Insecurity: Bishop Ezeokafor Hails Soludo On Plan to Grant Amnesty to Agitators

Insecurity: Bishop Ezeokafor Hails Soludo On Plan to Grant Amnesty to Agitators

By Mmaduabuchi Onwumelu

The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, His Lordship Most Rev Paulinus Ezeokafor, has commended the actions being taken by the Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo to return the state to normalcy, particularly the plan to grant amnesty to the agitators.

He said in an interview at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Awka that the move would go a long way towards douse the feelings of all the actors involved in the present situation.

His words ‘Every action has a reaction and I believe that most of the actions we are seeing today are reactions following that neglect of the Igbo.

‘But I also believe that it can still be redeemed and remedied. Those who are complaining have reasons to complain and what they are complaining about is real, but their method of approach is faulty.

‘What our people are doing is not right because we are fighting ourselves and destroying our economy.

‘This issue of sit- at- home every Monday does not help us if we must tell ourselves the truth. Everything an Igbo does to feed himself is through hard work and anybody stopping the economy from working is not helping us.

‘If people are realistic, they should listen to voice of reason. People who should talk are talking. In the present circumstance, all the traditional rulers in Igbo land, the clergy, the PGs of communities, the government and everybody, are saying, let us look for another way of doing things.

‘Yes we are in chains, but this is not the way to approach the issue. For people to be operating form the forests is not the right thing to do, we should operate from the house and not to destroy ourselves.

‘I know very well that as Igbos, it is not in our culture to kill. We can use our mouth to quarrel, but using knives and cutting people is alien to us.

‘So I really plead with those who think the solution is fighting and making people not to go to school or attend to their businesses to know they are not on the right track.

‘Yes, what they are complaining about is real, but let us find a better way of handling the matter.

‘The Igbo elders have come out and intervened and I want our people to listen to them. Dialogue is very important and we should use it,’ he concluded.