The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has strongly rejected explanations provided by the Enugu State Police Command regarding the summons issued to Mr. Chijioke Ezugwu, chairman of Uzo-Uwani local government area.
In a statement released on Monday by National President Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, the apex Igbo socio-cultural youth organization called on the Inspector General of Police to immediately transfer the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, accusing him of bias and selective justice.
Conflicting Accounts of the Summons
Initial reports suggested that Chairman Ezugwu was summoned for establishing a vigilante group tasked with searching for killer herdsmen in local forests. However, the police command later issued a statement claiming the chairman was invited in connection with ongoing investigations into the murder of eight persons in a community within Uzo-Uwani LGA, in which he had allegedly been implicated.
Okwu dismissed this explanation, stating it "adds insult to injury" and amounts to "dancing on the graveyard of the countless number of people who have been murdered by rampaging herdsmen in Uzo-Uwani local government area."
Questions Over Police Response to Herdsmen Attacks
The Ohanaeze youth leader raised pointed questions about the police response to violence in the region: "We are forced to ask the police - ever since the herdsmen started their havoc in Uzo-Uwani, how many of them have been arrested? How many of the killer herdsmen are being prosecuted in Enugu State, if at all any arrests have been made?"
Okwu suggested that only straightforward answers to these questions would clear doubts about claims that "killer herdsmen have enablers in high places."
"Does it mean that Ndigbo have remained second class citizens in this country? Murderous herdsmen cannot be arrested, but it is most convenient for the police to summon the chairman, or invitation as they chose to call it. We make bold to say that this insult on Ndigbo must stop," Okwu declared.
Call for Commissioner's Transfer
The statement concluded with a firm demand for action: "Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council states unequivocally that the explanation by the police is unacceptable; the Enugu State Commissioner of Police should tell us how many killer herdsmen he has arrested and that are being prosecuted."
"Anything to the contrary, we are calling on the Inspector General of Police to transfer him out of the state owing to the sentimental policing and selective justice under his command; the bias stinks and we have totally lost confidence in the Enugu Police Command under his watch," Okwu stated.
The controversy comes amid ongoing security challenges in Uzo-Uwani local government area, where communities have reportedly suffered attacks from armed herdsmen.
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