We are security committed – Southeast governors assure Igbo Union

 
By O’star Eze
South East Governors Forum has assured Igbos in diaspora of its commitment to secure the lives of their counterparts at home.
This assurance, articulated in a press release titled ‘Igbo Union in US hits US governors: a rejoinder’, and signed by Michael Ike Udah,
Director, Media and Communication
South East Governors’ Forum Secretariat, was in response to a publication allegedly made by Igbo Union on Daily Sun recently.
In the said publication, Igbo Union, an organization of citizens and residents of Igbo extraction registered in the State of California, United States of America accused Southeast governors of “insensitivity to the threat and terrorisation of Igbo by suspected Fulani herdsmen roaming (Igbo) villages with their cattle and Ak-47 rifles.”
However, in response, the Southeast Governors Forum disclosed that a regional security outfit was in the pipeline and that on the interim, individual states have security outfits; “Forest Guards in Enugu, Neighbourhood watch in Ebonyi and Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG) in Anambra. The scenario is the same in Imo and Abia States.”
The forum also cited that in response to the killings attributed to herdsmen, it had sat with the Inspector General of Police to express its “displeasure with the procedure adopted by the Inspector-General of Police on Community Policing.
“This made the Police boss to quickly convene a meeting with them where both parties amicably resolved their grievances and agreed to work together for the good of the South East region and Nigeria,” the statement read in part. The forum stressed that it was also in dialogue with the federal government and other stakeholders in security matters in the country to ensure that no southeasterner was shortchanged in the country.
The Southeast Governors Forum further noted that security matters are delicate matters and that some security questions are better answered in private while making available its website
www.southeastgovforum.org and e-mail address: southeastgovsforum@gmail.com.
The statement concluded thus; “The South East Governors’ Forum is pained each time Ndigbo are killed, raped, manhandled or appear to have been short-changed.
“In this particular instance, their hearts go out to the family of Mazi Ozoemena Iriaka, Umuekpu-Agwa community, Oguta Local Government Area, Imo State Government and Ndigbo in general. May his soul find solace in the bosom of our Lord, Amen!
“One can re-assure South Easterners that our governors constantly engage appropriate Ministries, Agencies and Departments with a view to ensuring that the Igbo man and woman are not deliberately shortchanged in the Nigerian Federation.
“In doing this, they adopt due process and observe all necessary protocols. They are as Igbo as any other Igbo anywhere in the world. However, it is important to note that security matters are delicate matters, and should be treated as such. Not all security questions are answered publicly.”