Anambra: Ohanaeze faults Soludo’s offer of ‘amnesty’ to agitators
Sequel to the spate of violent attacks and weekly Monday sit-at-home in Anambra, Governor Charles Soludo, Sunday, said his administration has offered “amnesty” to agitators in the state.
But Ohanaeze in a swift reaction yesterday took exception to the use of the word amnesty, saying it connotes that the youths have been committing an offence when in reality, they are only fighting against marginalization.
Ohanaeze however lauded Governor Soludo’s efforts to rehabilitate aggrieved Igbo youths who are causing trouble in the state and South East in general while protesting the ill-treatment being meted to the people of the South East.
Soludo had in an interview with Channels Television lamented the situation in the southeast which over the past year has witnessed spates of violent attacks with security operatives bearing the major brunt of the onslaught.
Recall that on Sunday, gunmen had attacked a patrol team of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, in Anambra, which led to the death of two operatives.
Amid the violent attacks, hoodlums are still enforcing the sit-at-home order which has been suspended by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Just yesterday, workers flayed efforts to bring to an end, the unpopular sit-at-home in the region which took the worst dimension, as residents deserted the roads and streets in Anambra, Imo and some cities in the southeast.
Speaking on Channels TV, Soludo had said his administration is ready to rehabilitate and offer skill acquisition training to those willing to surrender.
“Within the agitation movement, we have to agree that there are now factions. There are various factions. There is one led by one guy in Finland called Simeon Ekpa.
“IPOB has come out to accuse that group of being the one behind much of the criminality taking place in the southeast. It is a very huge positive development.
“A lot of them in the bush out there are having camps here and there. They come out to kidnap and kill. Once we isolate all the groups that are not involved in this, then we can focus on the criminals.
“We have also offered them some kind of amnesty. Come out, give us your guns, we are prepared to give you training in whatever skills, even if we have to raise resources to empower you to become useful partners in the development of the society.”
On the agitation for secession in the south-east, Soludo said an ideology cannot be killed through the use of guns, adding that it is pertinent to understand the root cause of the problem.
“A time comes when you realise that you cannot shoot an ideology with a gun. When you see it exclusively as a law enforcement matter, then you miss the point. You’ve got to engage them,” he said.
The governor said his administration will set up a truth and reconciliation commission.
“This is something we need to engage very seriously. We are taking it very seriously with an open manner to engage everyone and believing that everyone has some contribution to make. To the criminals, we are offering them an olive branch to repent.”
To this end, the governor declared prayer sessions that took place yesterday across Churches in the state to formally end the sit-at-home.
Lay down your arms
Speaking at St Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral, Ekwulobia in Aguata local government area where he participated in the prayer session, Governor Soludo appealed to those still carrying arms and forced people to stay at home on Mondays in Igbo land to lay down their arms and embrace the path of peace in the interest of the people.
He recalled that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had issued a statement putting an end to the Monday sit-at-home and wondered why it should continue.
He observed that the people and the state were the major losers anytime the sit-at-home order was enforced, adding that children were deprived of going to school every Monday just as economic activities were also grounded.
He said that the state cannot continue in that manner, stressing that this is the time to take back Anambra State and build it as a home of peace and the light of the nation.
Governor Soludo also informed the congregation that the state government had put in place measures to rehabilitate and train the youths to be gainfully employed, as well as the setting up of a Peace and Reconciliation Commission to reconcile all aggrieved parties.
According to him, with the prayers offered in the churches across the state, the Monday weekly sit-at-home is officially over and urged the people to come out every Monday to conduct their businesses while schools and other essential institutions/agencies are required to open for business every Monday as well
The Bishop of Ekwulobia Diocese, Most Rev Ebele Okpalaeke, who led the prayer session charged the people to embrace peace.
He observed that nothing could be achieved without peace and harmony in the land and appealed to those who were bent on creating fear and tension in the land to desist forthwith and embrace the olive branch offered by the state government for peace to return to the state. Vanguard
