By Chris Onuoha 

An Imo youth leader, Micheal Nwaokeke, a native of Umuopara, Umuezeala-owerre autonomous community in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, has cried out to the public, stating that the operations of the Eastern Security Network (ESN),  the security arm of Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB group within Ehime-Mbano calls for urgent actions.

Nwaokeke in a painful mood, has narrated how his life would have been cut short in the hands of the dare-devil non State actors whose operations has put many lives in and outside the axis in danger including deaths. 

Currently recuperating in a hospital in Lagos from a heinous attack on his person by unknown assailants who trailed him to Lagos, while taking a walk towards the Volkswsgen bustop in the Ojo area of Lagos, insinuated that it was the handiwork of an ESN coordinated attack on his person outside Imo State.

Narrating his ordeal in a hospital bed, Nwaokeke said the trouble started in his community where he became a huge voice against the operations of some unknown gunmen masking as IPOB members, including a campaign against the protracted sit-at-home order purportedly orchestrated by the IPOB group which has crippled social life, economy and academic pursuit of students within the region.

His said, “My name is Nwaokeke Michael  Chinenye, a native of Umuopara, Umuezeala-owerre Community in Ehime Mbano, Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. I am a graduate of University of Nigeria Nsukka in Enugu State. I also have a Master’s degree in Defence and Strategic Studies at University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am a law abiding citizen of Nigeria and one who strongly believes in oneness of the entity called Nigeria and that is the genesis of my current predicament.”

Nwaokeke said that as a vocal youth leader in his community and a patriotic citizen who believes in one indivisible nation, he has always advocated for the wellbeing and progress of Nigeria against the more profound sentiment of separatists group loyal to the IPOB  leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

According to him, he has been a  critic of the agitator group and the violent method adopted by them in their process for self-determination, more especially, the compulsory declaration of sit-at-home on every Monday day, that has caused the death of many Igbo, and socio-economic disruption with micro- businesses losing over 4.6 trillion naira annually.

Nwaokeke explained that being a youth leader and outspoken person in his community made his political views, as well as his pronouncement and rejection of the call for self- determination, as not only an aberration, but also against the political and developmental interest of his people. For that singular reason, he fell out of favour with some group in his community who are known IPOB members. “They decided to deal with me,” remarked Nwaokeke.

According to him, the reason why he was not part of those advocating for separation is because he believes that “the things that hold us together as a nation is more than the things that divide us,” noting that Nigeria has every potential to be great, but mentioned that the youths in his area do not see it from his point of view hence, the more reason they want to kill him and his young family.

The troubled man escaped from his community after it became obvious that he is a target. The threat of life on his person also included his immediate family, prompting him to withdraw his children from schools within the community to somewhere else. For him, he came to Lagos, just to be far from the assailants who sometimes mask as unknown gunmen in the community.

“I was accused of being a government informant. Reliable information from known sources close to IPOB top members stipulated that the punishment for being a security or government informant is death according to them. The source also said they have passed their judgment on me and decreed that I should be killed,” said Nwaokeke.

He further stated that those who went to intervene on his behalf were told that, for him to live, he had to pay the sum of fifty million naira in support of the struggle for self- determination and pledge his allegiance to IPOB and their leader, Nnamdi Kanu. According to him, this was pledged because his family is well known in the community as a prominent family. He said the tough conditions were difficult to accept, prompting his fleeing from the community for safety.

“The reason for this decision is not far-fetched. There is no police presence within the length and breadth of my local government Area. All the police stations in the entire local government has been burnt down, prompting the State command to draft all personnel to the capital city, Owerri. This also accounts to total breakdown of law and order with incessant kidnapping, robbery, rape, extortion and killing of some people in the area. What is happening in Imo State today with regard to the criminal activities of ESN is not adequately reported. Some prominent persons in Ehime-Mbano today have been kidnapped with some killed. The sit-at-home order is more pronounced in the region than other places. This, however empowers the non State actors to engage in more sinister acts without hindrance or little challenge by the state security agency,” he said.

