By SOC Okenwa
The reckless militarization
of the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones of Nigeria never
started today nor yesterday. The federal government has been accused in the
past - and present - of treating Igboland as a conquered territory. I remember
when I travelled back home in 2013 and was driving from Onitsha
to Benin City I had encountered a monstrous
'go-slow' just before the Niger
Bridge head. From Upper Iweka Road
towards the major entry and exit point to and from the South-East I spent
several hours in the artificial gridlock that stretched well over a kilometer!
It was a disgusting, suffocating spectacle to behold as motorists heading
towards the bridge were forced to drive at a snail’s speed. The heavily-armed
soldiers were directing traffic and monitoring every vehicle that passed by,
parking some for verification of documents or passengers or waving off others.
*Burutai and Buhari |
And again traveling from my hometown of Ihiala to Port Harcourt a few days
earlier, I had met some gun-wielding military and paramilitary officers posted
to mount roadblocks on the ever-busy Onitsha/Owerri Expressway. After an
altercation with the officers at one of the many checkpoints, I wondered if in
the northern states some Igbo soldiers or policemen could be drafted and
allowed to do what the predominantly northern military elements were doing on
our roads in 'Biafraland.' Or was that the price to pay for losing out in the
1967-70 pogrom? Was it a harsh reminder of defeat?
The ongoing
Operation Python Dance 2 in
the South-East and the imminent relaunching of Operation Crocodile Smile in the
South-South areas of the embattled country are not only provocative but
intimidatory. The so-called "show of force" is a show of shame that
advertises our country to the outside world as a nation with the jackboot
mentality. It is primarily meant to intimidate the people and silence them. We
hold that in a democracy such an anti-constitutional demonstration of crude
force that believes in 'crush-crush' policy in a time of relative peace is
uncalled for and unnecessary.