The members of the South-East Governor Forum, comprising the five governors of the southeastern states met at the Governor House, Enugu, on Thursday to discuss issues besetting the region.
This meeting marked the first time Alex Otti (Abia), Professor Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra), Senator Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Dr Peter Mbah (Enugu), and Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi) have gathered since May 29, 2023, when new governors were inaugurated into office. Â
Key Agendas on the Table
The issues to be deliberated in the meeting include the Monday sit-at-home which has negatively affected the socio-political and economic activities of the Southeast region.
The release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services for two years, was another major topic on the agenda of the meeting. Â
On Thursday, the five governors of the southeastern states held a meeting at the Government House, Enugu, Enugu State, to deliberate on issues facing the region.Â
United Resolutions for Security
One of the resolutions made by the South-East Governors Forum in their maiden meeting is to clamp down on criminals destabilizing the region. Â
Senator Hope Uzodimma, the Governor of Imo State and Chairman of the South East Governors Forum, while reading the resolution applauded security agencies in the five southeastern states for their effort in managing the security concerns the region faced.Â
The meeting had governors Peter Mbah (Enugu), Alex Otti (Abia), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra), Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi), and Uzodimma (Imo) in attendance.
They all agreed that criminals should not be viewed as legitimate pro-Biafran agitators and ordered security agencies in the region to deal with the sponsors and perpetrators of mayhem in the South East region.Â
Navigating Challenges and Future Plans
Uzodimna who spoke on behalf of the southeast governors said,
- “We wish to state categorically that the perpetrators of the insecurity in our region and their sponsors are criminals and should not be seen as legitimate agitators. Therefore, upon arrest, they should be dealt with by the laws of the land”. Â
The Chairman of the South East Governors Forum disclosed that “the forum resolved to hold the security and economic summit on a date to be announced soon”.   Â
The Monday sit-at-home which has adversely affected the socio-economic activities in the southeastern region was a strategy the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) introduced to demand the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the separatist group leader who has been under the Department of State Services custody since 2021. Â
The sit-at-home forces residents of the region to remain indoors. Businesses are shut and people who dare to come out are often attacked by miscreants enforcing the exercise, which in turn paralyses the economy.
This has led to a series of confrontations between IPOB fighters and security agencies, destroying properties and loss of lives. Â
Set Nnamdi Kanu free without any delay because, he is a freedom fighter and not a terrorist as many people calls him. BIKO, let him join his family at his homplace.
Thank you from Germany.
That’s what we are expecting from you, as our Governor’s, to release him, and stop keeping quiet, because am very sure that, if M NK is from northern Nigeria they wouldn’t have arrested him talk more of staying long in detention, BRAVO to our Governor’s, but let it be real, not fake, if fake, kindly know you that your efforts to stop sit at home can never work as you think, BUT STILL HAVE IT IN MIND, THAT BIAFRA MUST COME.