The pan-Igbo socio-cultural
organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo,
Friday called on the Federal
Government to declare a state of
emergency in Borno State in
order to checkmate the security
threat posed by the Boko Haram
insurgency.
Boko Haram, an extremist Islamic
group, has virtually brought
Borno State to a standstill,
following series of bomb attacks
targeting security agents and
civilians.
The call for the imposition of a
state of emergency in Borno
State came on the day a fresh
explosion by the extremist group
injured five policemen in
Maiduguri.
Lawmakers from the state,
however, said in a statement that
the use of force was not the
solution to the crisis.
The Igbo leaders said following
the receipt of a number of
distress calls from their people in
Borno on the deteriorating
security situation there, an
emergency meeting of Ime-Obi
(Elders Council) of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo was held and the
decision to call for a state of
emergency was adopted.
"We call on the President of
Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, to as
a matter of urgency declare a
state of emergency in Borno
State. This will in effect allow
federal authorities to directly
handle the situation on ground,"
they said.
The Igbo leaders criticised the
activities of Boko Haram and
their collaborators "who have
owned up to the series of
bombings in Maiduguri, Bauchi,
Kaduna, Suleja, Abuja and other
parts of Northern Nigeria and for
the senseless killing of innocent
Nigerians and destruction of
public and private properties."
They urged members of the
extremist group to stop
forthwith the spate of bombings
and embrace dialogue and other
legal means in expressing their
grievances.
"We call on the federal
government and the military
authorities to ensure that the
lives of innocent Nigerians and
especially the Igbos, who
incidentally have the next largest
population in Borno State after
the indigenes, are protected and
their properties protected from
organised and unorganised
looting," added Ohanaeze
Ndigbo.
Some of the prominent Igbo
leaders who signed the
statement were  former Anambra
State governor, Dr.
Chukwuemeka Ezeife; Chairman,
Ime-Obi Ohanaeze FCT, Eze Ibe
Nwosu; Chairman, Ohaneze FCT,
Barrister Calistus Nwabueze Obi;
former Minister of Education,
Prof. Ihechukwu Madubuike,
(representing Abia State); former
Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Hon. Agunwa
Anaekwe, (representing
Anambra); Prof. Fred Onyeoziri
and Chief Silas Ilo (representing
Anambra State).
Also, the Northern Christian
leaders in a statement in Kaduna
signed by its chairman, Evangelist
Matthew Owojaiye, expressed
concern over the activities of the
Islamic sect.
The statement called on the
government to take concrete and
decisive steps to fish out those
behind the bomb blasts and
bring them to book.
According to NOCEF, Nigeria
belongs to Christians, Muslims
and traditionalists, stressing that
no group should impose its
religious beliefs on others by
whatever means.
Friday’s explosion in Maiduguri
occurred at the Bulumkutu area
within the metropolis.
The explosion, which happened
at about 8 am, further
heightened tension in the town
and caused people to scamper
for safety.
An eyewitness said the explosion
damaged some vehicles, which
were driving past at that time.
Confirming the incident, the
spokesman of the Joint Military
Task Force (JTF) in the state,
Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, told
newsmen on phone that the
bomb was targeted at a police
patrol vehicle, which was on
routine duty in the area.
According to him, the bomb
injured five policemen who were
immediately rushed to the
University of Maiduguri Teaching
Hospital (UMTH) for treatment.
Ebhaleme also revealed that
some arrests were made in
connection with the incident. He
added that the people would be
interrogated and anybody found
to be innocent would be released
immediately.
The plight of the remaining
residents of Maiduguri was
worsened Friday as all the banks
in town have been closed down.
The instruction for their closure,
it was gathered, was given from
their head-offices over fears that
they would be attacked by the
fundamentalists.
Meanwhile, for the first time
since the escalation of the Boko
Haram uprising in Borno State,
members of the state caucus at
the National Assembly have
added their voice to the debate
over the propriety or otherwise
of the military operation in the
state capital.
They said the use of brute force
cannot curb the menace.
Addressing journalists after a
meeting of the caucus, their
spokesman, Senator Maina Maaji
Lawan (ANPP, Borno North),
maintained that the only solution
to the problem is "unconditional
amnesty for and dialogue with
the group" that has thrown the
state capital and some parts of
the country into panic in the last
couple of months.
Lawan, who was with two other
senators and three members of
the House of Representatives
from the state, said the federal
government should rethink its
strategy for bringing an end to
the Boko Haram menace the
same way it resolved the
militancy saga in the Niger Delta,
which he said was not by military
operation but by dialogue and
the amnesty programme.
With Lawan at the press briefing
were Senators Ali Ndume (PDP,
Borno South) and Ahmed Zanna
(ANPP, Borno Central) as well as
House of Representatives
members - Amina Khadi (Jere),
Mukhtar Aliyu (Biu) and Kyari
Gujubawu (Maiduguri).
Lawan said: "If the US with all its
technology and superior arms
power was forced to engage in
dialogue with the Talibans, we
could see that brute force cannot
be a solution to this situation."
While urging President Jonathan
to order the immediate
withdrawal of the military from
Maiduguri and its environs,
Lawan, who is the immediate
past Senate Minority Leader, said
the federal government should
"honestly and purposely and
sincerely engage in dialogue
with the Boko Haram people."
He lamented that since the
beginning of the military
operations in Maiduguri,
"innocent citizens who know
nothing about the Boko Haram
are the ultimate victims of the
military crackdown," saying
"Borno is in a state of complete
siege."
He said it’s unfortunate that
institutions of state whose
operatives are being sustained
by the taxes of the people are the
ones killing the same people who
they are established to protect.
Wondering why the JTF should
go about "indiscriminately
shooting innocent youths under
the guise of looking for Boko
Haram," Lawan recalled that a
similar situation occurred in Odi
and some other Bayelsa
communities where houses were
ransacked, innocent people killed
and whole villages devastated in
the guise of looking for
militants."
The third term senator said
members of the Borno Caucus in
the National Assembly had been
circumspect in commenting
publicly on the situation in their
state because of their strong
belief that the situation could be
peacefully brought under control.
He said they could, however, no
longer continue to keep quiet as
"the situation is deteriorating by
the day and causing untold
hardship on innocent citizens".
The Borno National Assembly
Caucus, however, disclosed that it
would conduct an on the spot
assessment to ascertain the
extent of damage to lives and
property as a result of the Boko
Haram crisis

