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From Okey Sampson Umuahia
Igbo Women Assembly (IWA), the umbrella body of Igbo women, has said the reported identities of suspects arraigned over the abduction of prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members along the Owerri–Onitsha Expressway has vindicated the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and its Eastern Security Network (ESN), over the long held view that insecurity in the South-East was perpetrated by them.
National President of IWA, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, stated this while reacting to the recent arraignment of the suspects in an Owerri High Court.
The suspects were identified as Usman Aliyu, Babangida Aliyu, Mohammed Ali, Aminu Haliru and Ibrahim Jiji.
The IWA President, who said she had repeatedly faced criticism and security scrutiny over her position, argued that criminal activities in the South East required a broader investigation into the roles of all suspected perpetrators, including non-state actors and possible lapses by security agencies.
She said she had consistently maintained that the South-East’s security crisis involved multiple actors and could not be adequately addressed by attributing every kidnapping, killing and armed robbery to IPOB or ESN.
“I have always made it clear that the insecurity in the South-East is not only perpetrated by the freedom fighters and Biafran liberation groups. There are other people involved,” she said.
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The IWA President questioned how gunmen could reportedly stop two buses and abduct more than 20 passengers despite the heavy deployment of security personnel across the region.
According to her, military checkpoints were located within minutes of the scene of the incident, while several police checkpoints dotted the route.
“How can we have all these checkpoints in the South-East and still have people being kidnapped in broad daylight?” she queried.
The Igbo women leader renewed her call for the Federal Government to withdraw all military deployments from the South-East, insisting that the proliferation of checkpoints had not brought the desired improvement in security.
“I made this call in 2024. The military presence in the South-East is doing more harm than good. They should withdraw the military and allow security agencies to focus on intelligence and patrols,” she said.
She, however, called on South-East governors and community leaders to strengthen local vigilante structures and improve cooperation with law enforcement agencies, particularly in rural areas and along major highways.
IPOB had earlier in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said the identities of the suspects arraigned in court had vindicated its position that those behind insecurity in South East are not IPOB members.
