By Anayo Okoli
OHANAEZE Ndigbo Worldwide has tackled the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai over his alleged statement that he would declare state of emergency in the South East if security operatives are attacked in the zone.
Ohanaeze wondered why Buratai chooses a relatively peaceful South East to vent his anger while he has not done the same in the North Central, North West and North East which have become theatres of war and where army posts and bases have been subjected to incessant attacks.
The apex Igbo leadership group said that the threat by General Buratai is a vindication of the belief that the South East is being regarded as a conquered territory, exemplified in the army of occupation stationed in the area.
Ohanaeze also queried Buratai’s constitutional power to declare a state of emergency in any part of the country, saying that his threat smacks of reckless impunity of public officers and a tacit manifestation of the vacuum in governance at the Federal level.
In a statement signed by the Acting Secretary-General and National Publicity Secretary, Prince Uche Achi-Okpaga, Ohanaeze lashed at Buratai for watching the governor of Katsina State negotiated and took pictures with armed bandits and now turn round to threaten to impose a state of emergency in states where unarmed citizens are agitating against the harsh and inhuman conditions they have been subjected to by their government.
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“The attention of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been drawn to a statement credited to the Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai, threatening to impose a state of emergency in the South East if Governors of the states allowed any further attack on security forces in the states.
“While Ohanaeze Ndigbo decries violence in any form in the states, it takes particular exception to an open threat and warning to South East governors who by the country’s constitution are chief security officers of their states but are lame ducks in practice as all security commands come from Abuja.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo finds it particularly provocative for General Buratai to issue such a warning to governors of the South East where relative peace prevails while he has not done the same in the North Central, North West and North East which have become theatres of war and where army posts and bases have been subjected to incessant attacks by the Boko Haram, ISWA/ISIS, bandits and Fulani herdsmen, killing and maiming Nigerian soldiers.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo also wonders where the army chief derives the power to issue such a threat which under the country’s constitution can only be carried out by the National Assembly on demand by the President.
“It is highly surprising that an army chief who was watching as the governor of Katsina State was negotiating and taking pictures with armed bandits would turn round to threaten to impose a state of emergency in states where unarmed citizens are agitating against the harsh and inhuman conditions they have been subjected to by their country.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo believes that the threat by General Buratai is a vindication of the belief that the South East is being regarded as a conquered territory, exemplified in the army of occupation stationed in the area.
“It is also a glaring example of the reckless impunity of public officers and a tacit manifestation of the vacuum in governance at the Federal level”, the statement said.
