The action of the federal government to transfer prisoners suspected to be Boko Haram members is yet to settle in Anambra State.
There has been protest after protest and yet the federal authorities are yet to blink. If governance is to do the will of the people and to listen to their plights, then the federal authorities owe this one to the people of South Eastern Nigeria. They have spoken with one voice rejecting vehemently this decision tranfering Boko Haram inmates to Ekwulobia Minimun Prisons in Anambra State.
The argument is that the facility is not able to handle inm,ates of the magnitude of Boko Haram known to be Terrorists because it is a minimum an not maximum prison.
In a radio programme, the Senior Special Adviser on Media to Obiano, Mr. James Eze, said the transfer of the Boko Haram detainees to Ekwulobia posed concerns as insurgency was becoming a cancerous growth that has blighted Nigeria.
According to him, not the same attention was being given to the South-East in terms of infrastructural development, even as the region has high rate of crime, kidnapping, armed robbery in the last one year.
The people of South-East are worried – that the geo-political zone, which was the epicenter of destruction and massive killings during the civil war – will be at risk with the transfer of Boko Haram detainees to Ekwulobia Prison in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. That worry may not be much ado about nothing.
Meanwhile, the leadership of pan-Igbo socio-political and cultural body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has kicked against the transfer, saying it was not acceptable to the Igbo people.
In a radio programme, the Senior Special Adviser on Media to Obiano, Mr. James Eze, said the transfer of the Boko Haram detainees to Ekwulobia posed concerns as insurgency was becoming a cancerous growth that has blighted Nigeria.
According to him, not the same attention was being given to the South-East in terms of infrastructural development, even as the region has high rate of crime, kidnapping, armed robbery in the last one year.
“Transfer of the detainees poses a threat to peace and economic growth, foreign investment in multi-million US dollar participation and the development of human capital in Nigeria”, Eze stated.
“ For most successful businessmen who were willing to come home back to the state to invest, it is no longer the fear of armed robbery or kidnapping, now it is the fear of terrorism, which strikes terror in the minds of the people.”
Ekwulobia Prisons was meant for 85 inmates, but now has 135, and not for high profile criminals, or detention of deadly terrorists.
