateway to
Igboland.
The statement reads in part: We make bold to say that the ulterior
motives behind the referenced despicable and condemnable operations
are for the purpose of Ethnic Cleansing. Others are to cause social
and economic strangulation of the Southeast Zone and collapse of
Onitsha Niger Bridge built since 1965; for the purpose of cutting off
the Igbo Land from the rest of the country; using the Southeast Roads
as illegitimate money making venture by way of collection of illegal
roadblock tolls and extortion; depriving the Christian dominated
Peoples of the Southeast and the South-south Zones, particularly those
living outside the Zones, of their sacred and constitutionally
guaranteed rights to worship their Christian Religion and commemorate
the birth of their Saviour Jesus Christ by blocking and torturing them
from returning to their ancestral homes by way of total blockage of
the ailing Niger Bridge and deliberate creation of indiscriminate
roadblocks; pushing the law abiding Igbo Race to the wall and forcing
them to adopt radical reprisal approaches to pave way for full blown
genocide against the Race.”
The CSOs said they have, contrary to the claims of the Army,
investigated, found and come out with the following 37-Points Of
Facts;
(1) That the Nigerian Army raised false insecurity alarms in the
Southeast with ulterior or dubious intents; (2) that street protests
are not armed rebellion or traditional street crimes of kidnapping,
armed robbery or murder, etc; (3) that IPOB and MASSOB are not armed
opposition groups waging war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria
or any part thereof; (4) that Southeast Zone is the most peaceful Zone
to live in Nigeria; as clearly attested to by a recent UN Report and
it is not a war zone or a zone at war with the Federal Government or
Federal Republic of Nigeria; (5)that there are no security threats of
unprecedented proportion or Northeast magnitude in the Southeast Zone
warranting the present military siege or police state in the Zone.
(6) That the Nigerian Army is crude and an illiterate army with no
knowledge of the meaning and definition of Rules of Engagement; (7)
that the Nigerian Army has continued to criminalize and stigmatize
the nonviolent activities of IPOB to the point of saddening and
alarming proportions; (8) that while the Southeast, which is a Zone in
peace and non- war Zone is being hunted, persecuted and pushed to the
wall; the troubled Zones like Northeast and violent groups like the
Fulani Janjaweed are being cuddled, petted and protected (i.e. see
military roadblocks along Umuahia-Aba Federal Road and blanket
protections provided to Fulani cattle rearers and their herds of
cattle where cattle are valued more than lives of road users on
Southeast Roads).
(9) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army and its Commander-in-Chief are
killing, wounding, torturing and persecuting citizens of the Southeast
Zone that have chosen nonviolence and law abiding living; whereas
violent entities and Zones including Boko Haram and Fulani Janjaweed
are being rewarded and given presidential treat and protection; (10)
that there are no credible official crime statistics from the Nigeria
Police Force in the Southeast Zone, detailing the patterns and trends
of violent crimes such as kidnapping and armed robbery in the Zone;
showing increase or decrease; warranting the involvement of the
Nigerian Army in the flooding of the Zone with troops and weapons.
(11) That soldiers are not professionally trained to catch kidnappers
and armed robbers or arsonists or burglars or rapists; or engage in
fighting street crimes and they do not have mental and ICT expertise
to do same; (12) that hiding under the guise of “fighting kidnappers
and armed robbers” as a cover to actualize their intents have been
exposed and shamed; (13) that the Nigerian Army resorted to such
useless and mockery excuses as a cover to execute their and ethnic
cleansing operations; (14) that the use of Fulani Herdsmen by the
Nigerian Army as one of the excuses for invasion of the Southeast is
deliberate and a further cover to be hidden under to perpetrate its
planned unprovoked war or mass killing and torture mission.
(15) That the Fulani Janjaweed or Herdsmen have massacred over 140
defenceless Christians in Southern Kaduna alone, in the past six
months; yet the Army turns blind eyes; likewise similar massacring
of hundreds of othersin Agatu (Benue State), Nimbo (Enugu State),
Akokwa (Imo State), Asaba and its environs (Delta State) and reported
ongoing massacre in Abia communitiesof Abia State, etc; with the
Jihadist Nigerian Army looking the other way; but wasting unnecessary
energy and weaponry chasing, massacring, wounding, torturing and
persecuting defenceless Igbo-Christians in furtherance of its Jihadist
and ethnic cleansing.
(16) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army operation by way of total
blockage of the 51years Old Onitsha Bridge; a major gateway to Igbo
Land, is solely meant to collapse and sink the Bridge so as to cut the
Southeast Zone off from the rest of the country; when it ought to know
that the Bridge critically needs round-the-clock decongestion and
lesser traffic gridlock especially in this critical festive period;
(17) that the operations of the Nigerian Army are deliberately
commenced this crucial festive period in Igbo Land so as to punish,
torture and persecute the Igbo Race for being predominant Christians
and deprive them of their sacred rights to commemorate the birth of
their Saviour Jesus Christ; (18) that the Army operations are also
meant to strangulate the Igbo Race or Southeast Zone socially,
culturally and economically.
