Group demands urgent deployment of military personnel to Ebonyi over communal clashes
- The recent communal clashes in Ebonyi state continues to generate reactions
- An influential group in the state have requested the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari
- The group asked the president to order a military team to secure the area, stressing that the crisis may resume again
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A group, the Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in the Diaspora (AESID) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately deploy military personnel to Effium community in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi state where dozens were recently killed.
According to the group, a militia has held the area to ransom in the past 72 hours hence the need for military deployment to forestall further breakdown of law and order.
The group's demand was contained in a statement sent to Legit.ng on Wednesday, January 27 by its president, Ambassador Paschal Oluchukwu.
The AESID cautioned that if nothing is urgently done to restore peace and order in Effiumthe community, the defenceless citizens may have no option but to take up their own arms and defend themselves and their ancestral homes.
Source: Twitter
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The AESID also alleged that the security agencies that had been deployed to the area may have been compromised by some political leaders.
Part of the statement read:
“We urgently call on the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to immediately deploy military personnel to the area to forestall further break down of law and order and wanton killing of innocent lives by a prepared armed militia that have held the area to ransom in the past 72 hours and yet counting.
“As we commend the Ebonyi state governor for visiting the area to meet with the warring parties, AESID still condemns the glaring indolent posture of the Umahi-led government towards holistically arresting the situation and returning peace to the troubled area.
“The Ebonyi state government must know that the eldest and most populous Ezza clan has endured too many attacks in the state beginning from the Ezza-Ezillo crises which claimed many lives of its citizens and those of other Ebonyians and Nigerians who were caught in the cross-fire.
“Though we don’t pray the situation degenerates beyond its present escalation, the state government, in particular, must have itself to blame if the present trend persists and the Ezzas take measures to defend themselves from their attackers.
“We say so without bias because we strongly fear that the Umahi government hasn’t only failed to act swiftly but appear to be taking sides with the attackers while pretending to be arresting and willing to prosecute them.”
Recall that the AESID had earlier called on the security agencies in Nigeria to probe Governor Umahi and the chairman of the Ohaukwu Local Government Area, Clement Odah in Ebonyi state over the communal clash.
Oluchkwu had in a statement sent to Legit.ng on Monday. January 25, condemned the mayhem, alleging that it was politically motivated.
Legit.ng had reported that the group recently commended the new commissioner of police in the state for acting with utmost professionalism.
AESID noted that CP Aliyu Garba has discharged his duties without fear of favour since his resumption as the chief police officer of the southeast state.
Source: Legit.ng
