Over 2,500 Igbos from South-East Nigeria have been killed under the watch of President Goodluck Jonathan, according to a leading non-governmental organisation, the International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety, Nigeria).

Intersociety made the claim in the second of a two-part petition to President Jonathan over the alleged “Hausanisation and Islamisation” of Nigeria Police by the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Dikko Abubakar.

Just like the first part of the petition dated May 6, 2013, the second part released this morning was also routed through Mr. Peter Obi, Governor of Anambra State and Chairman, Southeast Governors’ Forum.

The latest petition is entitled “Hausanisation & Islamisation Policy In The Nigeria Police Force: Igbo-Southeast As Endangered Species With The Loss Of Over 2,500 Souls Under Your Excellency’s Administration – Part Two.”

Signed by Intersociety Board Chairman Emeka Umeagbalasi, the petition was copied the Chairman, Federal Character Commission, Deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Intersociety told Jonathan in the petition: “It is utterly disheartening that in spite of these supreme sacrifices paid by the sons and daughters of the zone with respect to Your Excellency’s presidency, the zone remains an endangered species under Your Excellency’s administration. The zone is further castrated and disempowered by being ostracized from federal appointments and promotions such as in the Nigeria Police Force.”

Under the section entitled “Igbo-Southeast As Endangered Species Under Your Excellency’s Presidency”, the group wrote:

“It is correct to say that the Igbo-Southeast have lost at least 2,500 of their sons and daughters since Your Excellency’s transitional and substantive presidency from May, 2010. The slaughtering of the zone’s sons and daughters is predicated by their killers, especially the killer Hausa-Fulani Muslim zealots, on false notion that there is no difference between Your Excellency’s Ijaw tribe and the Igbo race. As the most Christian populated race in Nigeria, there is no iota of doubt that the Igbo-Southeast are being targeted for total castration and elimination. During the 2011 post election violence in the 12 northern States of Nigeria, out of over 1,000 people killed in both pre-election and post election violence that engulfed the country that period, at least 40% or 400 of them were from the Igbo-Southeast. The zone also lost at least 20 members of the National Youth Service Corps to both election and Boko Haram violence including the Bauchi killing of April 2011 and the Suleja INEC bombings of April 2011.

“Between January 2011 and January 2012, approximately 510 sons and daughters of the Igbo-Southeast were murdered in Boko Haram bomb and weapons attacks in various parts of the country including the Madalla Igbo massacre of December 25, 2011 and the Mubi Igbo massacre of January 6, 2012. In the Jos township ethno-religious attacks of 2010 and 2011, at least 300 sons and daughters of the Igbo-Southeast were murdered. In 2010 alone, up to 800 people were killed in Jos violence. The killings included the 24^th December, 2010 bomb blasts in churches populated by worshippers of the Igbo-Southeast that killed at least 80 worshippers. On 8^th day of January, 2011, 40 Igbo traders were massacred in Dilimi Terminus Market, Jos in Plateau State, North-central Nigeria. On 18^th day of March, 2013, over 150 citizens of the Igbo-Southeast extraction were killed in the Sabon Gari, Kano bus park bomb blasts that killed up to 180 people. In the 2011 post election violence, over 350 churches, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria, were burnt or destroyed in northern parts of the country. Ninety percent of these churches were built and populated by the Christian worshippers of the Igbo-Southeast extraction resident in northern Nigeria. Instances are too many to mention. It is utterly disheartening that in spite of these supreme sacrifices paid by the sons and daughters of the zone with respect to Your Excellency’s presidency, the zone remains an endangered species under Your Excellency’s administration. The zone is further castrated and disempowered by being ostracized from federal appointments and promotions such as in the Nigeria Police Force.”

Intersociety used the travails of Ndigbo in the Nigeria Police under the incumbent leadership of M.D. Abubakar as an example.

According to the group: “The number of serving Igbo-Southeast Commissioners of Police in the Nigeria Police Force has reduced to seven. Four of them: CPs Ikechukwu Aduba, CP in-charge of Delta State Command, Godfrey Okeke, CP in-charge of Adamawa State Command, Hilary Opara, CP in-charge of Kogi State Command and Ikemuefula Okoye, CP in-charge of Ogun State Command, are the only four serving State Commissioners of Police in Nigeria, who hail from Igbo-Southeast, while CPs Mrs. Chintua Amajor Onu-CP Intelligence, Felix Uyanna-Commandant, Police College, Oji River and Sylvester Umeh-CP, PAP, Eastern Port are the three remaining non-State Commissioners of Police from the zone.

“There are confirmed 21 serving AIGs including 2 specialists and 19 general duties in the Nigeria Police Force as at 4^th day of April, 2013(last promotion by PSC/NPF took place on 3^rd day of April, 2013). Shockingly and sadly too, none of the said serving AIGs in the NPF is from the Igbo-Southeast Nigeria. This is an impeachable violation of Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution on federal character principle. There are also 86 confirmed serving Commissioners of Police (CPs) in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) as of date including 80 general duties and 6 specialists. Shockingly speaking, Your Excellencies, only seven Commissioners of Police out of the 86 come from the Igbo-Southeast. This is another grave violation of the said Section 14(3). By express meaning of this Section as well as federal character principle and six geopolitical zonal structures, the Igbo-Southeast zone is entitled to at least 14 serving CPs out of the 86 serving CPs and should be entitled to 15 if their number is increased to 90. Also due to deliberate stagnation that condemnably trailed the statutory promotion and posting of these serving Igbo-Southeast CPs and few others that occupy senior ranking positions like DCPs, ACPs, CSPs and SPs, some of them will be due for statutory retirement in few weeks or months away from date.

“Similarly, it is authoritatively confirmed that there are 176 serving DCPs in the NPF as of date including 163 general duties and 13 specialists. In the area of Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs), there are 385 of them serving in the NPF as of date with 374 general duties and 11 specialists. There are also 1,052 serving CSPs and 1, 707 SPs in the Nigeria Police Force as of date (03-04-2013) excluding those who possibly retired statutorily since December 2012. About 95% of the officers-in-charge of the NPF’s divisional police stations, special anti robbery squads, area commands, state criminal investigations departments, State commands, zonal commands, police educational institutions, border, airport, railway and marine patrol commands and other top administrative duties, are drawn from these top ranks of SPs to DIGs. Other than the seven serving DIGs in the Nigeria Police Force, who equitably represent the six geopolitical zones of Southeast, South-south, Southwest, Northwest, Northeast and North-central, there is barefaced geopolitical lopsidedness in the geopolitical identities and distributions of those who presently occupy the ranks of SPs to AIGs in the Force.

“From our in-depth checks, the geopolitical distribution of the said top police ranks heavily favors the three geopolitical zones of Northwest, Northeast and Southwest, especially those bearing Muslim names. The Southeast geopolitical zone is the worst victim of the lopsided geopolitical distribution of the said top police ranks, followed by the Christian officers of the old Middle-belt Region.”

Intersociety demanded that “the people of the Igbo-Southeast must be protected at all times from other malicious Nigerians and given their rightful position in Nigeria’s socio-political scene.” It also demanded “an immediate end to the castration and exclusion of the Southeast zone from sensitive federal appointments and promotions including the Nigeria Police Force.”

•Photo shows President Jonathan.

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