Attacks on security personnel are on the rise in the southeast. Here’s why you should be worried.
Violence and attacks on security operatives are on the rise in Southeast Nigeria.
Security operatives and governments in the zone appear to be overwhelmed as they struggle to repel the daring attacks.
Many of the attacks have been credited to members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) established by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in December 2020.
IPOB, the group reviving the call for secession in the Southeast, has had a series of violent clashes with security operatives leading to the deaths of many IPOB members.
The Nigerian government proscribed IPOB after labeling it as a terrorist group in 2017. Since then security operatives have used force to clamp down on IPOB activities.
IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in a statement last December said the failure of Southeast governors to secure the lives and property of Igbo people led to the formation of the ESN.
The activities of the ESN suggest it is more focused on mobilising grievances against the government than fighting insecurity.
Since the ESN was launched, there has been a surge in violent attacks in almost all the states in the Southeast. The attacks range from the killing of security personnel, to burning of police stations and patrol vans, stealing of ammunition, and jailbreak leading to the escape of more than 1,800 inmates in Imo state.
No fewer than 20 police officers have been reported killed since January 2021.
On Saturday, April 24, 2021, the home of Imo state governor Hope Uzodinma was razed by persons suspected to be ESN members. A few hours later, security operatives raided the operational headquarters of ESN killing Ikonso Don, Commander of ESN, and other members.
The attack on ESN members has further escalated the violence in the Southeast.
On Monday, April 26, gunmen attacked a police station in Okigwe south local government area of Imo state, killing five officers while one is still missing. About 19 Fulani herders were reportedly killed in Igbariam, Anambra state. Nine security operatives (soldiers and police) were reportedly killed in an attack by gunmen on four checkpoints in Rivers state.
What is the government doing?
On April 11, 2021, the five southeast governors announced the launch of a regional security outfit named Ebube Agu (the glory of a tiger), to fight rising terrorism in the zone. The outfit is yet to begin operation.
Why you should be worried.
The attacks may heighten following the killing of Ikonso and six other IPOB members.
The African Center for Strategic Studies says the back-and-forth raids and attacks risk plunging the southeast into a crisis similar to the Anglophone-Francophone conflict across the border in southwest Cameroon.
What happened in Cameroon?
In Cameroon, a report by the International Crisis Group says conflict between the government and separatists from the English-speaking minority, has claimed more than 4,000 lives and displaced 765,000 of whom 60,000 are refugees in Nigeria.
The United Nations also says three of the Anglophone regions’ four million people are affected by the humanitarian crisis while about 800,000 children are out of school.
What is the way out?
Analysts have said the government may need to adopt a new approach in dealing with the growing security crisis in the southeast as a repressive approach may no longer be the best approach to calm the situation now that IPOB members have been emboldened by the UK government’s plan to grant asylum to its members.