(19) That the Nigerian Army operations commenced in this crucial
festive period in Igbo Land are geared towards creation of a sort of
“Concentration Camp” by way of total blockage of the Onitsha Niger
Bridge; particularly along Asaba-Niger Bridge and Niger Bridge-Onitsha
Upper Iweka axis by trapping and jam-packing thousands of Xmas
returnees with their families and livestock and other perishable
items, so as to get them suffocated, fainted or died in their large
numbers; (20) that the Nigerian Army operations are also in crude and
shameless response to the recent Amnesty International Report on
massacre of at least 150 Pro Biafra Campaigners by the Jihadist Army;
a confirmation of Intersociety’s earlier findings of the massacre by
army and others of at least 250 nonviolent and unarmed Pro Biafra
campaigners between July/August 2015 and May 2016.
(21) That the Nigerian Army’s response is in the form of show of
shame, force and impunity; (22) that the Nigerian Amy operations are
designed to inflict the Igbo Race with psychological torture and
permanently treat them as a conquered people and further massacre them
on the road with impunity in addition to over 250 unarmed and
defenceless Igbo citizens and over 300 others it massacred or
terminally wounded since July/August 2015; (23) that the Army
operations are purely an army of occupation designed to occupy the
Southeast permanently with attendant atrocious and butchery outcomes.
(24) That Intersociety and SBCHROs’ reason for referring to the
Nigerian Army as “Nigerian Army” particularly in the Southeast Zone,
follows total takeover and domination of its command and rank and file
by officers and citizens of northern Muslim background or Hausa-Fulani
hegemony who are filled with intolerance, crude and butchery mindsets;
whereby the GOC of the 82nd Division in Enugu: Major Gen Ibrahim
Attahiru; the Deputy Army Spokesman of the 82nd Division: Col Sagir
Musa and his predecessor, Col Hamza Gambo; the Commandant of the 302
Artillery Regiment, Onitsha, Col Isa Abdullahi Maigari; the leader of
the military massacre operation of 29th and 30thof May 2016 at Nkpor,
Onitsha and Asaba; Major M.I. Ibrahim of the Military Police; and the
Commander of the 144 Battalion of the Nigerian Army at Ukwain Abia
State; Lt Col Kasim Sidi Umar; who spearheaded the 9th of February
2016 massacre of over 30 IPOB members in Aba, are all from
Hausa-Fulani Muslim background; likewise domination of other strategic
command positions and over 70% of the rank and file or combatants by
citizens of northern Muslim background.
(25) That another ulterior motive behind the Nigerian Army operations
in Igbo Land or Southeast Zone is for the purpose of criminal
enrichment or illegitimate pocketing of hundreds of millions of naira
from the Southeast Roads by way of organized road crime or roadblock
extortion through open and closed sources; (26) that recent update of
the Intersociety on road crimes committed by police and military
personnel (i.e. army and navy) clearly showed that there are not less
than 200 military roadblocks and 1000 police roadblocks on Southeast
Roads as at 4th of December 2016; (27) that in those roadblocks,
various forms of extortion are applied to rob the motorists and other
road users at official gunpoint.
(28) That while soldiers and navy use structured form of extortion
(i.e. hiring of civilians or garage touts to forcefully collect tolls
on their behalf), the police use open method or direct extortion at
gunpoint; (29) that the choice of Southeast Roads is because of its
blue-collar nature or high commercial and cash transactions; (30) that
as a result, the Nigerian Army commanders and their foot soldiers in
the Southeast Zone; with transmission of routine monthly brown
envelopes (returns) to their superiors in Abuja; collectively and
crookedly smile to bank on daily basis with tens of millions of naira
derived from roadblock extortion; (31) that empirical evidence at our
investigative disposal shows that the Nigeria Police in the Southeast
Zone and its Roads had in the past 14 months or between October 2015
and December 2016, criminally collected and pocketed a total of
N9.1billion from roadblock extortion on Southeast Roads.
(32) That our updated checks as at today show that there are not less
than 250 police roadblocks on Anambra’s Federal and State Roads as
well as its city roads and that each police roadblock extorts minimum
of N50 note and average of N100 note from each commercial motorist;
translating to at least N30,000 for each police roadblock per day;
N7.5million daily from not less than 250 police roadblocks;
N225million monthly and N2.7billion per year; (33) that the same facts
and circumstances are applicable to Abia State; another major
blue-collar State after Anambra State; with its 250 police roadblocks
criminally pocketing N2.7billion per year; (34) that Imo State; a
lesser blue-collar State, has at least 200 police roadblocks to its
name; with each police roadblock pocketing not less than N15,000
daily; n3million for its 200 police roadblocks per day, n90million per
month and N1.08billion per annum.
