Ref:
Intersociety/SBCHROs/12/2016/SE/Public-Office-Holders/SE/NG
1. His Excellency, Mr. Willie M. Obiano
Executive Governor of Anambra State
The Governor’s Office, Government House
Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
2. His Excellency, Mr. Okezie Ikpeazu, PhD
Executive Governor of Abia State
Office of the Governor, Abia State
Government House
Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria
3. His Excellency, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi
Executive Governor of Enugu State
The Governor’s Office, Enugu State
Government
Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria
4. His Excellency, Mr. Dave Umahi
Executive Governor of Ebonyi State
Office of the Ebonyi State Governor,
Ebonyi Government House
Abakiliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
5. His Excellency, Mr. Anayo Rochas Okorocha
Executive Governor of Imo State
Office of the Governor, Imo State
Government House
Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
6. Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu
Deputy Senate President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria
Office of the Deputy Senate President
The National Assembly Complex, FCT,
Abuja, Nigeria
Your Excellencies/Distinguished Senator,
An Urgent Call To Southeast Public
Office Holders: Before The Jihadist Nigerian Army Collapses The Ailing Onitsha
Niger Bridge And Turns Igbo Land Into A German Concentration Camp In The Guise
Of “Operation Python Dance”
(Intersociety/SBCHROs,
Onitsha-Nigeria, 4th of December 2016)-The leadership of International Society for Civil Liberties
and the Rule of Law; abbreviated as INTERSOCIETY, respectfully write, in
conjunction with the Southeast Based
Coalition of Human Rights Organizations (SBCHROs) to draw the urgent
attention of Your Excellencies and Distinguished Senator as it concerns a
clear case of army of occupation by Jihadist elements in the present Nigerian
Army
in the Southeast Geopolitical Zone or Igbo Land as well as orchestrated
plans by them to collapse the 51years Old Onitsha Niger Bridge; a major gateway
to Igbo Land.
We make bold to say that the ulterior motives behind
the referenced despicable and condemnable operations are for the purpose of
Jihadism and Ethnic Cleansing. Others are to cause social and economic
strangulation of the Southeast Zone and collapse of Onitsha Niger Bridge built
since 1965; for the purpose of cutting off the Igbo Land from the rest of the
country; using the Southeast Roads as illegitimate money making venture by way
of collection of illegal roadblock tolls and extortion; depriving the Christian
dominated Peoples of the Southeast and the South-south Zones particularly those
living outside the Zones of their sacred and constitutionally guaranteed rights
to worship their Christian Religion and commemorate the birth of their Savior
Jesus Christ by blocking and torturing them from returning to their ancestral
homes by way of total blockage of the ailing Niger Bridge and deliberate creation
of indiscriminate roadblocks; pushing the law abiding Igbo Race to the wall and
forcing them to adopt radical reprisal approaches to pave way for full blown genocidal Jihadism against the Race.
It is recalled that on Monday, 28th of
November 2016, the Nigerian Army, dominated by Jihadist elements; dubiously announced
the mass deployment of troops and equipment to all strategic roads and
commercial centers including motor parks in Igbo Land, in the guise of
“Operation or Exercise Python Dance”; saying it is targeting “MASSOB, IPOB,
Fulani Herdsmen, Kidnappers and Armed Robbers”. Before the dubious announcement,
the Southeast or Igbo Land was laid under siege with not less than one hundred
military and navy roadblocks and not more than 1000 police roadblocks scattered
on all strategic roads and routes in the Zone. The link below contains the
first army statement under reference: http://newsexpressngr.com/news/31295-Army-reads-Riot-Act-to-IPOB-MASSOB-herdsmen-others.
In response, the Southeast
Based Coalition of Human Rights Organizations (SBCHROs) and the Intersociety, issued
a joint statement, dated 30th of November 2016, condemning in its
entirety and totality the action of the Jihadist Nigerian Army. The said
statement of ours triggered off public outcries and more informed reactions;
forcing the army through its 82nd Division in Enugu to issue another
contradictory, defenseless and watery statement; claiming professionalism and routine
in-service exercise. The link below contains the second army statement,
issued on Friday, 2nd December 2016: http://www.newsexpressngr.com/news/31490-Army-clears-air-over-operation-Python-Dance-in-South-East-16. In all these, the more the Jihadist
army tries to justify its claims behind the atrocious operations, the more its ulterior
motives are exposed.
