Vice President Kashim Shettima stated on Friday that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration was determined to end the reign of terror in Nigeria’s southeast, which was fueled by “self-serving criminals” who used the security crisis to further their political agenda.
“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,” Shettima said in Bende, Abia State, when he unveiled the Peace in the South East Project by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu.
His remarks come three weeks after he pushed for the use of non-kinetic measures to combat instability in the Southeast.
Shettima, who received a delegation led by the Deputy Speaker at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on December 5, said, “The approach is the most beautiful I have seen so far. We need to build bridges, there is a need for a handshake; that way, those that have not been radicalised can be captured.”
Kalu’s group went in the State House to seek the Vice President’s support for the PISE-P.
Insecurity in Nigeria’s South-East, where the Indigenous People of Biafra is most active, has grown increasingly complicated and multidimensional since 2012, as the region has seen an increase in instability and warfare in recent years.
The growing instability is ascribed in part to the actions of IPOB and its militant branch, the Eastern Security Network, which supporters claim was formed to battle criminals and defend the local community from perceived threats.
However, ESN actions have resulted in skirmishes with Nigerian security forces, resulting in fatalities and increased insecurity. According to a study by the International Center for Investigative Reporting, at least two people are killed every day as a result of violence in the South East, with over 1,700 deaths reported between 2021 and June 2023.
President Bola Tinubu was concerned about the development, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, and was “determined to deploy all available resources to eliminate the purveyors of falsehoods and propaganda that have become weapons against Nigeria’s unity.”
The statement is titled, ‘Tinubu poised to end the reign of terror in South-East – Shettima.’
Delivering his speech titled, ‘Why We are all Umunna’, VP Shettima said, “His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, has been concerned about the extensive economic devastation inflicted by non-state actors on this beautiful region since we took office.
“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 Ndigbo.
“That’s why he’s determined to utilise 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.”
VP Shettima reasoned that the terror groups that had held the South-East to ransom were not created by the people of the region, or of 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 stated.
