HURIWA Raises Alarm Over South-East Killings, Urges Governors To Act

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has raised alarm over the worsening insecurity in the South-East region, condemning the growing wave of killings, terror attacks, and ritual-related crimes as signs of a looming humanitarian catastrophe.

The group raised the alarm on Wednesday, lamenting that the region was fast descending into anarchy due to what it described as “a glaring leadership vacuum,” citing a string of recent incidents that have left communities traumatized and unprotected.

“The bloodshed in Arondizuogu, the gunfire in Ehime Mbano, and the abominable murder in Ogbunike are not isolated incidents,” said Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA’s National Coordinator.

“They are coordinated signs of an expanding theatre of war against the people of the Southeast.”

The rights group particularly condemned the massacre of at least seven persons in a coordinated attack on three communities—Ejezie, Umualaoma, and Ndiakuwata Uno—in the Arondizuogu axis of Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State.

Suspected members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) were fingered in the killings, which reportedly displaced dozens of residents.

“What happened in Arondizuogu is not just a crime—it is an affront to our collective conscience,” Onwubiko said.

“These victims were not just statistics—they were fathers, mothers, youths, and children. They were our people. The silence from political leaders is not just shameful—it is dangerous.”

HURIWA also slammed Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, for his alleged failure to visit the affected communities or even issue a public statement to reassure citizens.

The group noted that while residents mourned, the governor remained in Abuja, hosting members of the Super Falcons football team.

“This is the height of insensitivity and a clear indication of the disconnect between the political elite and the suffering masses,” the statement said.

In another disturbing incident, the group cited the early morning invasion of Umualuaku in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area, where unknown gunmen reportedly surrounded the community and held residents hostage amid sporadic gunfire.

“Entire communities are being abandoned to their fate, with citizens forced to live in fear and security agencies stretched thin,” HURIWA warned.

The organization also condemned the gruesome ritual killing of a pregnant nurse in Ogbunike, Anambra State. According to police reports, the victim’s dismembered body was found in a soakaway pit, and her organs were allegedly sold to native doctors. A female suspect has been arrested and human remains were recovered from a shrine in the area.

“This is one of the most horrifying crimes ever reported in the Southeast,” HURIWA stated. “It confirms the entrenchment of ritual killings and organ trafficking in the region. This is a complete moral collapse and a failure of law enforcement and social safeguards.”

Further pointing to a broader trend of criminal impunity, HURIWA recalled the case of a traditional healer, Obi Obieze, in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State. Obieze was intercepted by customs officers while fleeing to Benin Republic after decomposing corpses were discovered in his soakaway. Though the case initially made headlines, the group alleged that the Enugu State government has since gone silent on the matter.

“The tendency to bury heinous crimes under political convenience must stop. Silence is complicity,” Onwubiko emphasized.

HURIWA criticized the Southeast Governors Forum for its failure to establish a unified regional security framework, similar to the Amotekun Corps in the Southwest.

“Unless urgent and collective action is taken, more communities risk falling into lawlessness, and the entire region may become a humanitarian disaster zone,” the statement warned.

Backing recent remarks by human rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, HURIWA echoed his call for strong, united leadership among Igbo elites.

“What unfolded in these peaceful communities was not just another act of violence. It was a brutal reminder of our crumbling humanity and the slow, painful death of our shared conscience,” Ejiofor had said.

In response, HURIWA called for an emergency regional summit involving governors, traditional rulers, civil society groups, religious leaders, and the newly inaugurated Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership under Senator Mbata.

The group said the summit should not only focus on developing a security strategy but also address the prolonged detention of IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, which it described as a potential flashpoint for further unrest.

“It is no longer acceptable for a region to bleed in silence,” Onwubiko said. “The killings in Arondizuogu, the attacks in Ehime Mbano, and the ritual murders in Anambra demand urgent, united action. Alaigbo must not be reduced to a wasteland of unburied corpses and unhealed trauma.”

HURIWA also urged President Bola Tinubu to direct security agencies to prioritize operations in the Southeast, demonstrating that national security policies apply equally to all regions.

“Let there be no more silence. Let there be no more blood. The killings in Arondizuogu must be the final straw. Let leaders rise before Alaigbo collapses completely,” the group urged.

HURIWA Raises Alarm Over South-East Killings, Urges Governors To Act is first published on The Whistler Newspaper