HURIWA Slams South-East Governors Over Insecurity, Demands Regional Security Outfit

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has strongly criticized governors and political leaders in Nigeria’s South-East for what it described as “complicity, incompetence, and crass irresponsibility” in the face of escalating insecurity in the region.

In a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja, HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, lamented the continued inaction of the South-East governors in establishing a regional security outfit similar to the Amotekun Corps operating in the South-West.

He accused the governors of enriching themselves through security votes while failing to confront the insecurity threatening lives, property, and economic activity in the region.

“The South-East has been left vulnerable to violent non-state actors, and the governors have failed to take decisive action. Vast areas have effectively become ungoverned territories, under the control of armed groups wielding sophisticated weapons,” Onwubiko stated.

HURIWA attributed part of the region’s instability to the ongoing sit-at-home orders declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which the group said have paralyzed economic and social life in the region.

The rights group further accused the federal government of complicity, citing its failure to address key issues, including the prolonged detention of IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and what it described as the systematic exclusion of Igbos from national appointments and infrastructure development.

“The federal government has abdicated its primary responsibility to protect citizens,” HURIWA stated.

“Markets, banks, schools, and transport services have shut down, not only due to threats from armed groups but also because of the visible absence of state security forces in affected areas.”

Quoting security analysts, the group warned that continued government inaction is fueling public perception of official complicity and encouraging the entrenchment of non-state actors.

“Allowing sit-at-home orders to persist for nearly four years amounts to a surrender of authority,” the statement read.

HURIWA called for the urgent establishment of a non-partisan, citizen-driven regional security network in the South-East to work alongside federal security agencies in reclaiming control of ungoverned areas.

It also urged the military and police leadership to overhaul their operations in the region, curb extortion at security checkpoints, and implement proactive strategies to restore order.

“The time to act is now,” HURIWA stressed. “The people of the South-East deserve safety, dignity, and the right to live free from fear.”

HURIWA Slams South-East Governors Over Insecurity, Demands Regional Security Outfit is first published on The Whistler Newspaper