We have, contrary to the claims of the
Jihadist Army, investigated, found and come out with the following 37-Points Of Facts; shaming,
rubbishing and exposing the false claims and ulterior motives of the Jihadist
Nigerian Army and the Police: (1) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army raised
false insecurity alarms in the Southeast with ulterior or dubious intents; (2)
that street protests are not armed rebellion or traditional street crimes of
kidnapping, armed robbery or murder, etc; (3) that IPOB and MASSOB are not
armed opposition groups waging war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria or
any part thereof; (4) that Southeast Zone is the most peaceful Zone to live in
Nigeria; as clearly attested to by a recent UN Report and it is not a war zone
or a zone at war with the Federal Government or Federal Republic of Nigeria;
(5) that there are no security threats of unprecedented proportion or Northeast
magnitude in the Southeast Zone warranting the present military siege or police
state in the Zone.
(6) That
the Jihadist Nigerian Army is crude and an illiterate army with no
knowledge of the meaning and definition of Rules of Engagement; (7) that the Jihadist Nigerian Army has continued to criminalize and stigmatize the
nonviolent activities of IPOB to the point of saddening and alarming
proportions; (8) that while the Southeast, which is a Zone in peace and non war
Zone is being hunted, persecuted and pushed to the wall; the troubled Zones
like Northeast and violent groups like the Fulani Janjaweed are being cuddled, petted
and protected (i.e. see military roadblocks along Umuahia-Aba Federal Road and
blanket protections provided to Fulani cattle rearers and their herds of cattle
where cattle are valued more than lives of road users on Southeast Roads).
(9) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army and
its Commander-in-Chief are killing, wounding, torturing and persecuting
citizens of the Southeast Zone that have chosen nonviolence and law abiding
living; whereas violent entities and Zones including Boko Haram and Fulani
Janjaweed are being rewarded and given presidential treat and protection; (10)
that there are no credible official crime statistics from the Nigeria Police
Force in the Southeast Zone, detailing the patterns and trends of violent
crimes such as kidnapping and armed robbery in the Zone; showing increase or
decrease; warranting the involvement of the
Jihadist Nigerian Army in the flooding of the Zone with troops and
weapons.
(11) That soldiers are not
professionally trained to catch kidnappers and armed robbers or arsonists or
burglars or rapists; or engage in fighting street crimes and they do not have
mental and ICT expertise to do same; (12) that hiding under the guise of “fighting
kidnappers and armed robbers” as a cover to actualize their Jihadist intents
have been exposed and shamed; (13) that the Jihadist Nigerian Army resorted to
such useless and mockery excuses as a cover to execute their Jihadist and
ethnic cleansing operations; (14) that the use of Fulani Herdsmen by the
Jihadist Nigerian Army as one of the excuses for invasion of the Southeast is
deliberate and a further cover to be hidden under to perpetrate its planned
unprovoked war or mass killing and torture mission.
(15)
That the Fulani Janjaweed or Herdsmen have massacred over 140 defenceless
Christians in Southern Kaduna alone, in the past six months; yet the Army turns
blind eyes; likewise similar massacring of hundreds of others in Agatu
(Benue State), Nimbo (Enugu State), Akokwa (Imo State), Asaba and its environs (Delta
State) and reported ongoing massacre in
Abia communities of Abia State, etc; with the
Jihadist Nigerian Army looking the other way; but wasting unnecessary
energy and weaponry chasing, massacring, wounding, torturing and persecuting
defenceless Igbo-Christians in furtherance of its Jihadist and ethnic cleansing.
