By Jude Atupulazi
One good thing in life is that truth will always triumph over lies, no matter how long it takes. But the lies that take long to be swept aside are lies sustained by ignorant people who swallow anything they are told hook, line and sinker. Yet, in the fullness of time, those lies will still give way to the truth.
One of such lies that are taking long to be suppressed are the lies about the killings in Igbo Land and those behind them. For long, we have been told that those who kill soldiers and other security personnel are either officials of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) or the hierarchy of the Nigerian Army. Sometimes we are told the killers are Fulanis. But what the purveyors of such tales always seem reluctant to concede is that it is our people killing our people.
Yes, there could be special cases where the perpetrators may be those from outside, but even in those cases, if you look closely, you will find out that they have local collaborators.
And so, when it comes to the matter I am writing about, those behind the carnage in our land, I have always given one answer: it is our people! My contention has been that no foreigner can be brave enough to operate in Igbo heartland without covering fire from locals. This is simply because those foreigners are much afraid of us as we are afraid of them but their own fear is more because they are operating in hostile territory.
Again when people tell me that it is not our people that are behind the chaos, I ask them the identity of those who exact fines from our people in some communities like Ihiala, Umunze, Orsumoghu, Azia and even Ukpor before allowing them to perform certain ceremonies. I ask them who those people who go to deposit the money pay the money to. Are they Fulanis, DSS or soldiers? Are they not our people who sometimes mingle with them and drink together at pubs? In some communities the people know these felons but keep mum, either out of fear or sentiments. It can also be because of the business they do together; business of criminality.
Today, what the smart ones here do, is to front some Fulani herders through whom they kidnap people. They know that once those kidnapped see the herdsmen they will conclude that it is the Fulani herders that did it. And once it is thought that it is herdsmen that did it, the case will no longer be investigated. These herders, as well as our local boys, also collude with criminally minded security officials to perpetrate crime. The security officials stay in the shadows while those they recruit do the dirty work.
But there is also a more worrisome aspect which is where high ranking individuals from among us are sponsoring kidnappers. They will hunt with the hound and run with the hare and no one ever suspects them. But then, nothing remains hidden forever. And one such example is the current case of a traditional ruler found to be colluding with the infamous unknown gunmen in his area.
In a viral video, the wife of a well-known Commander of the Eastern Security Network, ESN, confessed that the traditional ruler of her village, Igwe Thomas Ogbannaya, was working in collaboration with members of the ESN to commit atrocities in Anambra State.
The confession came after a raid in Owerre-Ezukala Community conducted by men of the Nigerian Military recently, as part of the ongoing Operation Udoka in the South East.
While being interrogated by men of the Nigerian Army, Mrs Ujunwa Agueze, whose husband, Onyedika Agueze, is currently on the run, confessed that, the Igwe of the community allocated lands to IPOB/ESN members where they set up an operational base since 2022.
It is from this camp, she said, that all the killings and kidnappings taking place in Anambra South Senatorial Zone were being carried out.
She also confessed that the traditional ruler normally used members of the ESN in settling land disputes within the community.
Many individuals have been killed within the community, houses burnt and some individuals who were taken into the bush from where the group operates never returned.
The community which is in Orumba South LGA of Anambra State, shares borders with Alaw in Orji-River LGA of Enugu State and Isuochi in Umunneochi LGA of Abia State.
Since it is a walking distance from Isuochi, the ESN men, according to the woman, normally enter Isuochi on foot, carry out attacks and kidnappings in Abia State and return to Owerre-Ezukala, while the attacks are being attributed to the so-called unknown gun men camp in Umunneochi.
She said the group has also carried out several attacks on soldiers in some parts of Imo State.
‘Many kidnap victims are regularly brought into the village in the open. While some are released after payment of ransom. The not so-lucky ones never made it out of the camp,’ she confessed.
The report said that independent investigations conducted showed that the entire community had been overrun by members of the ESN as they not only slept in the camps but also were living within the community in the houses of many youths in the village that had been recruited to join the group.
‘Feelers from other villages within Orumba South LGA indicates that the group is operating without restrictions or fear as they are being shielded by Owerre-Ezukala Community,’ the report went on.
The above confession and report are the greatest proof yet that our people have been deceived for so long that the perpetrators of violence in Igbo Land are foreigners. What has just been exposed does not surprise me as I had all along known the true situation. But until all of us learn to call a spade by its name and stop shielding these people out of sentiments or whatever, the menace of these goons will remain with us for longer than we expect.