(35) That Enugu and Ebonyi States with relatively white-collar or
civil service sub culture, have at least 300 police roadblocks to
their names on average of 150 each; and each of the police roadblock
criminally pockets at least N15,000 per day and N4.5million for the
300 police roadblocks per day; n135million per month and N1.62billion
per year; on average of N810million for each of the two States; (36)
that in all, the police personnel at over 1000 police roadblocks
mounted on Southeast Roads have between January 2016 and December 2016
criminally collected and pocketed from Southeast commercial road users
a total of N8.1Billion; with Anambra Stat e accounting for
N2.7Billion; Abia State N2. 7billion; Imo State N1.08billion; Enugu
State n810million; and Ebonyi State n810million; (37) that added to
N1.03billion criminally collected and pocketed between 21st October
and 21st December 2015 by not less than 750 police roadblocks then on
Southeast Roads; the total roadblock theft by the Nigeria Police Force
in the past 14 months from Southeast Roads is N9.13billion.
In the statement the CSOs made the following Demands:
1. That the Southeast Public Office Holders particularly the elected
Governors of Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi States and Deputy
Senate President Ike Ekweremadu should proactively rise to the
occasion and take firm charge as the Chief Security Officers and
Highest Legislative Officer of the Southeast Zone.
2. That in view of the Chief of Army Staff’s Conference kicking off in
Owerri, Imo State from today, Monday, 5th of December 2016, expected
to last for days; the above mentioned public office holders should
make maximum use of the opportunity to register their strong
displeasure and disapproval against unwarranted militarization of the
Southeast or Igbo Land by Buratai led Nigerian Army.
3. That the COAS, Lt Gen Turkur Buratai should be boldly engaged and
asked to explain the rationale behind out-right domination of the
command structure of the Nigerian Army in the Southeast as well as its
rank and file by officers and citizens of Hausa-Fulani Muslim
background.
4. That the COAS must be made to reverse the dangerous trend and
de-Hausanize the art of combatant or infantry soldiering in the
Southeast Zone or Igbo Land.
5. That the COAS must be told in strong and unmistakable language that
Southeast will no longer condone and tolerate the age-long
maltreatment by Nigerian Army as “a conquered territory and people”.
6. That the Southeast Public Office Holders above mentioned should
meet President Muhammadu Buhari with a fluent Hausa Language
interpreter to demand his inexplicable hostility towards the Igbo Land
and Igbo Race and prevail on him to demilitarize the Southeast Zone.
7. That the Southeast Public Office Holders must insist during the
COAS visit to Imo that he must order for the de-blockage of the ailing
Onitsha Niger Bridge before he leaves the Igbo Land so as to save the
Bridge from imminent collapse and facilitate free movement of people
and vehicular particularly during Xmas and New Year period.
8. That we understand that the said Army commanders including the
Commandant of Onitsha 302 Artillery, Col Isa Abdullahi Maigari and the
82nd Division Deputy Army Spokesman, Col Sagir Musa visited the ailing
Niger Bridge yesterday, being Sunday, 4th December 2016) between
10.30am and 11.30am following our advocacy pressures and “offered to
reduce the blockage for their safety”; this we totally reject and
insist on total removal of all the military drums and freeing and
decongesting of the all routes into and out of the ailing Bridge. This
is a matter of must; not palliative or adhoc.
9. That the COAS must be prevailed upon to order his “Dogari”
combatants at the ailing Niger Bridge to disappear from the centre of
the roads linking the ailing Bridge and retire to tents built for them
beside the Ojukwu Statue to watch over people and vehicular movements.
10. That the Southeast Public Office Holders under reference should
firmly engage the COAS, the Chief of Naval Staff and the Inspector
General of Police concerning the extortionist and other criminal
activities of their personnel deployed to Southeast Roads; for the
purpose of abolishing all forms of criminal tolls or roadblock
extortions.
11. That all the military and police roadblocks on Southeast Roads
should be reduced to 5%, if not total abolition because empirical
evidence has clearly shown that the more increase in military and
police roadblocks in the Zone, the more increase in State-actor and
non-State actor crimes (i.e. steady increase in Fulani Janjaweed
attacks despite indiscriminate security roadblocks).
12. That the Southeast Public Office Holders under reference should
set up a joint commission of enquiry to look into the army led
massacre of not less than 250 Pro Biafra Campaigners as well as
killings by the Fulani Janjaweed or armed Herdsmen in various parts of
the Southeast Zone or Igbo Land.
Yours in the Service to Humanity,
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
Chinwe Umeche, Esq., Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program
Obianuju Igboeli, Esq., Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
Co-Signed By:
1. Comrade Aloysius Attah
For: Civil Liberties Organization, Southeast Zone
2. Comrade Vincent Ezekwume
For: Civil Liberties Organization, Anambra State Branch
3. Comrade Peter Onyegiri
For: Center for Human Rights & Peace Advocacy
4. Comrade Samuel Njoku
For: Human Rights Organization of Nigeria
5. Engineer Rufus Duru
For: Global Rights & Development International
6. Comrade Chike Umeh
For: Society Advocacy Watch Project
7. Obianuju Igboeli, Esq.
For: Anambra Human Rights Forum
8. Comrade Alex Olisa
For: Southeast Good Governance Forum
9. Jerry Chukwuokoro, PhD
For: International Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights Initiative
10. Mr. Tochukwu Ezeoke
For: Igbo Ekunie Initiative (Pan Igbo Rights Advocacy Group)
