When we advised on Southeast insecurity, we were branded anti-Igbo — IPAN
The National President of IPAN, Comrade Lawrence Onuzulike
An Igbo socio-cultural group, Igbo for a Progressive and United Nationhood (IPAN), has stated that if the people of the Southeast had heeded its warnings when the violence and killings began, the region would be safer today.
The group lamented the current spate of insecurity in the Southeast and expressed regret that the people did not listen to its warnings.
The National President of IPAN, Comrade Lawrence Onuzulike, expressed this view in an exclusive interview with our correspondent in Awka.
He referenced a recent speech by the prolific writer and poet Chimamanda Adichie at a literary festival in Enugu, where she remarked that the southeastern part of Nigeria “no longer feels like home” due to the erosion of its former tranquility and hospitality.
She attributed this shift to ongoing violence linked to armed separatist activities and a recent surge in ritual killings in the region.
Reacting to Adichie’s comments, Comrade Onuzulike described the security situation in the Southeast as not only sad but also deeply embarrassing. He applauded the renowned writer for “hitting the nail on the head.”
Onuzulike recalled that when the violence and killings first started in the Southeast, IPAN condemned them in the strongest terms, believing such actions to be alien and contrary to Igbo values.
However, he regretted that instead of heeding the voice of reason, many Igbo people celebrated the criminals as liberators, allowing “the monster to grow beyond the control of the owner.”
“We at IPAN found it not only strange but disturbing that Igbo people suddenly began killing their fellow human beings, regardless of the reasons given,”
“This is completely alien to who we are and what has brought us this far. IPAN was roundly attacked for condemning the acts, with many people calling our members ‘efulefu’ (worthless). But we stood our ground because the Igbo have always valued human life. Anyone who commits murder in Igboland is exiled, and certain rituals are performed upon their return to cleanse the evil.”
“It was shocking that the same people who once held the sanctity of human life in such high regard suddenly became killers, slaughtering people in the forests. Even more surprising was that our people hailed them as ‘unknown gunmen.’”he said.
The Igbo leader noted that there is no justifiable reason for the Igbo to abandon their culture of respect for human life.
He further explained that accepting the alien culture introduced by these criminals, under whatever pretext, paved the way for the widespread criminality now plaguing parts of the Southeastern communities.
“Today, the chicken has come home to roost. The Southeast is no longer safe. Many people have fled. Businesses have shut down. Jobs have been lost. Murders and decapitations occur almost daily.”
“Most of those who supported the violence and killings have fled to Lagos or Abuja, while the remaining few are now singing different tunes,” he added.
Onuzulike insisted that all hope is not lost.
He called for the Igbo to unite in total rejection of all alien cultures and warned that the Southeast must not be abandoned, lest criminals continue to have a field day.
He urged all Southeast governors to take decisive action in addressing the rising insecurity, advocating for a unified regional security arrangement that will root out all criminal elements from the region, regardless of their guise.
