By Cajetan Mmuta
Anambra State Governor Professor Chukwuma Soludo on Saturday granted amnesty to all criminal elements threatening peace and progress across the state to lay down their arms and embrace peace for progress and development of all segments of the state.
He noted that the state and indeed Nigeria are facing a precarious situation that needs all hands to be on deck.
Soludo warned that if after Monday this week all those behind the worrisome state of insecurity that has led to the killings of innocent lives and wanton destruction of properties, fail to drop their arms and embrace peace as well as the amnesty extended to them, they should not blame anybody for the actions to be meted to them at the end.
The Governor spoke at the emergency one day Peace Building and Dialogue meeting held with traditional rulers, clergies, market women, traders, town union leaders, youth groups, and other critical stakeholders drawn from across the three Senatorial districts and 21 local government areas of the state, which was held in Awka the state capital.
He declared that the weekly Monday sit-at-home which has continued to inflict pains and losses on the economy and lives of people of the state and other states in the Southeast zone is now a thing of the past, stressing that the Leadership of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) had reiterated is stand to call quits the weekly directive.
He promised to work collaboratively with governors of the zone towards ensuring that Nnamdi Kanu receives expected justice as a true citizen of the country even in the face of not having any strong evidence against him.
The governor also pronounced the establishment of the Peace and Reconciliation Commission to be inaugurated next week, the reorganization of community vigilante groups, and the launch of the Security Trust Fund to ensure adequate security across the nooks and crannies of the state while jobs would be created for repentant criminals and youths to engage them meaningfully.
“Anambra will be better again this is time and hour; you employed me and I will do my best to serve you but you should not leave it for me alone.
Criminal elements now lay down your arms and embrace peace bit of you keep adamant we will treat you like a criminal. Come out wherever you are, we don’t want to kill anybody. Those who go by the gun and same applies to those who go by the cutlass,” Soludo stated.
“It is time to engage the good, the bad, and the ugly,” Soludo said.
This is as the Igbo apex socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, blasted governors of the five states in the Southeast geo-political zone for their failure to take firm decisions and actions on the worsening state of insecurity in the region and the fate of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who is currently being incarcerated and facing trial over alleged terrorism, treasonable felony and other charges.
The Vice-chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide (Southeast zone) Chief Damian Ogene Okeke said the failure of leadership by the Nigerian state and those of governors of the Southeast zone were responsible for the threatening insecurity and decades of marginalization of Ndigbo.
Chief Okeke flayed the situation where the governors have reduced themselves to praise singers and clappers within the corridors of power in Abuja while their people are marginalized and in all ramifications and lives threatened as well as waste lives under the guise of leadership.
According to Ohanaeze Vice President, “too much praise-singing and leadership failure have been our major challenge. The federal government has so much marginalized Ndigbo and the failure of Southeast governors to take proactive steps to address the challenge of insecurity has kept us where we are today f the Southeast governors are in unity all these problems in the Southeast will be solved.”
Chairman of the Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers and Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty Igwe Alfred Achebe in a communique jointly signed on behalf of all the traditional rulers, the clergies, and state government at the end of a crucial meeting held recently in the state and read to the gathering.
He declared Monday, April 4th, 2022 as a day of prayer for the entire Igbo race, a spiritual exercise that would take place in all Cathedrals, churches, and other prayer houses by 11 am across the entire Ndigbo land.
2023: Yahaya Bello declares for presidency
The monarchs, religious leaders, and state government urged all those injured and the Aggrieved to come forward and cooperate with the truth and reconciliation commission to the conduct of inquiry into remote and immediate causes of the agitations, documentation, and examination of the circumstances surrounding the killings in the Southeast.
The body called for constructive and continuous dialogue by all parties as a more sustainable solution to overcoming the challenge and winning the hearts and minds of the people.
The joint body recognized that there are countrywide agitations for restructuring inter-ethnic and intergovernmental relations in Nigeria with a view to greater inclusiveness.
2023: Yahaya Bello declares for presidency
“We, therefore, share the genuine concern over the political and economic marginalization of the Southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria, a major plank of the agitation by the IPOB.”
The meeting called for the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the federal government to douse the current tensions across the Southeast and create an atmosphere for collaboration towards a constructive resolution of the issues.
“We call on all criminal elements masquerading as working under the instruction of IPOB or ESN to cease further acts of violence and criminality to face the implacable force of law and order.”
The joint group also called on those who took arms in the belief that their grievances could be achieved only through arms struggles to lay down their arms.
According to the communique, the government and good people of Anambra State hereby offer the olive branch for you all to return and hereby undertake to train, rehabilitate and empower you to contribute to our Homeland development. The centers where you youths can register for help will be announced shortly.
