South East map
FOR over four years, many communities in Igbo land were desolate due to activities of criminal elements christened Unknown gunmen who killed, kidnapped and maimed residents and visitors alike. They destroyed properties, rendered many people homeless and reduced the communities to no-go areas. In some cases, they occupied deserted communities, unleashing terror and mayhem from there. Fear and apprehension pervaded the entire land.
However, this Christmas celebration was different. Hope has been restored and life has returned to the communities. Social activities have fully returned to the hitherto deserted communities in Ihiala, Aguata and Orumba areas of Anambra State and once dreaded Orlu and Oguta areas of Imo State. People of these areas returned home in large numbers to enjoy the usual conviviality criminal elements denied them for many years.
The usual meetings where development of communities were deliberated, were seen being held in communities and philanthropists gathered the less privileged and widows to celebrate with them, things they could not do in the past few years due to security crises.
Confirming the gradual return of peace in Ihiala and its neighbouring towns, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, who is from Ihiala, who pleaded anonymity, said: ”Gradually, the area is calming down, but there are still pockets of criminal activities here and there.
“However, people are happy celebrating Christmas and waiting to celebrate the New year. We are happy to be home again after some years of running from the town. In fact, all the towns in Ihiala Local Government Area are celebrating the gradual return of peace in our Local Government. You know what this place was like between January, February and March. We thank our youth for that bold step of initiating the take over of our towns from criminal elements who are mostly strangers working with some hoodlums from the towns.”
Also speaking with SEV, an Onitsha-based businessman, Chief Chikwueloka Ezeh, said that people actually came home in his community in Ihiala unlike what was obtainable in 2022 and 2023 while criminal elements even mounted road blocks in the day time without anybody, including security agents, challenging them.
According to Chief Ezeh: “There were roads in Ihiala that you dared not drive through in 2022, 2023 and 2024, unless you were ready to part with any amount the criminal elements mounting road blocks in the areas asked you to pay.
“You can remember that here in Ihiala and our neighbouring towns, people only came home to bury the dead and leave after burials and you also recall that before those burials, the families would have settled the criminal elements who threatened to disrupt the burials if not settled but recently, before this Christmas, those threats had gradually disappeared and we observed that some families buried their loved ones without disturbance from those criminal elements.
“We must thank our youths for the bold step they took and the Military and Police for sending their men on daily basis to assist the youths to root out the criminals. We are happy to come home once more and expect that the peace will continue.
“No doubt the hitherto deserted communities in Ihiala Local Government Area are coming back home to cerebrate Christmas and New year peacefully without harassment by gunmen who have been terrorizing them. It is a good thing that is happening.” Vanguard
