Gideon Arinze In Enugu
A civil society organisation, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) yesterday accused the federal government of adopting counterproductive approach in its fight against insecurity in the South-east region.
The organisation also launched a report on insecurity and widespread human rights violations by security forces in the Southeast region titled “unveiling the Roots of Insecurity, Healing the Wounds of Human Rights Violations in Southeast Nigeria: A Path Towards Peace, Open Democratic Space and a Prosperous Future.”
Speaking during the unveiling of the report produced in partnership with Action Group on Free Civic Space (AGFCS), Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said that the report was intended to drive the true narrative about the nature, roots, patterns, dimensions and the effects of current government’s approach to tackling insecurity in the Southeast.
He noted that one of the additional factors fueling the cycle of violence, as documented in the report, is the federal government’s single-minded brute force and counterproductive approach to fighting insecurity in the zone.
“The federal government is simply not interested in listening to the voices of reason in or about the South-east,” he said. “It is not paying attention to the plight of the people and not interested in sincerely addressing or solving the problems of the people of the zone.”
He stated that rather than adopt a more open-minded approach, the federal government is driven by the mindset – as revealed by President Buhari during an interview in 2021, ‘’to speak to the people in the language that they understand.’’
He further stated that while RULAAC acknowledges that pro-Biafra agitation and insurgency are significant contributors to insecurity in the South East, attributing the problem solely to these factors paints an incomplete picture.
In her address, Regional Director, West Africa at Ford Foundation, which provided financial support for the report, Chichi Aniagolu, said that the South-east used to be a bastion of peace till insecurity crept in and changed the situation.
She, however, noted that necessary steps must be taken to address the situation, adding that the foundation sees peace and security as vital for development hence its decision to support the report.
