 |
| Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu |
The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has formally
written President Muhammadu Buhari, to reiterate the need to call-off
the ongoing ‘Operation PYTON DANCE’ in southeastern part of the country,
with a view to averting another civil war.
In the letter entitled “Rising Tension in the South East: Re: Appeal to
Call Off Operation Egwu Eke”, dated Thursday, 14th September, 2017,
Ekweremadu said he was compelled by the rising tension in the region, to
appeal to the President “to take immediate steps to avert another civil
war in Nigeria”.
According to him, dialogue and sense of belonging remain the best means
of addressing the agitations in the South-East region and the challenges
posed by pro-Biafra groups, like the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra,
IPOB, led by Mr. Nnamdi Kanu
The five-page letter sighted through sources, read in part: “The peace
of Nigeria has never been this fragile since the end of the civil war
and as leaders we must do everything humanly possible and legitimate to
hold the nation together in peace and prosperity.
“As President and Commander-in-Chief, you would agree with me that there is need for caution.
“Recall, Your Excellency, that the South East Caucus of the Senate met
with you on November 9, 2016. We had a heart-to-heart discussion on
pressing issues affecting the South East. Recall that on the issue of
the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu,
who was then in detention, we pleaded for your intervention and strongly
advised against his continued detention. We were of the view that his
continued detention would only further popularise, and in fact make him a
hero.
“Furthermore, we informed you that when the leader of the Movement for
the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph
Uwazuruike, was detained during the administration of late President
Umar Musa Yar’Adua, we approached the former President and appealed to
him to immediately release Chief Uwazuruike to avoid creating a mountain
out of a molehill. He heeded the advice and Chief Uwazuruike and MASSOB
have never posed any threat to the peace and sovereignty of Nigeria
ever after.
“I recall, however, that on the appeal for the release of Nnamdi Kanu,
you told us to allow the judicial process to run its cause. But, in
retrospect, it proved to be a big mistake on the side of government as
his continued detention made him a hero among a cross-section of the
people.
“I am afraid,Your Excellency, that the government is embarking on yet
another huge misjudgment today by adopting a military option to the
Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB challenge. Therefore, I most respectfully appeal to
you to order the immediate withdrawal of the military from the South
East as their presence can only and is indeed already amplifying tension
in the region”, the Deputy President of the senate, said.
He further warned that reactions by the youths to military presence
could be unpredictable and irrational, which may trigger off other
reactions in other parts of the country that could lead to a
conflagration of crisis.
“As things stand, the reaction of the youth in the region is
unpredictable. It is also possible that their reactions and actions of
the military may be misrepresented or exaggerated on the
Social media and trigger a chain of other actions in other parts of the country also.
“Not even Your Excellency or anyone else for that matter can certainly
foretell the outcome of such chain of actions, reactions, and reprisals.
But at least, you are in a position to imagine the number of the
avoidable casualties and deaths”, he explained.
“Your Excellency, you were an active participant in the civil war. With
the benefits of your age, experience, exposure and present position as
the President of this great nation, I know you would not wish any part
of Nigeria to go through that experience again.
“I appeal to you to use these benefits to avert any descent into the
1967 – 1970 experience. It is obvious to all of us that the wounds of
that war are yet to heal. Therefore, as President, duty calls on you to
not only ensure that the wounds fully heal, but also that they do not
reoccur.
“By the provisions of Section 215 (3) of the 1999 Constitution on the
powers of the President to deploy the police for the maintenance and
securing of public safety and public order as well as Section 217 (2)(c)
on the deployment of the armed forces to quell insurrection, I do not
believe that the IPOB issue, as it is today, deserves military solution.
We must objectively differentiate civil disobedience, displeasing as it
is, from insurrection or mutiny.
“As a General, you would agree with me that the armed forces are not
trained to contain civil disobedience or civil protest. Therefore,
deploying soldiers in the present circumstance is like using fuel to
quench candlelight. I am very worried that our armed forces that are
already heavily stretched are being saddled with the responsibilities
outside their primary constitutional duties. As a lawyer, let me most
respectfully point out that the courts have severally frowned at the
deployment of soldiers in circumstances as we presently have in the
South East, describing it as totally unconstitutional.
“Besides, let us be mindful that it was the mishandling of the Boko
Haram sect, especially the elimination of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf
that escalated into the full-blown insurgency we have in the North East
for many years now. That singular misadventure has led to wanton
destruction of lives and property, Nigerians and foreigners alike, in
the North East in particular and other parts of the country as well.
“It has affected both the Federal Government and the international
community financially, with monumental resources that should have gone
into development now channeled into containing the Boko Haram menace,”
Ekweremadu, added.
