Anambra commission says violent response not panacea to Southeast insecurity

The Anambra Truth, Justice and Peace Commission (ATJPC), says violent response to the spate of violence in Anambra cannot evolve the peaceful and liveable homeland needed in the region.

Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, chairman of ATJPC, said this on Wednesday in Awka during a stakeholders’ engagement and commencement of a 14-day sitting to probe the remote and immediate cause(s) of insecurity in Anambra.

Odinkalu who called for a one-minute silence in memory of those lost in the wake of violence in the state, said no to any society which shoots its way to peace, adding it was time the people sat to interrogate the situation.

The Law Scholar said the Southeast had lost a good number of its active population, most of whom were unaccounted for, and that there were too many loose spirits roaming the society and crying for justice.

He commended Gov. Chukwuma Soludo for setting up the Commission in June last year to steer the dialogue on causes and possible solution to the insecurity in Anambra.

He said the success of the Commission in Anambra would be a precursor to solving the crisis in Igboland.

According to him, the response to violence in Igbo land has been violent, so it’s violence from all sides, the society cannot wish away its problems because “those dying are our brothers, fathers, friends and children.

“We need to find a solution outside shooting. Our problem is complex. Some people say our problem is the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a pro-Biafra separatist movement, and the Eastern Security Network (ESN). That is not true, the people killed in Obosi in the last 18 months where it is a taboo to mention IPOB, is more than those killed in relation to IPOB and ESN.

“We must tell ourselves the truth and give justice to the wounded for peace to reign in Igboland, that is why we have said we must start this conversation today so that we will know where our problems really started and how we got here.

“We have experienced violence in Anambra and the entire Southeast in recent years. Thank God for the effort of Anambra government, people now go to their communities, we now bury our dead and hold marriage ceremonies in our communities.

“Our peace is based on the agreement between us and our ancestors and the future, our dead ones are not resting in peace because they have not got justice. We have problems in society because there are too many souls roaming the air and crying for justice.

“That is where the task of this Commission becomes very critical. There is a physical and spiritual component to our problems and the spiritual component is very important that is why we invited the traditional institutions,” he said.

Odinkalu said the Commission would sit for two weeks to take testimonies from across the state with special interest in Odekpe, Amanuke, Alor, Ihiala, Ezinifite, Nnewi, Orsumoghu, Orsumenyi, Lilu, Okija, Umunze, Ukpor, Obosi and Owelle communities.

He said the insecurity is also fuelled by land, traditional ruler and town union leadership tussles and called on testifiers to approach the Commission with truth and clean hands for lasting peace.

Earlier, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, Secretary of the Commission, gave its report in the last one year of its existence.

Ojukwu said the Commission had given birth to Anambra Bureau of Missing Persons which collates information on people who disappeared by way of kidnap or death for proper accountability.

She said the Commission had received endorsement from the United Nations and got assurance of its support in the execution of its task.

On his part, Chief Ogene Okeke, National Vice President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, decried the loss of value and unchecked quest for fame and fortune for the decay in Igbo Society.

Okeke thanked the Anambra Government for the initiative and promised the cooperation of the people of the state with the Commission.

Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim, Deputy Governor of Anambra, who declared the event open, expressed confidence in the ability of the Commission to deliver.

Ibezim said security and prosperity of Anambra were priorities to the government of Soludo and urged everyone to embrace the peace.