(16) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army
operation by way of total blockage of the 51years Old Onitsha Bridge; a major
gateway to Igbo Land, is solely meant to collapse and sink the Bridge so as to
cut the Southeast Zone off from the rest of the country; when it ought to know
that the Bridge critically needs round-the-clock decongestion and lesser
traffic gridlock especially in this critical festive period; (17) that the
operations of the Jihadist Nigerian Army are deliberately commenced this
crucial festive period in Igbo Land so as to punish, torture and persecute the
Igbo Race for being predominant Christians and deprive them of their sacred
rights to commemorate the birth of their Saviour Jesus Christ; (18) that the
Army operations are also meant to strangulate the Igbo Race or Southeast Zone
socially, culturally and economically.
(19) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army
operations commenced in this crucial festive period in Igbo Land are geared
towards creation of a sort of “Concentration Camp” by way of total blockage of
the Onitsha Niger Bridge; particularly along Asaba-Niger Bridge and Niger
Bridge-Onitsha Upper Iweka axis by trapping and jam-packing thousands of Xmas
returnees with their families and livestock and other perishable items, so as
to get them suffocated, fainted or died in their large numbers; (20) that the
Jihadist Nigerian Army operations are also in crude and shameless response to
the recent Amnesty International Report on massacre of at least 150 Pro Biafra
Campaigners by the Jihadist Army; a confirmation of Intersociety’s earlier
findings of the massacre by army and others of at least 250 nonviolent and unarmed Pro Biafra campaigners
between July/August 2015 and May 2016.
(21) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army’s
response is in the form of show of shame, force and impunity; (22) that the
Jihadist Nigerian Amy operations are designed to inflict the Igbo Race with
psychological torture and permanently treat them as a conquered people and
further massacre them on the road with
impunity in addition to over 250 unarmed and defenceless Igbo citizens and over
300 others it massacred or terminally wounded since July/August 2015; (23) that
the Army operations are purely an army of occupation designed to occupy the
Southeast permanently with attendant atrocious and butchery outcomes.
(24) That Intersociety and SBCHROs’ reason for
referring to the Nigerian Army as “Jihadist Nigerian Army” particularly in the
Southeast Zone, follows total takeover and domination of its command and rank
and file by officers and citizens of northern Muslim background or Hausa-Fulani
hegemony who are filled with intolerance, crude and butchery mindsets; whereby
the GOC of the 82nd Division in Enugu: Major Gen Ibrahim Attahiru;
the Deputy Army Spokesman of the 82nd Division: Col Sagir Musa and
his predecessor, Col Hamza Gambo; the Commandant of the 302 Artillery Regiment,
Onitsha, Col Isa Abdullahi Maigari; the leader of the military massacre
operation of 29th and 30th of May 2016 at Nkpor, Onitsha
and Asaba; Major M.I. Ibrahim of the Military Police; and the Commander of the 144 Battalion of the
Nigerian Army at Ukwa in Abia State; Lt Col Kasim Sidi Umar; who spearheaded
the 9th of February 2016 massacre of over 30 IPOB members in Aba, are
all from Hausa-Fulani Muslim background; likewise domination of other strategic
command positions and over 70% of the rank and file or combatants by citizens
of northern Muslim background.
(25) That another ulterior motive behind
the Jihadist Nigerian Army operations in Igbo Land or Southeast Zone is for the
purpose of criminal enrichment or illegitimate pocketing of hundreds of
millions of naira from the Southeast Roads by way of organized road crime or
roadblock extortion through open and closed sources; (26) that recent update of
the Intersociety on road crimes committed by police and military personnel
(i.e. army and navy) clearly showed that there are not less than 200 military
roadblocks and 1000 police roadblocks on Southeast Roads as at 4th
of December 2016; (27) that in those roadblocks, various forms of extortion are
applied to rob the motorists and other road users at official gunpoint.
