Two civil rights organisations,
International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law and the
South East Based Coalition of Human Rights Organisations, have called on
the South East Governors and a National Assembly legislators to
intervene and stop militarisation and extortion in Igbo Land.
They said it was part of orchestrated
plans by them to collapse the 51-year-old Onitsha Niger Bridge; a major
gateway to Igbo Land, under the guise of Operation Python Dance.
It reads: We make bold to say that the
ulterior motives behind the referenced despicable and condemnable
operations are for the purpose of Jihadism and 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 Igboland 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 Savior 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 genocidal Jihadism against the race.
It is recalled that on Monday, November
28, 2016, the Nigerian Army, dominated by Jihadist elements; dubiously
announced the mass deployment of troops and equipment to all strategic
roads and commercial centers including motor parks in Igbo Land, in the
guise of “Operation or Exercise Python Dance”; saying it is targeting
“MASSOB, IPOB, Fulani Herdsmen, Kidnappers and Armed Robbers”. Before
the dubious announcement, the Southeast or Igbo Land was laid under
siege with not less than one hundred military and navy roadblocks and
not more than 1000 police roadblocks scattered on all strategic roads
and routes in the Zone. The link below contains the first army statement
under reference, HERE.
In response, the Southeast Based
Coalition of Human Rights Organizations (SBCHROs) and the Intersociety,
issued a joint statement, dated 30th of November 2016, condemning in its
entirety and totality the action of the Jihadist Nigerian Army. The
said statement of ours triggered off public outcries and more informed
reactions; forcing the army through its 82nd Division in Enugu to issue
another contradictory, defenseless and watery statement; claiming
professionalism and routine in-service exercise. The link below contains
the second army statement, issued on Friday, 2nd December 2016: HERE.
In all these, the more the Jihadist army
tries to justify its claims behind the atrocious operations, the more
its ulterior motives are exposed. We have, contrary to the claims of the
Jihadist Army, investigated, found and come out with the following
37-Points Of Facts; shaming, rubbishing and exposing the false claims
and ulterior motives of the Jihadist Nigerian Army and the Police: (1)
That the Jihadist 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 Jihadist Nigerian Army is
crude and an illiterate army with no knowledge of the meaning and
definition of Rules of Engagement; (7) that the Jihadist Nigerian Army
has continued to criminalize and stigmatize the non-violent 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 non-violence 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 Jihadist
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
Jihadist intents have been exposed and shamed;
(13) that the Jihadist Nigerian Army
resorted to such useless and mockery excuses as a cover to execute their
Jihadist and ethnic cleansing operations;
(14) that the use of Fulani Herdsmen by
the Jihadist 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 communities of 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 51-year-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 Jihadist
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 Jihadist 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 Iwekaaxis 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 Jihadist 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 Jihadist Nigerian Army’s response is in the form of show of shame, force and impunity;
(22) that the Jihadist 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 “Jihadist 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 HamzaGambo; 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 Jihadist 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 Jihadist
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; N225 million monthly and N2.7 billion 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 N2.7 billion 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; N3 million
for its 200 police roadblocks per day, N90 million per month and N1.08
billion 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 N4.5 million for the 300
police roadblocks per day; N135 million per month and N1.62 billion per
year; on average of N810 million 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 N8.1 billion; with Anambra
State accounting for N2.7 billion; Abia State N2.7 billion; Imo State
N1.08 billion; Enugu State N810 million; and Ebonyi State N810 million;
(37) that added to N1.03 billion
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 N9.13 billion.
Demands:In view of the foregoing, therefore, we boldly demand:
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 Jihadist
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 Jihadist 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 (Intersociety)
Mobile Line: +2348174090052
Email: info@intersociety-ng.org
Chinwe Umeche, Esq., Head, Democracy & Good Governance ProgramInternational Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Mobile Line: +2348174090052
Email: info@intersociety-ng.org
Mobile Line: +2347013238673
Obianuju Igboeli, Esq., Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
Mobile Line: +2348180771506
Co-Signed By:Mobile Line: +2348180771506
1. Comrade Aloysius Attah (+2348035090548)
For: Civil Liberties Organization, Southeast Zone
For: Civil Liberties Organization, Southeast Zone
2. Comrade Vincent Ezekwume (+2348171793911)
For: Civil Liberties Organization, Anambra State Branch
For: Civil Liberties Organization, Anambra State Branch
3. Comrade Peter Onyegiri (+2347036892777)
For: Center for Human Rights & Peace Advocacy
For: Center for Human Rights & Peace Advocacy
4. Comrade Samuel Njoku (+2348039444628)
For: Human Rights Organization of Nigeria
For: Human Rights Organization of Nigeria
5. Engineer Rufus Duru (+2348037513519)
For: Global Rights & Development International
For: Global Rights & Development International
6. Comrade Chike Umeh ( +2348064869601)
For: Society Advocacy Watch Project
For: Society Advocacy Watch Project
7. Obianuju Igboeli, Esq. (+2348034186332)
For: Anambra Human Rights Forum
For: Anambra Human Rights Forum
8. Comrade Alex Olisa(+2348034090410)
For: Southeast Good Governance Forum
For: Southeast Good Governance Forum
9. Jerry Chukwuokoro, PhD (+2348035372962)
For: International Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights Initiative
For: International Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights Initiative
10. Mr. Tochukwu Ezeoke (+447748612933)
For: Igbo Ekunie Initiative (Pan Igbo Rights Advocacy Group)
For: Igbo Ekunie Initiative (Pan Igbo Rights Advocacy Group)
Note: This letter is
communicated through closed and open modes; meaning that it has both
enveloped and open versions with same contents meant for its specific
recipients.
Attachments: 1. Pictures of
military blockage of the ailing Niger Bridge and its associated traffic
gridlock; taken in the evening of Friday, 2nd December 2016;
2. Pictures
of Mobile Police Men collecting N50 and N100 Notes from commercial
motorists at gunpoint taken along Onitsha-Enugu Expressway and One of
the failed Federal Roads in the Southeast Zone in November 2015 and
November 2016 respectively.
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