The Indigenous Igbo Women Assembly (IWA) has urged the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, to redirect military efforts toward combating killer herdsmen terrorizing communities in the South East, rather than targeting members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).This call came in response to recent remarks by the CDS, represented by Group Captain Ibrahim Bukar, advising residents of the region against supporting IPOB and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), especially through social media. Musa had warned that the spread of unverified information about the group posed a threat to national unity and regional peace.
In a statement issued on Sunday in Umuahia, IWA’s National President, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, challenged the CDS to recognize IPOB not as a terrorist organization but as a peaceful movement fighting against the long-standing marginalisation of the South East. The group called on the federal government to engage IPOB in dialogue rather than resort to “propaganda and blackmail.
We want to remind Gen. Musa that IPOB members are not terrorists but our children protesting years of injustice. Since the civil war, the South East has suffered marginalization in politics, security appointments, and resource distribution, Chimezie stated.
IWA accused the government of double standards, alleging that while IPOB members are met with deadly force, bandits and terrorists in the North are often granted amnesty or released after claiming repentance. “Why is the government killing our youths during peaceful protests, but allowing armed herdsmen on a killing spree to roam our communities? the group queried.
The women’s group also called for a halt to what it described as the “militarization of the South East,” pointing to the Operation Python Dance initiated under former President Muhammadu Buhari as the beginning of unrest in the region.
Before the military was deployed, the South East was one of the most peaceful regions in Nigeria, the statement read. But with the abduction of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu and indiscriminate killings during peaceful protests, the situation has worsened.
IWA further raised alarm over the increasing presence of suspected non-indigenous migrants across villages in the region, urging security agencies to investigate what they described as an “invasion” by strange faces engaged in menial jobs and land surveillance.
They also demanded the immediate removal of military roadblocks in the region, which they claimed have become extortion points and sources of daily harassment for commuters.
“If General Musa is truly committed to restoring peace, he should send his men into the bush to confront the killer herdsmen who are raping women and displacing farmers — not target IPOB members who are only demanding their rights,” the statement concluded.
