Tobias Sylvester
Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo said his government is setting up a truth and reconciliation commission to offer “amnesty” to agitators in the state.
Charles Soludo Speaks On Agitation In South-East
During an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, the governor said his administration is ready to rehabilitate and offer skill acquisition training to agitators willing to surrender.
According to him, his government will set up a commission that will look into the root causes of the agitations and document those killed in the past few years due to the tensions in the area.
“We don’t want to treat all these people as statistics,” the governor said, expressing optimism that such action could “form the fulcrum of engagement at the national level”.
“To the criminals, we are offering an olive branch to repent,” Soludo reiterated, referencing John 8:1-11 in the Holy Bible.
“So, to them, we are also saying ‘We are not condemning you, sin no more. Come out today, surrender those arms, we want to engage you back in society’,” the economist noted.
He added, “Within the agitation movement, we have to agree that there are now factions. There are various factions. There is one led by one guy in Finland called Simon Ekpa.
“IPOB has come out to accuse that group of being the one behind much of the criminality taking place in the south-east. It is a very huge positive development.
“A lot of them in the bush out there are having camps here and there. They come out to kidnap and kill. Once we isolate all the groups that are not involved in this, then we can focus on the criminals.
“We have also offered them some kind of amnesty. Come out, give us your guns, we are prepared to give you training in whatever skills, even if we have to raise resources to empower you to become useful partners in the development of society.”
On the agitation for secession in the south-east, Soludo said an ideology cannot be killed through the use of guns, adding that it is pertinent to understand the root cause of the problem.
He said, “A time comes when you realise that you cannot shoot an ideology with a gun. When you see it exclusively as a law enforcement matter, then you miss the point. You’ve got to engage them.”
Soludo lamented the rising levels of insecurity in the country, calling for immediate action and “engagement” with a view to finding a lasting solution.
The governor said the threats are “existential” in nature and thus should not be papered over. Everyone, he believes, should help the government in proffering solutions to the challenges facing the nation.
“This is something that we need to engage very seriously and in an open manner to engage everyone, believing that everyone has something to contribute,” he said.
KanyiDaily recalls that IPOB had asked Soludo to arrest Simon Ekpa for enforcing the sit-at-home order despite its cancellation and killing people in the South-East.
