As reported activities of those often referred to as unknown gunmen pile up in the southeast, I am beginning to feel that this issue has gone beyond nationalist agitations.
Days after a portion of Nnewi South Council Headquarters was burnt by suspected arsonists, reports have emerged of similar destruction in Aguata.
All pretenses have now been done away with. In Anambra and perhaps in many parts of the southeast, this has ceased to be an agitation!
Biafra has, as many experts warned, become an excuse for criminals to destroy, kill, abduct, pillage and terrorize at will.
I acknowledge that the southeast needs to negotiate a better deal with Nigeria. Those negotiations will however not be led by gun-toting criminals who have no sense of direction.
Thankfully, Anambra’s Gov. Charles Soludo has offered IPOB, ESN, DOS and their other mutations a platform for round-table discussions.
I implore all agitating groups to take this olive branch. They need to work together with the government and other stakeholders to reign in on those who terrorize in their name, if they say they are not the ones responsible for ongoing terrorist activities.
Southeast’s short-lived experiment with anti-establishment politics did not yield desired results. It is now time to count our losses and come together to close this sad chapter in the political journey of the southeast.
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