hmmmm

Alj harem or Alj(boko)haram is your name pls you don't need to register a new name just copy and paste nonsense.
without ime obi saying a word Borno state deserves to be state of emergency by now. for them to say it is something we already know and not new

Why didnt they ask for the declaration of state of emergency in the Igbo kidnapping state(s) ?
Did ppl not die too?

Why didnt they ask for the declaration of state of emergency in the yoruba kidnapping state(s) ?
Did ppl not die too?

Ileke-IdI:

Why didnt they ask for the declaration of state of emergency in the Igbo kidnapping state(s) ?
Did ppl not die too?

Height of ignorance but for Ileke, it is the begining of politics init?

Hey ma, you said you studying law right? what's up with that? Shiit ain't manifesting in your mind at all,

-------------

State of emergency is necessary but does it have a political tone to it?

There should've been a state of emergency since the first bombing, But my concern is why is it coming from Igbocentric group?

The state of emergency is only a necessary procedure to follow, And why hasn't the FG declared such since?

9jaganja:

Height of ignorance but for Ileke, it is the begining of politics init?

Hey ma, you said you studying law right? what's up with that? Shiit ain't manifesting in your mind at all,

-------------

State of emergency is necessary but does it have a political tone to it?

There should've been a state of emergency since the first bombing, But my concern is why is it coming from Igbocentric group?

The state of emergency is only a necessary procedure to follow, And why hasn't the FG declared such since?

Me studying law? Is this eldee?

Actually, I'm doing my PhD in gymnastic. I swear.

Back to important things. Nobody is saying SOE should not be declared in Borno. But were Igbo elders hibernating fall of 2010 when kidnapping was the norm (normer than usual) in the SE?

9ja voice:

Alj harem or Alj(boko)haram is your name pls you don't need to register a new name just copy and paste nonsense.
without ime obi saying a word Borno state deserves to be state of emergency by now. for them to say it is something we already know and not new

what

Thesame Igbo red-cap, white feather buncha of sell out? Stuupid assembly of vulture looking dolts that sold their rights for a cup of garri.
I never knew any reasonable dailies will waste valuable space in publishing rants of loons.
What are they good at? Collecting bribes and making useless comment.
When the savage Osisi kankwu was terrorizing Abia the ediots didn't call for satate of emergency. They didn't call for state of emergency in the Niger Delta when the militants were displaying free madness, yet they are now out of their slumbber expecting another 5 minutes of fame from FG. you take them serious at your own peril.

hmmn!, no comment

Ileke-IdI:

Me studying law? Is this eldee?

