From Joshua Chibuzom
President Bola Tinubu’s administration will tackle insecurity in the South-East headlong, Vice President Kashim Shettima assured on Friday.
Gunmen have in recent years launched attacks in the region, killing many, destroying properties and kidnapping residents.
But Shettima, who visited the Bende area of Abia State on Friday, said the President is worried about the economic devastation inflicted on the region owing to the assaults, promising to restore normalcy.
“He is acutely aware that our commitment to Nigeria’s future remains incomplete as long as we grapple with the sinister operations of economic saboteurs who masquerade as advocates for the Ndi-Igbo,” the Vice President said at the unveiling of the Peace in South East Project (PISE-P) by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu.
“That’s why he’s determined to utilize all available resources to ensure that the peace we’re establishing in this region is not cosmetic, and we can’t guarantee it unless all of us see through the falsehoods and propaganda that have become weapons against our unity.”
Senator Shettima noted that the gory activities of the criminals holding the South-East captive are self-serving and do not in any way represent the interests of Ndi-Igbo and the country.
He said the terror groups that have held the region to ransom are not a creation of the people of the region or Nigerians from other parts of the country.
“The problem we are here to solve as a community, as an Umunna, is a creation of self-serving criminals who do not represent the interests of the Ndi-Igbo and Nigerians. Mr. President knows this better than all of us, and that’s why he has never held any group accountable for the infractions of law-breaking individuals who identify as their members. This, I believe, is the democracy we have all chosen,” he maintained.
The VP believes the criminals disrupting the peace in the South-East are doing so in connivance with “forces exploiting the situation for dangerous political agenda,” but says attempts to undo the hard work of the nation’s heroes past will fail.
He insisted that the catastrophic situation can’t be reversed unless the government involves the people whom he said are the ears, legs and mouths in the region.
At the event, Shettima also received (on behalf of Tinubu) a title – Enyioma Ndigbo – conferred on the President by the Chairman of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers Eze Linus Mbah.
