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By Chidi Nkwopara....
The origin of this piece will certainly read like a fairy tale. A young man walked into the Vanguard Office, Owerri, to discuss placement of 15 full pages of colour advertisement. After discussing with our Correspondent, Chidi Nkwopara, the potential client left but promised that he would call to confirm the next line of action.
About four days after the visit, a call came through an MTN number. The message was simple: “We have accepted to place the advert in Vanguard. You have to come to Aba and pick the money”.
For the reporter, Aba was a no-go area and the caller was told so. A deal was struck that the reporter should come to a place close to Osisioma. He thereafter left Owerri for the designated place on the appointed day.
Locating the “advertiser” was not difficult but the only shock was that they were a group of youngsters! Our reporter’s expectation that he would just collect the manuscripts and cash and return safely to Owerri, was not to be. He instead got the shock of his life as it turned out that he had been talking to the dreaded and wanted militant leader and alleged kidnapper, Osisi Ka Nkwu!
During the encounter, the militant leader decided to break his long-drawn silence on the unrest in Aba, Abia State. And in a discussion which lasted for about 20 minutes, he gave account of why he took up arms and vowed to continue with the struggle until Ngwaland is liberated.
Why did you take up arms ?..
We became militants because of the failure of government to live up to its responsibilities towards us. Many of us are graduates. Some are university drop-outs,who could not continue for want of fund or sponsors. There are secondary school leavers without a future in school or jobs. Many are skilled workers from all walks of life, who are partially on the job or were forced out by lack of fund to buy tools and start their business. Others are apprentices and persons wrongfully and unlawfully put out of job without means to litigate on the injustices meted against them, and a lot more who suffered sub-human treatment, degradation, torture, victimization and unjust imprisonment in the hands of Abia State Government, and its agencies from the traditional village setting up to Government House, Umuahia.
Are there other reasons?
Yes. There are some of us who chose militancy because of the rape of their wives and sisters, ritual killing of innocent persons in the guise of security by mainly the Bakassi Boys, used by the state administration as a security outfit. I must also talk about the corrupt segment of the Nigeria Police unleashed on Abia people. They extort money at check points, police stations and even in people’s homes, thus impoverishing the citizens.
All these pains and suffering are inflicted on the poor masses while the few privileged and untouchable rich move freely to continue their looting. These human beings have relations and friends who make much money from Ngwa land without ploughing back their profit to develop the area and her people.
Are you sincere that Aba is neglected?
Honestly, successive governments in Umuahia have refused, failed and neglected to provide for the many that are poor. We took up arms to expel the few that are rich, who today, have no protection in Aba.
The neglect of Ngwaland by government is borne out of lack of patriotism by stranger elements in and around the corridors of power. How else can one explain the utter neglect of Ngwaland to its present lowest degree of absurdity?
Any proof?
Yes. Since the creation of Abia State in 1991, no Ngwa man has been governor of the state and all main markets in Aba, including Ariaria Market in Osisioma Ngwa, Cemetery Market, Ngwa Road Market and Shopping Centre, are all controlled by stranger elements, who have no interest of Ngwaland at heart.
Osisikankwu
Aba remains the commercial nerve centre of Abia State. Internally generated revenue of the state comes from this town, but there are no good road network in this town and the adjoining Osisioma area. Articulated vehicles fall or get stuck at the Osisioma Ngwa-Ekeakpara Market road. The story is worse in the hinterland. It makes us wonder if we are in modern day Nigeria or pre-historic Nigeria. This has been the state of affairs in this area for years and government pretends it does not know about it and have not heard the cry of the common man.
How can you say there are no jobs in Aba when there are factories in the town?
In all honesty, there are no job opportunities in Aba and I can tell you that there are no functional factories in the town. We have been lacking jobs even before the much orchestrated kidnap began. Government policies and programmes do not favour job creation. It does not favour industrial growth and expansion where our teeming unemployed but employable hands could have been engaged. So, why would these set of citizens not employ themselves?
Like commercial motorcycling?
