An elder statesman, Dr Chike Obidigbo, has cried out against the acts of criminality in the Southeast, saying that governments at all levels should look beyond the activities of IPOB, ESN, and so-called unknown gunmen to understand the menace.
He lamented the recent abduction of 75-year-old Anglican Archbishop, Rev. Godwin Okpala, noting that the rising wave of kidnapping in the region, especially Anambra State, has continued to stoke forced migrations from the South East.
Obidigbo regretted that although some Southeast states succeeded in promulgating death sentences for kidnapping, nothing concrete has been done to protect citizens.
He stated that the prolonged stay of Archbishop Okpala in the kidnappers’ den at this point in time, with the approaching Yuletide celebrations, represents the worst form of wickedness and negative advertisement of the Southeast as a troubled region.
“So, gradually, the South East is being sold to the world as a house of exile. Many well-meaning citizens and businesses are fleeing from the region. It is disheartening that the federal and state governments have not been able to find a solution to this troubling menace.
“By now, the Southeast governors, political office holders, and traditional institutions should push petty politics aside and work together to unearth the root causes of this new evil trade. How can kidnappers be having a field day, kidnapping hapless citizens, and collecting huge ransoms in this day and age of improved technology?
“Time has come for both the federal and state governments to say that enough is enough and put a permanent end to stealing and seizing human adults for the sake of collecting ransom. It seems to me that there is a grand plan to turn the Southeast into an uninhabitable desert,” he said. The primary duty of any responsible government is to secure and protect the lives of the people. Every other function is secondary.
The elder statesman therefore pleaded with those who are holding the retired and aged Archbishop to use the remaining breath of humanity in them to release the prelate, even as he urged citizens to gear up for collective action against violent crimes against humanity.
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