How South-East govs betrayed Igbo people, by Diwe, ASETU leader

By ANAYO OKOLI

The Association of South East Town Unions, ASETU, has said the entire Igbo nation has lost confidence in the ability of governors of the five states in the region to protect them against attacks by herdsmen.

It also said plans have been concluded to sustain pressure on the governors and state Houses of Assembly to urgently enact anti-open grazing laws.

President of ASETU, Chief Emeka Diwe, said this in Enugu on the sideline of two a 2-day emergency security retreat where far-reaching resolutions were taken.

His words: “Increasingly, our people are losing confidence in the apparatus of the state to safeguard their lives and property. To make matters worse, the governors in Igbo land have not done anything to assuage the pains of the people and put a stop to the outrageous carnage to which their people have been subjected.

“Our people feel betrayed by the governors, and the truth is that the governors worry less about the menace of the herdsmen because they are not directly affected by the onslaughts.

“How many of them or their children have been attacked by herdsmen? Are they exposed to such danger? Do they know the agonies of homes that lose their mothers, sisters and wives to brutal rape and murder by herdsmen? Are their wives and daughters exposed to such despicable encounters?

“We have severally written to the governors for two years on the need to enact anti-open grazing laws. Up until this moment, we have never got any response from any of them. The evil acts of the herdsmen stem from their unchecked and unbridled mobility. Once that is curtailed, once it becomes illegal for herdsmen and their cattle to wander about, the destructions, killings and rape will consequently come to a stop. So, this constituted one of the reasons we convened the emergency security retreat.

“We further resolved to sustain the pressure on the South-East governors and their respective Houses of Assembly to urgently enact anti-open grazing laws. Our people are in dire need of a legal framework to safeguard them from the rampaging herdsmen.” (Sunday Vanguard)