Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), Wednesday, called for an end to the barbaric killings and unprecedented outbreaks of violence that have turned the South-East geopolitical zone into a battlefield.
HURIWA specifcally urged the Federal Government (FG) to sever diplomatic ties with Finland and expel the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria in order to secure the arrest of Simon Ekpa, a Finland-based agitator.
Ekpa has been instigating sit-at-home, violence, and killings in the South-East through destructive commands to his foot soldiers from Finland.
Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA’s national coordinator, urged the newly appointed service chiefs to work and prioritise solutions to the zone’s insecurity.
The association further admonished President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to uphold the rule of law and democratic principles by directing the Attorney General of the Federation, the Ministry of Justice, and the Department of State Services to comply with an Appeal Court ruling that released detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Hundreds of innocent residents have been killed in the South-East by gunmen and security operatives, particularly in the last two years since Kanu’s imprisonment in mid-2021, the group recorded.
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According to an investigation funded by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), the South-East micro businesses squandered 71 sit-at-home Mondays between August 9, 2021, and December 19, 2022, losing N5.375 trillion ($12.215 billion).
HURIWA however maintained that the massive economic losses and irreversible loss of life are painful and have had devastating effects on the entire South-East geopolitical zone.
Onwubiko said: “The sit-at-home order and violence that has persisted in South East are alarming. The Federal Government should cut off diplomatic ties with its Finnish counterpart and expel the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria over their failure to arrest and prosecute Simon Ekpa who is allegedly causing violence in the South-East by issuing illegal orders for persistent sit-at-home and the attendant violent enforcement of these illegal orders
“The new service chiefs and heads of security agencies must quickly get to work and use intelligence to stop these killings. President Bola Tinubu should also obey the rule of law and democratic tenets by ordering the secret police to obey the Appeal Court order freeing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
Information Nigeria understands that political leaders from the South-East zone met in Abuja on Monday and urged the Federal Government to restore normalcy to the zone.
