Killings and General Insecurity: Igbo Women Sue for Peace, Ceasefire

By Izunna Okafor, Awka

In view of the incessant killings and the worsening insecurity situations in the land, a group of elderly Igbo women have called for calm, ceasefire and lasting peace, both in the southeastern region and in Nigeria at large.

Led by Chief Mrs Chika Ibeneme, the group, known as Igbo Women Elders Council, made the appeal while hosting newsmen to a press conference in Awka, the Anambra State capital, on Tuesday.

The group, which is an affiliate of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, also used the medium to condemn the recent killing of about 9 Hausa indigenes (comprising men, women and children) in Awkuzu, Oyi local government area of Anambra by yet-to-be-identified persons, as well as other insecurity situations in different parts of the Igbo land and Nigeria at large.

Speaking at the event, the Founder, Centre for Psychic and Healing Administration, Dr. Mrs Flora Ifeanyichukwu Nkemakonam Ilonzo (popularly known as Anyafulugo) acknowledged that the killings and insecurity which were once only rampant in the northern region had now regrettably escalated across regions, even into the South-east and Anambra State.

Revealing that she earlier saw and started warning and raising alarms against the worsening security situation and its attendant dooms and consequences; Dr. Ilonzo went further to highlight her past and present efforts and interventions in several security related issues in the southeastern region and beyond.

She said (in Igbo language), "I have severally risked my life to intervene in some serious security situations and clashes in the South-east and beyond. Even on 30th May, 2017, it was around 11:45 PM that I left my house to the palace of Igwe Gibson Nwosu of Awka kingdom, when I sensed the bloodshed that was about to occur at Oji River that midnight, between Ndi Igbo and the Hausas. 

"The people had already ganged around Oji River and nearby bushes, waiting for the planned hour to strike and launch their Po proposed attacks. But through my intervention that night, peace was restored, and the bloodshed was averted. And several other interventions like that I have made in several occasions."

Speaking further, Dr. Ilonzo partially attributed the current worsened security situation in the country to the aftermath of the last year #EndSARS protest, which saw the unjust and undeserved continuous detention and suffering of some of the hapless protesters in prisons across the country, some of whom have been rotting, gnashing teeth and suffering there in the prisons since then, because they do not have money to bail themselves.

These, she revealed, did not only trigger the anger of God upon the country, but also caused the incessant invasions, bombing and destruction of prisons and police stations across the country, one of the aims of which is to set the prisoners free from detention.

Ilonzo warns that impending doom and security challenges worse than the present situation are looming and fast approaching, if nothing is done at this time to curtail the situation. Hence, she called on the stakeholders and government at all levels to rightly act fast, even as she appealed to the angered parties and groups to sheath their swords and embrace peace, to avoid more bloodshed and destructions in the country.

On her own part, the leader of the group, Chief Mrs Chika Ibeneme explained that they were not only out to condemn or bemoan the security situation in the country, but to also to intervene and proffer lasting solutions to the situation, as they could no longer continue to watch, while things deteriorate.

Describing the current status security situation in the country as worrisome, Mrs Ibeneme outrightly condemned the Monday killing of Hausa indigenes in Awkuzu, Anambra State, and called on the government to urgently intervene, fish out the real masterminders and executors of the killing, and restore peace in the area and among the warring groups, to avoid possible escalation of the crisis and more bloodshed.

She described Ndi Igbo as a people who hold the sanctity of the land and sacredness of life in high regard, and appealed to the youths to eschew violence and avoid actions that will further deteriorate the security situation in the region and the country. 

Mrs Ibeneme further condemned the alleged unlawful and vicious activities of some Fulani herders in the southeastern region, which, according to her, include raping (and sometimes murdering) of women and girls, open grazing, farmland destruction, incessant attacks and killings of Igbos among others; and called on the federal government and the South-east governors to rise up and do the needful, as such vicious activities of the herders and inactions of the government are equally obviously contributory to the worsening security situation in the region.

“Most of these killer herdsmen are foreigners, which President Muhammadu Buhari once confirmed that they are not Nigerians. If they are not Nigerians, why are the federal government’s armed forces protecting and guarding these killers?

“We therefore demand that the federal government must immediately begin repatriating these non-Nigerians to enable our farmers go back to their farms,” she said.

Chief Ibeneme who notes that northern governors and Islamic clerics are meeting and dialoguing with relevant groups in the North, wonders why South-eastern governors would not do same. She thus advised them (the South-east governors) to enter into credible negotiations with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other relevant Igbo youth groups in the region on insecurity, as a way of curtailing the situation. 
Among other highlights, the press conference featured special intercessory prayers by the women on security situation in Nigeria, anchored by Prophetess Edith Obikwelu; as well as special appeal for peace and ceasefire, made in Hausa language, by Chief Mrs Ifeyinwa Ezewi.

The Igbo Women Elders Council comprises women above 60 years from Igbo-speaking communities across the country.