National president of the Association of Igbo Town Unions (ASITU), Chief Emeka Diwe, has decried the escalation of insecurity in the South East.
Diwe said governors of the zone, traditional rulers and relevant stakeholders must continue to deliberate and consult with security experts to find lasting solution to the security challenges.
He said the development had resulted in loss of lives and property, affected businesses and huge losses were recorded on a daily basis, warning that if nothing is done urgently, the situation may pose existential threat to the people.
Chief Diwe, while interacting with newsmen in respect of the attack on security operatives in Ehime Mbano, Imo State, said insecurity in the zone was hydra-headed and would require multi-dimensional solutions. The town union leader noted that people with direct links with the grassroots had been ignored in pursuit of solutions.
He said tackling the security challenge in the region would require sincerity on the part of the governors and other Igbo leaders.
“People are dying, the only booming industry now is coffin business. Those are the only people who are in business. If you ask them, they would tell you that business is booming. They would tell you that today is better than yesterday and that this week is better than last week. I am telling you what is on ground.
“These people only stay in Abuja and they don’t even know what is happening. Just take five people each from the communities, don’t even call Emeka Diwe; they are people who are managers of those people on ground. They know what they are suffering, they know where to start work.”
Chief Diwe explained that there is no single solution to the problem, but blamed everybody including the governors, stakeholders and security agencies for the situation.
He said; “I was thinking initially that it is one application. But, look, something that is hydra headed; the solution will also be hydra-headed. If the governors are part of the problem and you don’t solve that problem as emanating from the governors, there is nothing you can do, because they have the power; they have resources and they have everything. So, it is not a one-off thing. This is what insecurity is like.
“What’s ‘unknown gunmen’? If by any way of imagination or juxtaposition these so-called unknown gunmen have something to do with the police or with government, do you think the insecurity will stop? So, this thing is not as it is being said. It is complicated.
“You don’t shave somebody’s head in his absence. You will see that all of them are related to the people, but all the time they are in Abuja. And the leadership of the people you say you are representing; you don’t involve them. Look at all the committees they set up, nobody from the grassroots, where the people you are supposed to be representing resides. Is it not the person who wears the shoe that knows where it pinches?”