(28) That while soldiers and navy use
structured form of extortion (i.e. hiring of civilians or garage touts to
forcefully collect tolls on their behalf), the police use open method or direct
extortion at gunpoint; (29) that the choice of Southeast Roads is because of
its blue-collar nature or high commercial and cash transactions; (30) that as a
result, the Jihadist Nigerian Army commanders and their foot soldiers in the
Southeast Zone; with transmission of routine monthly brown envelopes (returns)
to their superiors in Abuja; collectively and crookedly smile to bank on daily
basis with tens of millions of naira derived from roadblock extortion; (31)
that empirical evidence at our investigative disposal shows that the Nigeria
Police in the Southeast Zone and its Roads had in the past 14 months or between
October 2015 and December 2016, criminally collected and pocketed a total of
N9.1Billion from roadblock extortion on Southeast Roads.
(32) That our updated checks as at today
show that there are not less than 250 police roadblocks on Anambra’s Federal
and State Roads as well as its city roads and that each police roadblock
extorts minimum of N50 note and average of N100 note from each commercial
motorist; translating to at least N30,000
for each police roadblock; N7.5million daily from not less than 250
police roadblocks; N225million monthly and N2.7Billion per year; (33) that the
same facts and circumstances are applicable to Abia State; another major blue-collar
State after Anambra State; with its 250 police roadblocks criminally pocketing
N2.7Billion per year; (34) that Imo State; a lesser blue-collar State, has at
least 200 police roadblocks to its name; with each police roadblock pocketing
not less than N15,000 daily; N3Million for its 200 police roadblocks per day,
N90Million per month and N1.08Billion per annum.
(35) That Enugu and Ebonyi States with
relatively white-collar or civil service sub culture, have at least 300 police
roadblocks to their names on average of 150 each; and each of the police
roadblock criminally pockets at least N15,000 pay day and N4.5Million for the
300 police roadblocks per day; N135Million per month and N1.62Billion per year;
on average of N810Million for each of the two States; (36) that in all, the
police personnel at over 1000 police roadblocks mounted on Southeast Roads have
between January 2016 and December 2016 criminally collected and pocketed from
Southeast commercial road users a total of N8.1Billion; with Anambra State
accounting for N2.7Billion; Abia State N2.7billion; Imo State N1.08Billion;
Enugu State N810Million; and Ebonyi State N810Million; (37) that added to
N1.03Billion criminally collected and pocketed between 21st October and
21st December 2015 by not less than 750 police roadblocks then on
Southeast Roads; the total roadblock theft by the Nigeria Police Force in the
past 14 months from Southeast Roads is N9.13Billion.
Demands:
In view of the foregoing, therefore, we
boldly demand:
1.
That the Southeast Public
Office Holders particularly the elected Governors of Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu
and Ebonyi States and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu should proactively
rise to the occasion and take firm charge as the Chief Security Officers and
Highest Legislative Officer of the Southeast Zone.
2.
That in view of the Chief of
Army Staff’s Conference kicking off in Owerri, Imo State from tomorrow being
Monday, 5th of December 2016, expected to last for days; the above
mentioned public office holders should make maximum use of the opportunity to
register their strong displeasure and disapproval against unwarranted
militarization of the Southeast or Igbo Land by Buratai led Jihadist Nigerian
Army.
3.
That the COAS, Lt Gen Turkur
Buratai should be boldly engaged and asked to explain the rationale behind
out-right domination of the command structure of the Nigerian Army in the
Southeast as well as its rank and file by officers and citizens of Hausa-Fulani
Muslim background.
4.
That the COAS must be made to
reverse the dangerous trend and de-Hausanize the art of combatant or infantry
soldiering in the Southeast Zone or Igbo Land.
5.
That the COAS must be told in
strong and unmistakable language that Southeast will no longer condone and
tolerate the age-long maltreatment by Nigerian Army as “a conquered territory
and people”.
6.
That the Southeast Public
Office Holders above mentioned should meet President Muhammadu Buhari with a
fluent Hausa Language interpreter to demand his inexplicable hostility towards
the Igbo Land and Igbo Race and prevail on him to demilitarize the Southeast
Zone.
7.
