By Julie Sylvia, Oniitsha The people of Ogwuaniocha community, Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State, Thursday accused the Nig...
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By Julie Sylvia,
Oniitsha
The people of Ogwuaniocha community, Ogbaru Local Government
Area, Anambra State, Thursday accused the Nigerian Navy in Onitsha, Anambra
State, of using masked pointers to arrest and label them members of Indigenous
People of Biafran, IPOB, Eastern Security Network, ESN.
Making the accusation, the spokesman of the community, Chief
Christopher Nduba Obumsele, lamented that the latest of the arrest through use
of pointers was the arrest of a lecturer at Nwafor Orizu College of Education,
Nsugbe, Mr. Jude, and three others.
According to him the Navy is working with a rival group in
the community to suppress them over Igweship crisis that has torn the community
into pieces.
“We are the Odua-in-Council, people of Ogwuaniocha. Our
problem is that the Nigerian Navy here in Odekpe/Oniitsha, are working with our
opposition group. The opposition act as pointers to the Navy, and the Navy will
arrest, label us ESN members and detain us.
“We no longer go to or from Onitsha presently because the
opposition is at the military check-points as pointers and whenever our people
want to pass through the check-points, the opposition (pointers) that are
masked, will point at us and the Naval officers on duty will arrest us.
“Just recently, a US
Embassy convoy was attacked at Amiyi, that is not in our community, very far
place, but the opposition told the military that we are the ESN members that
attacked the team and a joint security taskforce stormed our community, killed
one person that was not a member of ESN, set four shops ablaze and a house.
“In our community because of Igweship crisis that has been
lingering for years, there are two warring factions, the Odua-in-Council, that
is the entire people in the community, led by the oldest man, and the
Oliver-led group. We plead to Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, to come to our
rescue by prevailing on the Navy to stop the constant arrest of our people and
to release the lecturer who is not a member of ESN.
“The lecturer was returning from a peace meeting in the
community when he was arrested by the Navy through a masked pointer and has
been in detention for about two weeks now,” he stated
In his own contribution, a member of the Odua-in-Council,
Chief Paul Ijeoma, said that what the opposition wanted was to sack them from
the community and take over the entire place.
“They petitioned to government that our community is the
base of ESN and that it was from our community that those unknown gunmen came
from and attacked and killed the US Embassy convoy, which is false but they
said it for us to be killed and then they will take over our community.
“Navy should stop arresting us with the help of pointers who
they work with. Navy should stop involving itself in community matters, we are
not ESN members as they tag us to intimidate and assault us,” he stated
Also, a community chieftain, Chief John Adigwe, said that
apart from the lecturer, three others who were arrested by the military masked
pointers included, Mr. Ozogo, his brother and Chief Odua.
“They were returning
from a peace meeting when they were arrested through the use of pointers and
labeled ESM members. These people arrested have no business with ESN and our
community is not a base for ESN as they claimed in their petition to
government.
“Our case is Igweship crisis of which the matter is in
court. Governor Soludo please prevail on the Navy to stop arresting and tagging
us ESN in favour of our opposition group. What have we done to the Navy that
they should be biased in carrying out their national assignment.
“We plead for the immediate release of our son, the lecturer
at Nsugbe College of Education and others that were tagged ESN and detained. We
are law abiding citizens and have been in peace until the Igweship crisis came
up. Some who thrive in crisis now use it to cause crisis in the community and label
us ESN members,” he cried
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