Rise Up And End Killings In South East, Igbo Women Tell Governors

SUNDAY April 13, 2025 |
By thenewsdesk.ng

The Igbo Women Assembly (IWA) has called on governors in the South East to take urgent and decisive steps to curb the rising insecurity plaguing the region, Vanguard newspaper reports.

Speaking to journalists in Owerri on Sunday, April 13, 2025, IWA National President, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, lamented the worsening security situation, stating that many women in rural communities can no longer access their farms due to the activities of armed herders.

Lolo Chimezie expressed dismay over what she described as the silence and inaction of South East governors in the face of continued violence and killings.

“Governments were quick to clamp down on IPOB, but why is the Federal Government not taking action against the killings by armed herders in Igbo land?” she questioned.

She also called for the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), stating that he is being punished for standing up for his people.

In addition, Lolo Chimezie urged the Federal Government and former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, to issue a formal apology to the Igbo people, citing revelations in a book by former President Ibrahim Babangida that allegedly absolved the Igbo of responsibility for the 1966 coup.

“The false narrative that the 1966 coup was an Igbo affair led to the killing of over 30,000 Igbo in the North, and eventually triggered the civil war. The Nigerian state owes the Igbo people an apology and compensation,” she stated.

She added that if the late Moshood Abiola could be recognised as the face of democracy in Nigeria, then a national day should be set aside to honour the Igbo victims of the pogrom and civil war.

Also speaking, the Imo State Coordinator of IWA, Ambassador Ijeoma Nwachukwu, described the killings in the region as traumatic and heartbreaking. She urged parents and teachers to work together in preserving the Igbo language, culture, and traditions amidst these trying times.