The National President of the Orluzurumee Youth Assembly (OYA), Prince Izunna Obiefule, has urged the government to adequately equip security agencies to enable them to effectively combat crime and insecurity in Imo State, particularly in the Orlu Senatorial Zone.
Obiefule said the provision of adequate fighting equipment, gadgets, and operational vehicles would strengthen security agencies to be proactive in confronting criminals who operate with sophisticated arms and ammunition, often unleashing terror on innocent citizens.
He made the call during the presentation of a report and campaign launch tagged “A Decade of Impunity, Attacks and Unlawful Killings in South East Nigeria,” by Amnesty International, held at BON Hotel Platinum, Enugu, on Tuesday.
Obiefule lamented that both the government and security agencies were not doing enough to curb crime and killings in Imo State, especially in Orlu Zone, noting that insecurity would not have persisted if decisive actions had been taken.
He also condemned the unlawful arrest, prolonged detention, maiming, and extra-judicial killings of innocent citizens, particularly youths, by some security operatives.
“Orlu Senatorial Zone is the worst hit by insecurity in Imo State. The Police and the Judiciary should rise and caution the excesses of some security agents, including vigilante outfits. It is disheartening that law-abiding youths are being dehumanized and killed daily in Orlu, Orsu, Oru West, and Oru East,” Obiefule said.
He attributed the rising insecurity in the South East to greed, corruption, and selfishness among government officials, stressing that good governance and youth empowerment could help reduce crime and violence.
“Government should adequately equip security apparatuses with modern weapons and gadgets to combat insecurity. Youths should shun crime, kidnapping, cultism, and banditry, and embrace hard work to become useful to society,” he added.
Earlier, the Director of Amnesty International, Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, who unveiled the report, urged authorities to thoroughly investigate human rights violations in the South East.
The report stated that “the persistent failure of government to address the security crisis in the South East has created a reign of impunity in which state and non-state actors have committed serious human rights violations and killed at least 1,844 people between January 2021 and June 2023.”
