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Insecurity: NGO organizes Peace Summit in South-East

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CHINYERE IKEANYI

A non-governmental organization, the National Peace Movement of Nigeria, in partnership with NIDO Africa and Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State is organizing a South-East peace Summit on January 16, 20222 for a lasting solution to the insecurity in the region.

President of the Jude Odiegwu Arbitrators and Partners, the initiators of National Peace Movement, Dr Jude Odiegwu,  who made this known during a press conference in Lagos, stated that the Summit would hold at Mulumba Catholic Church Event Centre Shanahan Hall New Haven, Enugu, Enugu State.

According to Dr. Odiegwu, the theme of the Summit is: “Understand Agitations and Finding Solutions to Killings, Genocides and Insecurity in Eastern Nigeria”.

He said the National Peace Movement of Nigeria is the alternative dispute resolution, peace platform of Jude Odiegwu Arbitrators and partners, adding: “Our area of interest is to make sure that we work out modalities to mediate and intervene in situations that would guarantee peace”.

On South-East peace Summit, Odiegwu stated: “What we are doing in the South-East is to create a platform that is not political. We want to separate ourselves from politics completely. We create a platform that is for mediation, intervention for security agencies, communities, government agencies to bring them together for a lasting solution to the insecurity in the land”.

Continuing, he said: “In this South-East Summit, we are bringing in the elders, political leaders, stakeholders, traditional rulers, local government chairmen, House of Assembly representatives, town union presidents. We want to bring in all the segments of Nigerian society together.

“Our reason is this, let the people tell us from their own background, what they feel the problems are and then tell us what they think or feel that should be done for peace to reign.

“We are equally bringing in agitators because a lot of people are aggrieved for one reason or the other, whether justified or unjustified, we are not going to for that now. Let all the people that have their grievances come on board and tell us what can be done so that their grievances can be subdued. This is because you can’t be talking about peace without equal rights and without justice”.

Expressing concern on the insecurity in the country, Odiegwu observed: “The waste of blood, killing and insecurity have gone to a level that everybody must be concerned. So, we took upon ourselves to establish the movement to bring in elders, stakeholders and meaningful Nigerians together to find a solution to the killings, insecurity, genocides, and reporting humanity abuses and all that”.

He disclosed that the Movement would also go round the six geo-political zones to organise peace initiatives, “and we want to start with South-East”.

He said: ’The report coming from the South-East is so alarming that we decided that we must wake up the elders, stakeholders, Nigerians and citizens generally so that we can come together and join hands to restore our lost peace.

“For instance, some years ago, you can travel on a night journey from any part of the East to any part of the North with all assurance that you will get to your destination.  But today, it’s not the same. Even those who travel by day these days are not safe. So, some of these things should be addressed.

“Every day, we are seeing photos of people beheaded, slaughtered and burnt alive. These things were alien to Nigerians; we never saw them years ago. That is the essence of the platform so that we can find out what the problems are and I believe we can have a headway”, Odiegwu further said.

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