Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015 — 3
Relocating Boko Haram detainees to Ekwulobia traumatic —Traders *’They remind us of our brothers who died in their hands in the North’ By CHIMAOBI NWAIWU
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KWULOBIA, a town at the centre of Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, surrounded by towns like Igbo Ukwu and Isuofia, Uga and Ezinifite, Agulu and Nanka and Oko, where the Federal Polytechnics is located and the home town of former Vice President Chief Alex Ekwueme is in a different mood currently. The town is one of the fastest developing towns in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State and has been witnessing peace and quietness until the recent relocation of some Boko Haram detainees to the town which sparked protests by the residents and traders in the area and the entire South East traders. The mood of the residents have not been the same since the relocation of Boko Haram detainess to the town by President Muhammedu Buahri. South East Voice went to Ekwulobia and sampled the opinions of the traders and residents of the town on the alleged relocation. Ifeyinwa Okonkwo, a trader in Ekwulobia confided to SouthEast Voice that things have not been the same since the relocation. “ Before the arrival the Boko Haram detainees, we used to stay in our office up to 9.30 pm, but since this incident, we close our businesses by 7pm or even 6.30 pm. This is affecting us because it is towards the night hour that we sell our goods. The arrival of these people in this town has been affecting our business. “Once it is 7 pm, we would start leaving because we are scared of what will happen. Our lives are in danger, because we don’t know what will happen in the next minute. We fear they may break the prisons and escape and only God knows what will happen if that happens. You may not know what is in their mind and their friends may be hanging around here.” A driver in Ekwulobia, Emeka Uchendu expressed the same fear. According to him, “the situation of things in Ekwulobia has changed. People are afraid and it is affecting our business because people who ply the roads are careful. As a matter of fact, a lot of people who pass through Ekwulobia when they are traveling home now avoid passing through the town. A lot
*Ekwulobia Roundabout of people are scared of entering buses to their destinations at the park now. They prefer to stand by the road side to board vehicles to their destinations and it is affecting drivers like us and the income we generate. People are afraid of bomb and other destructive materials that Boko Haram use. This is because they now live with us and nobody knows why they are here. Perhaps, they want to use them to cause havoc. We are confused. Nobody is happy with the situation. This is a peaceful town and we pray they do something to remove them from here. We are afraid because the situation is not funny. Government should relocate them to another prison.” Jonathan Njoku operates a digital colour laboratory at Nnewi Road Ekwulobia and he feels bad speaking about the development. “ Honestly speaking, we feel very bad about this senseless relocation of Boko Haram detainees to Anambra State and Ekwulobia in particular because we do not have Boko Haram activities in Anambra State, but unfortunately they decided to dump the Boko Haram detainees here which is very wrong and uncalled for. If they eventually escape from the prison or their colleagues decide to come here to rescue their members, it will bring a lot of bad things here. They kill people as if they are killing rats. They do not have human feelings and they can go to any length to rescue their members if they so decide and only God knows what they will do and the lives that may be involved. We are in a terrible situation, there is danger. “We are not used to such senseless killings that the insurgents are involved in, and their presence here could bring a new culture of senseless killing which our people are not used to, and which is alien to Igbo culture. This is not a dumping
ground. There is no maximum prison here in Ekwulobia. For Ifeyinwa Ezewora, a handset phone accessories trader, the situation is disturbing to her more so when a lot of people in the state have lost their loved ones or relocated from the Northern States because of the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents. According to her, “many of our indigenes who used to live in the North are now at home because they relocated to the villages around here. Some of them are not doing anything yet. Some lost their loved ones in the North where they were based to Boko Haram insurgents and now, they are rubbing it in by bringing the people who killed our loved ones to this village. We thought it was a joke when we heard the rumour, but we later discovered it is true. Those who came back from the North are saying that gradually the friends of these prisoners will start trooping to the state and in no distant time, we could start having explosions in the state. We are worried and are not happy about this unwarranted
As much as I know, Nigerian government has every right to take anybody, any criminal to any prison but in this case, it is a special one. People are jittery everywhere. No Nigerian citizen will be comfortable having the Boko Haram insurgents near them,