He mentioned that the control of the communities is firmly in the hand of the group as they have loyal sympathizers and informants who are ever willing to expose any member of the community opposed to their ideology and modus-operandi. They sometimes, impose protection levies on the communities and enforce lock down and sitting at home as they wish.

Narrating his ordeal in Lagos,  Nwaokeke said that he was trailed unknowingly by some group of men while taking a walk. He said that the group confronted him and asked him, ‘is it because you are educated and from a wealthy background that would make you oppose the struggle for self- determination, and challenge IPOB?’ He said before he could respond, they descended on him with rods and sticks, telling him that he is a disgrace to Igbo people with intention to outrightly lynch him and label him a criminal. 

“They had told me that even if I run to Maiduguri, that they would still  come after me. They asked me why should an educated person like me and from Igbo land be supporting Nigeria. It was my wife who told me that when they saw I fainted, they probably thought I had died, and that was when they disappeared,” he added.

Reacting to the attacks, Barrister Ifeanacho Amakiri, the president of Crusade for Equity and Justice, a human right organization in Nigeria described Nwaokeke Michael’s ordeal as a metaphor for what Nigeria has become.

According to him, he said that if somebody expresses a political opinion that is contrary to that of other people he would become a target and subject of persecution. He said that freedom of speech which is one of the fundamental human rights has become a crime in the country.

Amakiri confirmed that non- state actors are now taking laws into their hands and doing everything possible to silence all those who don’t share their views.

“Nwaokeke Michael is  one of the many victims of gross human right violations  that is going on in the country by non-state actors. I am appealing to the government to investigate what is going on in Nigeria. People are no longer free to express their political opinions. People are no longer free to exercise their freedom of speech,” noted Amakiri.

The views of some descent youths in the community corroborated with the views of one community leader in Ehime Mbano, Mr Rufus Okeke, who said that he has never being in support of violence. However, he said that he is not happy that some group of people would be holding political opinion that is contrary to that of the majority of the people in his community. He mentioned  that Michael’s father was highly respected in their community when he was alive and Michael himself is well behaved.

“I have known him since he was a child. He is very upright person. I am not really surprised that he is holding a different political view from that of the rest of the youths in our community. He is educated, enlightened and very exposed,” said Okeke. 

On an integrity check, a school teacher in the community, Paulinus Ugwu, noted that he knew Michael as a boy. He said that Michael’s parents were devout Christians, adding that Michael himself is well behaved and very bright as a student, but wondered why he became a target when his family is well known.

“His father is one of our illustrious sons, highly respected. Michael is also of good conduct but I wonder what has put such opinion into his head and why he should not be where his people are.

“No right thinking Igbo man is happy with the way the country is currently being run. The country is not working. That is why there is anger everywhere. A lot of Nigerians have become disenchanted and disillusioned. So, I don’t know the reason why we should continue in a system that is not working. Igbos are being discriminated by the Nigerian state. We are not being carried along and we are not being involved in the scheme of things in the country so why must we remain part of them?”

“As an elderly man and a Christian, I am committed to life of non-violence. I am strongly opposed to bloodshed. Blood is sacred. Nobody must destroy what he cannot create. This must be the handiwork of miscreants.  I want the Nigeria Police to investigate the series of attacks on his person and bring those behind it to book. His father when he was alive was one of the leading lights in our community and Michael himself is not a bad person .The only thing is that we are not happy with his political opinion but that does not mean that he should be killed.” he said.

However,  Michael Nwaokeke is appealing to the general public to bear him witness of any wrong doing or criminal act. While on his sick bed, he also appeals to both federal and State government of Imo State to check and tame the activities of some youths is Ehime-Mbano, Imo state, whose nefarious actions in the name of IPOB agitation is causing more havoc than good in the local government.