COVID-19: Nwodo calls for judicial inquiry into killings by security operatives; Condemns inequity in palliatives distribution

The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Nnia Nwodo, has called for a high-powered judicial inquiry into the frequent killing of young men and women by trigger-happy security operatives posted to the Southern part of the country.
In a press statement, Chief Nwodo recalled that in the past few days alone, four vibrant young men were killed in cold blood by security agents in Aba, Abia State and Onitsha, in Anambra State while another young man was brutally mowed down by a soldier in Warri which led to a reprisal killing of a soldier that culminated in the killing of more people by soldiers.

Nwodos call is coming as the Anambra Indigenous Lawyers Forum( ASILF) also condemned the Onitsha killings and called on the Inspector-General of Police to immediately review the circumstances that led to the death of the two young men in the hands of his men, with a view to unraveling the immediate and remote causes of the shooting and killing of the two men while enforcing a lockdown for a virus that is yet to kill anyone in the state.

Nwodo, in his statement, expressed great sadness at the frequency and dastardly manner these security personnel snuff out life in these otherwise promising young people in their prime.
He said that it is only in the South that such mindless wastage of human capital takes place often and unabated without the heads of the army and police batting an eyelid, and challenged anybody to point out similar occurrences in any part of the North, especially during this period of Covid-19 lockdown.
Chief Nwodo stated that the aggressive actions of security operatives were steadily pushing young men, especially in the South East, to the wall and could elicit reprisal violence from them, adding that any group not wanted in a union has the right to opt out of it.
Similarly, the President General has tasked the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, to explain the modalities used by her ministry to determine the distribution of the Covid-19 lockdown palliative.
Chief Nwodo said that the distribution has been shrouded in mystery, and from available information, there is gross imbalance in the three geopolitical zones in the north getting #245.2 billion from the fund for palliative, while three zones in the south got a meagre #52.8 billion.
He said that in another clime, this manifest injustice is enough for her to be made to vacate her office.
The President General cited this as another glaring example of lack of equity in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
He averred that the distribution of the lockdown palliative is skewed in favour of the north by the declaration that those who have up to #5000 in their bank accounts will not benefit from it, arguing that ownership of that sum does not mitigate the pangs of the lockdown.
Chief Nwodo further observed that it took Covid-19 to accentuate the duplicity in governance in the present administration in the country where the people in the north have been paid five thousand naira monthly for the five years of the administration to the exclusion of the neglected and second class citizens of the South, and urged the Federal Government to take steps to redress this obvious injustice to give other parts of the country a sense of belonging.

Meanwhile, ASILF, in their statement by Joe Nwokedi Esq. (President) and Gerty Emeka-Iloegbunam Esq. (Secretary), insisted on an open investigation of the incident which they say smacks of recklessness and impunity on the part of men of the Nigerian Police Force.

Full text of the statement reads:   

In EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLING OF ANAMBRA STATE INDIGENES; ANAMBRA LAWYERS’ FORUM REACTS, PETITIONS INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE

Following the killing of two young men at New Tyre, Nkpor, Idemili Local Government Area, Anambra State on Wednesday April 15,2020 in broad daylight by the men and officers of the Nigerian Police Force and after due analysis and consideration of the whole incident as reported by eyewitnesses vis-a-vis the prevailing laws in Anambra State and in Nigeria as a whole, we the Anambra Indigenous Lawyers Forum( ASILF) hereby condemn the act and state as follows:
1) The Inspector-General of Police should immediately review the circumstances that led to the death of the two young men in the hands of his men, with a view to unraveling the immediate and remote causes of the shooting and killing of these two men while enforcing a lockdown for a virus that is yet to kill anyone in the state.
2) The story told by the eyewitnesses tends to suggest that some recklessness and impunity must have been displayed by the men of the Nigerian Police Force and unless and until a superior account is made available with substantial evidence, we do not have reason(s) to doubt the narration.
3) As Lawyers (from Anambra State),we are concerned, highly worried and pained that such extra-judicial killing happened in our State in our world of today and accordingly we want to put the Inspector-General of Police on notice that we are interested in the case and equally well determined to pursue it to its logical end.
4) As we await the comprehensive report from the Inspector-General of Police, we are proceeding with our own private investigations with a view to confirming or refuting the report as delivered by the eyewitnesses. The result of our investigations and/or that of the Inspector-General of Police will determine our next line of action.
5) The killing of these young men is one too many and and quite disheartening, therefore nothing short of an immediate and open investigation of this matter will be acceptable by us.
6) In the meantime, we wish to commiserate with the families of our dear brothers, the two young men whose lives were cut short yesterday and pray God to grant their souls eternal rest.

Joe Nwokedi Esq…. President

Gerty Emeka-IloegbunamEsq… Secretary