A Rejoinder to the post made by my brother and friend, Anya Igu Idika
Greetings to you.
The killîng and behěading of about four Oso-Edda residents and destruction of properties have received condemnation from different quarters, including respected Amasiri sons and daughters. If you have not read/heard that from anyone, I did.
The Then
“The Ebonyi State government’s actions, no matter how you view them, were appropriate. Some of the decisions could have been relaxed if the people of Amasiri had approached the government remorseful…” How? The Governor got it wrong by making those declarations at Okporojo. It made it look premeditated. If his intentions aimed at restoring peace, he should not have allowed his emotions to overwhelm him as a leader. As bad as the sight of those destructions were/are, I had expected a condemnation of the actions while at Okporojo.
Return home, summon the category of individuals he ‘dethroned’ and ‘sacked’ from Amasiri, mandating them to fish out the individuals that allegedly committed the dastardly act. But no, he did not do that. And I ask you, who were you expecting to lead your suggested “approach” to the government, seeing that the pronouncements of the Governor rendered the community ‘leaderless’?
For organised online campaigns against the government and Edda, this is one of the “advantages of social media.” The campaigns are coming from both communities for and against the government. You don’t beat a child and tell him not to cry. For the attack on soldiers, I will not say anything because in war situations, every action always attracts interpretations – positive and negative, depending on the side of the dyad you find yourself.
For “Otuteja,” you are wrong to make a blanket generalisation that “Igbo people bury their dead in a family compound or land.” As truthful as your position may sound, may I inform you that Amasiri bury certain categories of their deads at “Otutueja” – youths that did not procreate before their demise, pregnant women that died with their child (in the womb), children and the “uninitiated” (the last group has gone in to extinct because of Christianity). I will advise you to make enquiries about this from your brothers and sisters living in Amasiri or married to Amasiri.
For your reference about the book by I. C. Omaka and Anthony Idam Oko, you are educated and should know that authors speak for themselves. After all, I have listened to voice notes from individuals of Edda origin, but I can not generalise the contents of those notes as coming from Edda but from an individual.
I advise you to read that portion of the book again and analyse the tone of the authors (I am not holding brief for anyone).
The Now
You and I know that even in Edda, individuals who commit atrocities do not likely stay back to bear the consequences of their actions. What makes you think that those who allegedly committed this crime were/are still in Amasiri?
If shutting down Amasiri, killīng and dehumanising individuals can not be seen as genocidal, why did we condemn the actions of the Federal Government against the defunct Biafran Republic during the civil war?
Remember, I am not justifying the Okporojo incident because life is sacred and should be treated as such.
For the Abuja conference, you expected the group to come to a state where the governor announced in a church service that he would deal with Amasiri people to the point that after three weeks, no one would remain in Amasiri? How sure are you that this group would not have been arrested the same way the two traditional rulers and the Development Centre Coordinator of Amasiri were arrested, if they had done it in Ebonyi state where they were declared “outlaws”?
If a security council meeting is still a meeting involving major security stakeholders of a state, and you are sure as you alleged, that they acted based on intelligent reports, were they not supposed to investigate their reports and take actions? Why did they allow the situation to get to this point?
Expectations
Let me start by asking you this question: in Amasiri setting, who do you think are the diplomats you expected to visit the Governor: the traditional rulers and government officials from Amasiri that he arrested?
Those you see on social media are just like you and I. They see the social media as the only channel through which their voices can be heard since Amasiri has “no government recognised leaders.” At this point, they speak for themselves, not Amasiri just as you speak for yourself, not Edda.
To All of Us
Governor Nwifuru’s actions/approach on Amasiri are malicious and crude. He should have done better.
It is not the way to handle conflicts in the 21st-century world.
My take remains this:
War is evil.
It does no man any good.
Oso and Amasiri share many things in common.
Sincere community engagement remains one of the best strategies to ensure a lasting and enduring peace among the communities.
I am Dr. Nnaemeka Itiri