•Alleges authorities treat criminals as law-abiding in Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi states

By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The International Society for Civil Society and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has described Imo State as an animal kingdom where life has become endangered, nasty, short and brutish; and as such, the most failed Sub-National Government in Southern Nigeria

It also said the state has become ‘Nigeria’s capital of sub-national dictatorship and lawlessness-where state instruments of coercion have collapsed and have been converted to instruments for pursuit of political vendetta and terrorization of defenseless citizens and their properties, using false labeling, class criminalization and stigmatization.

Intersociety, in a statement jointly signed by its officers, including Criminologist/Researcher and Board Chairman, Emma Umeagbalasi, Chinwe Umeche, Esq, Head, Democracy and Good Governance among others said that Imo State leads Anambra and Ebonyi States as three sub-national entities or state in Southern Nigeria where criminals are treated by political authorities as law-abiding citizens as against law-abiding citizens accorded the status of criminals or criminal class.

The group accused Imo State government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of being behind the latest Akokwa mayhem in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State, which involved massive burning down of several houses, automobiles and other valuable properties by what it described as “Government Unknown Gunmen” in the ancestral home of Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, PDP’s House of Representatives Candidate for Ideato Federal Constituency.

The statement reads in part: “In the mayhem that ensued, not only that several defenseless properties were set ablaze and burned beyond recognition, but also unspecified number of defenseless citizens, including an uncle to the PDP House of Reps Candidate, were shot and killed or injured.

“It must also be clearly pointed out that the attacks on the PDP House of Reps Candidate are expressly and vicariously linked to his outspokenness, especially his recent disclosure of several rigging plots by INEC and government of Imo State ahead of the 2023 General Elections, particularly the Presidential Poll fixed for 25^thFeb 2023.

“Hon. Ugochinyere Ikenga Imo had on 14^thSeptember, 2022, in his capacity as the National Spokesperson of the Coalition of the Registered Political Parties (or CUPP), graphically exposed how INEC and government of Imo State doctored and inflated the National Register of Voters with fictitious identities in Imo State and had same replicated in about 22 States numbering not less than 10m fake names as “INEC registered voters.

“The CUPP, with PDP’s Ugochinyere Ikenga Imo as their spokesperson, had also on 21^stNovember, 2022, raised fresh alarms with more discoveries, including uncovering the harvesting of over 10m PVCs and their owners’ Voter Identification Numbers (VINs), using different phony charities and names spread across majority of the country’s 36 States.”

Intersociety noted that in the three States of Imo, Anambra and Ebonyi, it has become a crime to be law-abiding or engage in meaningful/lawful activities with political authorities arming criminals to unleash mayhem on such law-abiding citizens for choosing to be law-abiding and stay off crimes or social vices.

It added: “Imo State has further become ‘Nigeria’s champion of destruction’ by being ‘the most terrorized; followed by Enugu in Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen invasions, abductions and killings; military and police extrajudicial killings, abductions and disappearances; burning down of defenseless civilians’ houses and other property destructions by military, police, armed counterfeit agitators and ‘Government Unknown Gunmen.’

“The State also tops the list of assaults and attacks on women, including frame-ups and indiscriminate arrests, unlawful detention, class criminalization, custodial torture, sexual violence and open and custodial killing of women of menopausal and non-menopausal age brackets. In the same Imo State, civil and security abductions and killings have become a recurring decimal, averaging at least 10 abductions/killings per day.”

In the statement captioned, “Akokwa Mayhem As Part of Diabolical Anti-Democracy Resistance By State Autocrats,” the rights group said that Nigeria’s state autocrats were engaging in several diabolical anti-democracy resistances against the tireless efforts of the risen and unyielding democratic forces to re-write Nigeria’s dark democracy history, especially in the February 2023 Presidential poll.

It stresses that Nigeria, under Buhari/Osinbajo administration, has witnessed darkest transformation into dictatorship and thievery, including transformation of the country’s state actor democratic institutions which include Police, Military, INEC, Anti-corruption bodies, Justice bodies, etc., and their oversight institutions, into anti-democratic institutions, including instruments for polling rigging and public office corruption.

While saying that that is the extent the country’s security agencies and their high commands are widely suspected to have been presidentially briefed to ‘return the country’s reign of power to the status quo no matter what it takes,’ Intersociety expressed strong suspicion that in furtherance of the State’s desperation and diabolism, more devilish and devastating attacks on innocent lives and properties are to be expected in coming weeks, especially in South-East, South-South and non-native/Muslim South-West.

It listed other areas to include, North-Central, North-East and North-West against persons and entities insisting that next month or February 25, 2023’s Presidential poll must be free, fair, inclusive and credible.

Under the subheading, “We Pity Post-February 2023 Presidential Poll Era If Massively Rigged By The State Establishments,” the group said: “The insistence of the Nigerian State Establishments to massively rig next month’s Presidential Poll will have far reaching post-presidential poll short term, medium term and long term consequences on Nigeria or any part thereof, if the pro-establishment poll riggers are locally and internationally allowed to have their ways.

“Also with the near-total collapse of the functions or duties of the country’s security establishments, especially those with investigative and prosecutorial powers, there will be a geometric increase in aggrieved or victimized citizens’ resort to radical self-help or violent self defense leading to embryos of dismemberment and “Somali melting pot” taking a center stage in the country or any part thereof.

“As it stands, Nigerians are speedily losing faith and confidence in the country’s policing and defense authorities and their competences. A typical case in point is the fact that since 2021, 90 per cent, if not more, of cases involving premeditated murders, including open and captivity killings and abductions particularly in South-East and South-South, have remained unsuccessfully investigated and prosecuted; in addition to their outright commercialization, using rapacious extortion of the affected victims by the so called “Investigating authorities or officers.

“Similarly, over 98 per cent of cases involving conduct of atrocity perpetration and perpetuation including unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions by police and military in addition to citizens’ abductions and disappearances have remained uninvestigated and their perpetrators un-reprimanded till date.

“Totality of these has given rise to recycling impunity and repeat-offenses by state actor and non state actor perpetrators.”

Intersociety called on Nigerian government and its Sub-National counterparts to back off from their desperation and suicidal bids to rig the February 25 Presidential poll using security agencies and their high commands.

It warned that tens of millions of ordinary Nigerians with PVCs or their equivalents must be allowed and protected to conscientiously vote presidential, gubernatorial and legislative candidates of their choice in the February and March 2023 general elections.

In Solidarity With Ikenga Imo and Calling for unbiased/independent investigation, Intersociety commiserated with Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere Imo, his family, CUPP, political associates and party (PDP), over the unimaginable destructions visited on his country home and defenseless properties by Imo State based “Government Unknown Gunmen,” alleging that government of Imo State and INEC were inescapably, vicariously liable.

“Going by near-total collapse and brazen incompetence of the country’s investigative and prosecutorial security agencies and their high commands, Intersociety is compelled to demand for international civil and criminal investigations into the Akokwa Mayhem.

“The European Union, Canada, UK, US and other credible and powerful western democracies and relevant UN democracy and rights bodies are strongly called upon to take urgent and appropriate diplomatic steps to compel the Government of Nigeria to fish out perpetrators of political mayhem within its establishments and those in the sub-national political entities.

“The referenced international actors are also called upon to take further steps in blacklisting and appropriately sanctioning those found to be directly and vicariously involved at national and sub-national levels,” the group suggested.