By Ochereome Nnanna

ON Monday, November 8, 2010, Vanguard carried a front page story and interview with a fellow who claimed to be the most wanted criminal, Obioma Nwankwo, alias Osisi ka nkwu, believed to be behind the scourge of kidnappings, violent robberies and killings in Aba and environs.

I am not bothered about the intriguing circumstances surrounding the story. Rather, my point of interest is the vain and failed attempt by this fellow to paint the heartless exploits of gangsters in Aba and environs in the colours of a “struggle” against ethnic “marginalisation” being waged against “the rich” in the city.

Before I go on, let me also note that a group, Ngwa Youth Renaissance (NYR), quickly issued a statement disclaiming this fellow and his claims of fighting for the political interests of Ngwa people. I quote their statement in part: “How can you unleash untold mayhem on the same people you claim to be fighting for? What about the old woman who may not even know about the existence of government that was kidnapped and raped? Could the youths he killed on a daily basis still pass as part of his agitation?”

This reaction by a credible Ngwa interest group goes a long way in not only putting Osisi ka nkwu and his criminal co-travellers where they belong, it also shows that Ngwa people are now ready to stand up against evil rather than keeping quiet or appearing to applaud it for whatever reason.

It was this passive attitude in the past that gave the wrong impression that the kidnapping was part of some Ngwa political agenda. It was also responsible for what appeared like a negative image for a people known for their peaceful and hardworking disposition, which helped in making Aba the city to record the fastest recovery from the scourge of the civil war in the early 1970s.

There is no belly without an umbilicus, the elders say. There is no community that does not have its own share of criminals. It is how the community regards criminality and treats criminals when caught that make one community different from the other in terms of perception.

The highly commendable decision of the NYR to distance the Ngwa people from these modern-day devils that have made life unbearable for both Ngwa and non-Ngwa residents of Aba and environs must be sustained. Let us isolate the criminals, wherever they exist, and deal decisively with them. Then, we can address any outstanding political, economic and social issues in an atmosphere that will yield positive results for everybody.

There is no connection between perceived marginalisation and criminality. There is no way a criminal can tap into an agitation against marginalisation to become a political hero. That is exactly what some elements, whom the interviewee in the story purports to speak for, seek to achieve.

Looking at the posturing peddled in the interview, it was immediately clear that this fellow and his co-travellers were merely engaged in what is known as “copy-cat criminality”. As I noted in an earlier write-up on this forum over the Aba saga (see “The Abia versus Rivers spat”, Thursday November 4, 2010), there is no criminal activity taking place in Aba that did not have its root in the Niger Delta crisis. Before that period, neither Port Harcourt nor Aba nor even Akwa Ibom was known for crimes and criminality.

In fact, Aba had been known for ages for having its own internal methods of dealing with rising crime. There were regular citizen combing of the city, whereby jungle justice was instantly meted to bad eggs. It was during military rule that notoriously bad policemen were sent to the city to side with the criminals and prey on the rich and poor alike.

Then, the Orji Uzor Kalu era destroyed the Bakassi Boys vigilante and converted them and other loose elements in the city and throughout the state to his election rigging machine.

Just like it happened in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states, these gangsters were later abandoned after being used, and they simply used the arms at their disposal to rob, kill and kidnap, in total mimicry of the Niger Delta cultists and bandits who later became “militants” fighting to “emancipate” the area when the state and federal authorities turned the heat on them. This overnight transformation from oil thieves, bunkerers and killers for political warlords to “militants” is what Osisi ka nkwu and his cohorts hope to achieve and thereby, in the nearest future, become political heavyweights who “fought” for a section of Abia people.

If the case of the Niger Delta worked because the “militants” had a noble cause they capitalised upon, that of the Aba bandits will NEVER work because there is no noble cause they can capitalise upon to transform into a political machine. The argument that Ngwa have never produced a governor of the state does not hold water. The truth is that Abia North has produced only one governor since the state was created, in the person of Orji Uzor Kalu, who came to Umuahia only to benefit his family and community. Abia Central (Umuahia) has also only produced the current governor, Chief Theodore Orji. After him, there is only one direction the governorship will be headed: Abia South comprising the Ngwa and Ukwa areas. It does not require an “arms struggle” for this to take place.

I understand that the government of T.A. Orji is planning an economic summit for the state. All the legitimate stakeholders in the affairs of the state must be involved to chart a common vision which will be followed irrespective of which political party or section of the state takes political control. No section should be isolated for any reason. Only the criminals must be hunted down and put where they belong to enable the state move forward.