relocation of heartless people to our state. Ugwumba Ejike from Enugu State is a commercial motorcyclist at Ekwulobia but lives in Agulu Ezechukwu in Anaocha LGA of Anambra State. He told South East Voice that the situation is quite serious. “What we are seeing here now is not heartwarming. As you can see all of us here, nobody is happy because our lives are in danger. We do not know what will happen next. You know that Boko Haram insurgents do not announce their coming and the havoc they cause. They come, strike and escape and dead bodies will litter the whole place. They even kill themselves in the process of their attack. So, you can see why we are afraid and not happy. “We wonder the rationale or the reason for bringing them here. We have not been convinced on why they will bring people we do not know here and who committed crime in far away North. Why did they bring them here? What is their motive? Chris Ogbonna, a civil servant and a trade unionist said the issue is very controversial. “I am the state Vice Chairman Trade Union Congress, TUC, and as much as I know, Nigerian government has every right to take anybody, any criminal to any prison but in this case, it is a special one. People are jittery everywhere. No Nigerian citizen will be comfortable having the Boko Haram insurgents near them, but South East is a peculiar case. In those days, two to five years ago if there was anything happening in the North, they always tried to get the South Easterners pay for it. So if the people of South East and Anambra State in particular say they do not want the relocation of the detainee insurgents, for God’s sake, let them be taken to some other place, especially the home state of each individual detainee. “People are afraid, they are jittery. No matter the number, whether they are 47, 49 or above or even two people, they can cause massive death if given any opportunity. Nobody is happy and comfortable. We still recognize the right of the Federal Government to take prisoners to any prison in the country, but this is a peculiar case. For three days now, the city has been paralyzed. There have been demonstrations here and there. Emeka Okeke, a cosmetics trader expressed shock at the development. “We are not comfortable at all with such people around us. If they are harmless, why will there be Armoured Personnel Carrier, APC, popularly known as Armoured Car stationed in front of the prison?You keep somebody in prison and you stationed an armoured car there. That shows that the people are dangerous. Is armoured car something one sees very often? “Night life is gradually vanishing here. Our businesses extend till evening because that is when people have time to patronize us but now, before 6p.m., people are rushing home for fear of being attacked or arrested by the police. Indirectly, we are witnessing
restriction of movements of people because of the relocation of those detainees here. A pharmacist, Uzaga Theophilus, who resides in Ekwulobia, said everybody is afraid, “but what we are putting into consideration is the impending doom, the negative effect it may cause in future to the state. That is why you see everybody agitating against the relocation. Assuming those detainees escape from the prison and start mingling with people, and considering the unbalanced security in the state and the impending harm that could befall the people, that is what we are talking about. We know what is happening in the North and Igbo people living there are relocating to the East. Now, the detainees are being relocated to eastern prisons and Anambra State in particular. That is more or less causing menace to the state because we have not been witnessing any kind of explosion associated with Boko Haram. In his own words, Osgood Ajaonu, a cab driver in Ekwulobia said, “the decision of the Federal Government is excellent because Boko Haram insurgents are threatening people in the North East of Nigeria and now that the new President wants them out, if they are kept in the prisons in the North, their group may get them released from the prisons there through jail break and the reinforcement of insurgents could attack Federal government troops. Bringing them here will make it difficult for them to get reinforcement. “ And it will be hard for their members to come down to the South East to attack the prisons here. So, residents here do not need to fear because there is adequate security. For instance, during the war, if you are attacking an enemy without reinforcement, you hardly succeed but with reinforcement, it is always easy. So, it was a good decision by the Federal Government to bring them here.” For Uzaga Chukwuemeka, a patent medicine dealer in Ekwulobia, “the fact is that every state has a prison and bringing the detainees here is a disturbance. You can see that people are beginning to be restless. I believe the best thing is to tackle the problem of the insurgents in the North where they are operating instead of helping to spread them to the states."
THE TEAM Chioma Gabriel,
Supervising Editor (08052201257; email, anyagafu@yahoo.com) Anayo Okoli, Umuahia Vincent Ujumadu, Awka Austin Ogwuda, Enugu Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri Peter Okutu , Abakaliki Chimaobi Nwaiwu Francis Igata Chinonso Alozie Ugochukwu Alaribe