Actually, I'm doing my PhD in gymnastic. I swear.

Back to important things. Nobody is saying SOE should not be declared in Borno. But were Igbo elders hibernating fall of 2010 when kidnapping was the norm (normer than usual) in the SE?

Gym what?

Where you @ lol!! I'ma find you ms, I'ma find you!!


Gymnastics Did I tell you I have a natural white hair and I'm celtic/yoruba? hahahahahahahahaha

Rhino.5dm:

Thesame Igbo red-cap, white feather buncha of sell out? Stuupid assembly of vulture looking dolts that sold their rights for a cup of garri.
I never knew any reasonable dailies will waste valuable space in publishing rants of loons.
What are they good at? Collecting bribes and making useless comment.
When the savage Osisi kankwu was terrorizing Abia the ediots didn't  call for satate of emergency. They didn't call for state of emergency in the Niger Delta when the militants were displaying free madness, yet they are now out of their slumbber expecting another 5 minutes of fame from FG.  you take them serious at your own peril.

na your papa be vulture and sell out, when opc where terrorizing people in the SW why didnt they declare state of emergency ? when NURTW where busy killing people burning the whole south, kidnaping and one chance , corpers being violated by yoruba elders and pregnant women fleeing sango ota in fear of of being used as ritual during ora festival why didnt they declare state of emergency in yoruba land?

bashr4:

na your papa be vulture and sell out, when opc where terrorizing people in the SW why didnt they declare state of emergency ? when NURTW where busy killing people burning the whole south, kidnaping and one chance , corpers being violated by yoruba elders and pregnant women fleeing sango ota in fear of of being used as ritual during ora festival why didnt they declare state of emergency in yoruba land?

loool!!, at least we dint bring a region or the economy of Nigeria to a stand still!!, Kidknapping became the order of the day in Abia, together with arm robbery that left the state in a stand still

youngmonie:

loool!!, at least we dint bring a region or the economy of Nigeria to a stand still!!, Kidknapping became the order of the day in Abia, together with arm robbery that left the state in a stand still

there was never a time the economy of nigeria stood still cause of kidnapping in south east,kidnapping originated in yorubaland before it moved to the niger delta, uptil today people still get missing when they enter bus(one chance)in yorubaland and never seen again cause they are used for rituals unlike the east and southsouth where kidnapping is for money ransom and the victims are released alive. you should bury your head in shame. state of emergency was declared in akwaibom the moment a yoruba party found its way there.

the earlier they declare state of emergency in the north and yorubaland the better for all us in nigeria


The Arewa People's Congress (APC) is a group in Northern Nigeria established to protect the interests of the Moslem Hausa and Fulani of the area. It has been described as a militant wing of the Arewa Consultative Forum.[1] The group was formally launched on 13 December 1999. It was chaired by a retired army officer, Brigadier General Sagir Muhammed, who had been an operative in the Directorate of Military Intelligence. The APC has a motto "to preserve the indivisibility of the country".[2] The group said it would begin full self-defence training for northern residents in reaction to attacks on Hausas by the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), a Yoruba pressure group in the south.[3]
The emergence of increasingly militant groups such as the APC and OPC is one of the factors fuelling communal violence in Nigeria.[4] The Oodua People's Congress secretary general, Kayode Ogundamisi, has blamed the APC for the ethnic violence.[5] In January 2000 the Inspector General of police, Musiliu Smith, announced a reward of N100,000 for Gani Adams, leader of the militant youth wing of the OPC. The APC promptly raised the ransom to N300,000.[6]
Speaking to the Conference of Southern Governors in January 2001, Chimaroke Nnamani, the governor of Enugu State, said the emergence of these groups was due to the inability of the federal police to provide adequate policing due to shortage of manpower.[7]
In November 2006, Sagir Muhammed described the impeachment of Plateau State Governor Chibi Joshua Dariye as an affron

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arewa_People%27s_Congress

The SW region remains the most secure in Nigeria.The SE is know for armed robbery and kidnapping,SS is the home of miltancy and oil bunkering,the whole of the North is home of Boko haram,religion intolerance and terrorism.So why declare state of emergency in yorubaland when the region is accommodating all UNINVITED visitors without lynching them like the northerners ?

