Igbo women under the aegis of Igbo Women Assembly (IWA), have urged President Bola Tinubu to heed the calls for a political solution to the affairs of the detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu with a view to releasing him.
National President of IWA, Nneka Chimezie, who made the call while addressing a press conference in Umuahia, Abia State, said Kanu’s release will help to douse the building tension in the South East. Chimezie said it was imperative that governors of South East states immediately begin implemention of anti-open grazing laws enacted by the states’ houses of assembly.
The IWA National President also told the states that were yet to enact the laws against open grazing to do so without further delay, stressing that implementation of the law would save the region from insecurity and looming famine. She attributed the rising cost of prices of food stuff especially in the South East to the fact that many farmers recorded loses after their farms were destroyed by herdsmen’s cattle.
The IWE members who also said their sons are now relocating away from the South East to other parts of the country and beyond, blamed the ugly situation on insecurity and fear of bandits and overzealous security agencies. According to Chimezie, some communities like Orlu, Mbano, Awo Idemili now have low number of youths, saying that the situation portends bad omen for the South East.
While condemning the killing of soldiers in Aba recently and urged that the perpetrators be brought to book, the National President of IWA however frowned at the loss of man -hour and traffic congestions due to multiple military checkpoints in the zone.
“I slept on the road last year at Ihiala because of traffic jam caused by a military checkpoint. With the heavy presence of the military in the South East, it appears as if we are under siege.” The women called for the deployment of intelligence and other tactful strategies against criminal elements behind the security challenges in the zone.
IWA appealed to President Tinubu to pull the military from South East roads back to the barracks from where they could be deployed when the need arises. The women equally called for the reduction of police checkpoints in the zone, and frowned at the idea of branding anybody in the South East an IPOB member or an unknown gunman.
