Igbo women under the aegis of the Igbo Women Assembly (IWA) have called on the Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, to focus on flushing out killer herdsmen who are displacing communities across the Southeast, rather than targeting members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Responding to a recent caution by the CDS urging South Easterners not to promote IPOB and its security arm, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), particularly on social media, the women insisted that the real threat to peace in the region is the armed herdsmen, not IPOB.
During a community engagement in Omor, Anambra State, Gen. Musa, represented by Group Captain Ibrahim Bukar, had warned that spreading unverified information online “endangers national unity” and claimed IPOB’s actions were harmful to the entire country.
But in a strongly worded statement by its National President, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, IWA rejected the military’s position, stressing that IPOB is a peaceful movement agitating against the marginalization of the South East, not a terrorist organization as the federal government claims.
“We want to remind Gen. Musa that IPOB members are not terrorists but our children protesting the continued exclusion of the South East from Nigeria’s political and economic systems,” IWA stated.
The women lamented discrimination in military and police promotions, exclusion from federal appointments, and lack of fair employment opportunities for Igbo youths.
“These injustices are what IPOB is peacefully protesting. Our children feel excluded from Nigeria’s structure, and they have the right to demand inclusion,” the group said.
IWA also questioned the government’s hypocrisy in granting amnesty to armed terrorists and bandits in the North while brutally clamping down on peaceful IPOB members.
“Why is the government freeing killers and bandits but killing and jailing peaceful IPOB protesters?” they asked.
“Fulani herdsmen armed with AK-47s are roaming freely in the South East, displacing communities, while unarmed IPOB members are being hunted like criminals.”
The women urged Gen. Musa to advise the federal government to engage IPOB in sincere dialogue instead of using military force to suppress their legitimate demands.
IWA accused the federal government of deliberately militarizing the Southeast through operations like “Python Dance,” which, according to them, ignited the current wave of insecurity in the region.
They traced the escalation of violence to the deployment of soldiers and the controversial abduction of IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, arguing that before these events, the South East was one of the most peaceful regions in Nigeria.
“The military’s presence worsened the situation. Criminals hijacked the sit-at-home protest originally meant to be peaceful, yet the government refused to withdraw the troops even after IPOB called off the protest,” they said.
IWA also condemned the destruction of villages and markets by security agents in retaliation for attacks on checkpoints by unknown gunmen, noting that such reprisals have forced many youths to flee the region.
“Our markets in places like Orsu and Eke Ututu in Imo State were burnt down by security forces. Villages have been displaced, yet no such reprisals happen when criminals attack security agencies in the North,” the group stated.
Raising the alarm over the influx of strange elements into South East communities, IWA accused the government of failing to prevent an apparent plot to occupy Igbo land under the guise of security operations.
The groups aid: “We now have strange faces, many of them armed, outnumbering indigenous people in our villages. They are not IPOB members. What is their mission?”
Finally, the women demanded the immediate dismantling of security roadblocks across the Southeast, describing them as mere extortion points that humiliate and exploit commuters daily.
“If Gen. Musa truly wants peace, he should remove these roadblocks, chase out the killer herdsmen, and advise the government to dialogue with IPOB instead of blackmailing them,” IWA concluded.
