A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has advocated a South-East-wide Consultative Security Conference to bring all aggrieved parties to a common agreement for peace and expose possible fifth columnists causing chaos and anarchy in Igboland.

HURIWA made the call following a report that several persons were feared dead and several others injured when gunmen reportedly attacked a Police checkpoint in Anambra State, which the group has described as “totally unnecessary and absolutely unacceptable.”

HURIWA in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, sequel to media reports that commuters were forced to run for dear lives as the gunmen shot non-stop around 10:30 a.m. around Ihiala-Uli axis in Ihiala Local Government Area called on the Governors of the South East states, all political actors, civil rights, religious and cultural leaders including leaders of youth led groups and canvassers of self-rule in the South East to come together and iron out all the areas of differences with a view to defeating the agents of disunity and destabilisation in the Igbo region.

The rights advocacy group expressed shock that reports emanating from Anambra State indicated that security operatives were also seen scampering for safety in nearby bushes and villages while removing their uniforms, adding that if security agents who should maintain peace and order were also on the receiving end of coordinated violence, “it demonstrates the urgency of the now for all Igbo people to unite around a common cause to promote economic growth and development of the Igbo speaking region.”