What is it about the "west" and "south" that makes them where everybody wants to be,all the world?

GEJ should seriously consider this call if things continue to escalate but the downside is that too much militarization of the polity may be the loophole the army may capitalise on to stage a comeback which may also be what some of these northern elements using BM to intimidate Jonathan is banking on. So intelligence reports need be used to determine which of the hobbes choice to follow.

redsun:

What is it about the "west" and "south" that makes them where everybody wants to be,all the world?

As per the west,maybe you should ask the ibos that have turned lagos to another mecca !

~Bluetooth:

The SW region remains the most secure in Nigeria.The SE is know for armed robbery and kidnapping,SS is the home of miltancy and oil bunkering,the whole of the North  is home of Boko haram,religion intolerance and terrorism.So why declare state of emergency  in yorubaland when the region is accommodating all UNINVITED visitors without lynching them like the northerners ?

the south east is the only region you can never hear of hostility against visitors or foreigners ,the same cannot be said of yorubaland.

http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/23467-youths-kidnap-5-traders.html
yoruba youths kidnapping visitors and traders


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-641058.0.html
youth corpers not safe in yorubaland



pregnant women and infants flee yorubaland to avoid  being used for rituals
http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=13308

Are you kidding ? How about osisikanku that held the ibo region ransome to the extent that the region became a bad new on cnn ?

~Bluetooth:

As per the west,maybe you should ask the ibos that have turned lagos to another mecca !

I think the enterprising nature of the "ibos" is one key attractions in your west?You should grorify heaven for that.

~Bluetooth:

Are you kidding ? How about osisikanku that held the ibo region ransome to the extent that the region became a bad new on cnn ?

you must be joking, osisi  was a village champion yorubwa shina rambo did more damage in yorubaland than osiso could have imagined but up till today opc is still terrorizing people in the west.

~Bluetooth:

As per the west,maybe you should ask the ibos that have turned lagos to another mecca !

the same way yorubas have flooded portharcourt ,onitsha and aba

redsun:

I think the enterprising nature of the "ibos" is one key attractions in your west?You should grorify heaven for that.

Why can't they practice their enterprising nature in iboland ? Is onitsha or aba not good for that ?

~Bluetooth:

Why can't they practice their enterprising nature in iboland ? Is onitsha or aba not good for that ?

You are fogetting that lagos is officially the commercial capital of the dying,hence the "ibo' presence.Strictly for commerce and reaching out.

bashr4:

you must be joking, osisi  was a village champion yorubwa shina rambo did more damage in yorubaland than osiso could have imagined but up till today opc is still terrorizing people in the west.

opc is unleashing terror yet ibos are still in lagos ? Compare that to what boko haram is doing to ibos in bornu !

~Bluetooth:

Why can't they practice their enterprising nature in iboland ? Is onitsha or aba not good for that ?

why should we stick to only igbo land when we can take over the economy f the rest on nigeria if we dont do it the chinese and indians will.

~Bluetooth:

opc is unleashing terror yet ibos are still in lagos ? Compare that to what boko haram is doing to ibos in bornu !

you mean what bokoharem is doing to yorubas in borno , more yorubas lost their life during the election violence than igbos yet yorubas are still in the north,opc hardly operate in lagos island where majority of the igbos reside.

bashr4:

why should we stick to only igbo land when we can take over the economy f the rest on nigeria if we dont do it the chinese and indians will.

I wonder.The guy is such a clan's man,he hardly see beyond his nose.

bashr4:

why should we stick to only igbo land when we can take over the economy f the rest on nigeria if we dont do it the chinese and indians will.

I'm not saying you shouldn't takeover anywhere you like,just develop your area in case yorubas wake up and see you packing later in the future !

~Bluetooth:

I'm not saying you shouldn't takeover anywhere you like,just develop your area in case yorubas wake up and see you packing later in the future !

Are you aware that onitsha main market is number one in west africa,serious money changes hands there?All it takes is for nigeria to redefine the boundaries and the "ibo" will "restrategize".