That the Southeast Public
Office Holders must insist during the COAS visit to Imo that he must order for
the de-blockage of the ailing Onitsha Niger Bridge before he leaves the Igbo
Land so as to save the Bridge from imminent collapse and facilitate free
movement of people and vehicular particularly during Xmas and New Year period.
8.
That we understand that the
said Jihadist Army commanders including the Commandant of Onitsha 302
Artillery, Col Isa Abdullahi Maigari and the 82nd Division Deputy
Army Spokesman, Col Sagir Musa visited the ailing Niger Bridge this morning
(Sunday, 4th December 2016) between 10.30am and 11.30am following
our advocacy pressures and “offered to reduce the blockage for their safety”;
this we totally reject and insist on total removal of all the military drums
and freeing and decongesting of the all routes into and out of the ailing
Bridge. This is a matter of must; not palliative or adhoc.
9.
That the COAS must be
prevailed upon to order his “Dogari” combatants at the ailing Niger Bridge to
disappear from the centre of the roads linking the ailing Bridge and retire to
tents built for them beside the Ojukwu Statue to watch over people and
vehicular movements.
10.
That the Southeast Public
Office Holders under reference should firmly engage the COAS, the Chief of
Naval Staff and the Inspector General of Police concerning the extortionist and
other criminal activities of their personnel deployed to Southeast Roads; for
the purpose of abolishing all forms of criminal tolls or roadblock extortions.
11.
That all the military and
police roadblocks on Southeast Roads should be reduced to 5%, if not total
abolition because empirical evidence has clearly shown that the more increase
in military and police roadblocks in the Zone, the more increase in State-actor
and non-State actor crimes (i.e. steady increase in Fulani Janjaweed attacks
despite indiscriminate security roadblocks).
12.
That the Southeast Public
Office Holders under reference should set up a joint commission of enquiry to
look into the army led massacre of not less than 250 Pro Biafra Campaigners as
well as killings by the Fulani Janjaweed or armed Herdsmen in various parts of
the Southeast Zone or Igbo Land.
Yours in the
Service to Humanity,
Emeka
Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
International
Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Mobile Line:
+2348174090052
Email: [email protected]
Chinwe Umeche, Esq.,
Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program
Mobile Line:
+2347013238673
Obianuju
Igboeli, Esq., Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
Mobile Line:
+2348180771506
Co-Signed By:
1.
Comrade
Aloysius Attah (+2348035090548)
For: Civil Liberties
Organization, Southeast Zone
2.
Comrade
Vincent Ezekwume (+2348171793911)
For: Civil Liberties
Organization, Anambra State Branch
3.
Comrade
Peter Onyegiri (+2347036892777)
For: Center for Human
Rights & Peace Advocacy
4.
Comrade
Samuel Njoku (+2348039444628)
For: Human Rights
Organization of Nigeria
5.
Engineer
Rufus Duru (+2348037513519)
For: Global Rights
& Development International
6.
Comrade
Chike Umeh ( +2348064869601)
For: Society Advocacy
Watch Project
7.
Obianuju
Igboeli, Esq. (+2348034186332)
For: Anambra Human
Rights Forum
8.
Comrade
Alex Olisa(+2348034090410)
For: Southeast Good
Governance Forum
9.
Jerry
Chukwuokoro, PhD (+2348035372962)
For: International
Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights Initiative
10.
Mr.
Tochukwu Ezeoke (+447748612933)
For: Igbo Ekunie Initiative
(Pan Igbo Rights Advocacy Group)
Note: This letter is communicated through closed and open modes; meaning
that it has both enveloped and open versions with same contents meant for its
specific recipients.
Attachments: 1. Pictures of military blockage of the
ailing Niger Bridge and its associated traffic gridlock; taken in the evening
of Friday, 2nd December 2016; 2. Pictures of Mobile Police Men
collecting N50 and N100 Notes from commercial motorists at gunpoint taken along
Onitsha-Enugu Expressway and One of the failed Federal Roads in the Southeast
Zone in November 2015 and November 2016 respectively.
Onitsha River Niger Bridge cracks due to heavy traffic caused by the Nigerian Army?
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Sunday, December 04, 2016
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