There you come again. Okada riders were used for election purposes and sadly dumped after the polls. Their only reward was the blanket banning and burning of their motorcycles by the police and Bakassi Boys, at the instance of the state government. Nothing was put in place to take care of those who lost their means of livelihood and this helped in increasing the ranks of the militants in the area. Those who managed to purchase tricycles were subjected to paying N100 tax daily to the state government as rehabilitation fee.
What is the position of the petroleum depot in Aba?
You are living behind time. The depot stopped functioning long ago and no government is interested in looking into the matter. The result is that those who earned the livelihood from the depot have since lost the opportunity. They can no longer support themselves and their dependants. Again, this has rightly increased the number of angry people in the area and the option naturally is militancy.
Ngwaland is an oil producing area. Has it not impacted positively on the lives of the people?
Ngwaland is in the Niger Delta region. The truth is that no town or village is presently enjoying the dividends of oil exploration and exploitation. Owaza is a typical example of gross neglect by government. There are no roads, good and functional schools, electricity, potable water, modern markets and health centres. The sad thing is that some of our sons have allowed themselves to be bought over by government to the detriment of the hapless and helpless citizens.
Are you indicting your prominent sons and daughters?
Good question! A lot of them live outside the impoverished area. They should start preparing their burial places in Abuja and other lands because they have willingly sabotaged their native land. Their children are schooling or working abroad. They hardly touch base and cannot tell the real feeling of their kith and kin.
We are told that education is still regarded as a top priority in Abia State
I don’t know who told you that. High cost of education has sadly put the facility out of the reach of the common man. It has become very elusive for children from poor homes. Our girls, who are desirous to get education but are from poor background, get messed up in the process. Some even died of deadly sexually transmitted diseases. Public schools in Abia State is a mockery of education. This is why the rich and wealthy have transferred their children to private schools, which charge exorbitant fees.
What is your take on the controversial kidnap of school children?
Nigeria shook and quaked because children from a private school were kidnapped. They were children of the rich, wealthy and powerful. If children from public schools were picked up, nobody would have even heard about it because they are children from poor homes. Nobody speaks for them and this is the irony of the ugly situation we have found ourselves in Ngwaland. I must say that the children were released unconditionally by my men.
Did your group kidnap the school children?
One of the camps seized the bus conveying the children to their school. It was a private school. It attracted worldwide reaction and to this extent, it served its purpose. l personally found out the camp that carried out the operation and moved the kids for immediate release.
Government House, Umuahia, was impatient, despite my firm promise that the children would be released unharmed. Similarly, my lawyer mounted pressure on me. He threatened to abandon my brief if the school children were not released September 29, 2010.
Despite heavy military presence, I brought out the school children from the camp of the group that held them hostage and directly called the office of Abia State Deputy Governor and also through my lawyer, asked government to send people to Ngwa Iyiekwe Junction, along Aba_Port Harcourt express way to pick the children. That was how the children regained their freedom.
We were told that the soldiers rescued the children. Is your account not strange?
I was surprised to hear that the soldiers claimed credit for the release of the school children. I would have roundly dealt with the soldiers if that was the mission of my teeming followers. People should learn to tell Nigerians the truth at all times.
What truth are you now telling?
Apart from the total neglect of Ngwaland, there are other issues to recall. Aba has been an important city in the political, economic and social life of Nigeria. Major reforms in Nigeria started in Aba and spread to other parts of Nigeria. All Nigerians are today reaping from the effects of the Aba Women Riot of 1929. All sorts of bad names were given to the protagonist of that necessary riot.
Today, the White colonialists are gone and Black colonialists have since taken over. The state is set again at Ngwaland for a fight to either make government provide for the teeming poor masses and also protect the rich few. Government should make the area a free zone for the poor and a war zone for the rich criminals. Ours is a struggle, a commitment borne out of patriotism. The side effect is what people call kidnapping and armed robbery.
How many militant groups were actually operating in Ngwaland?
There were more than nine militant groups in various camps and locations scattered in the area. I can honestly tell you that the smallest militant group had not less than 250 persons at the time Governor Theodore Orji announced his amnesty programme. I led the largest group, which had over 3,000 men. Although these militant groups were autonomous, they were however very loyal to me.
After due consultation with the various groups, I was given the mandate to negotiate with government on the amnesty details and how to surrender our arms and ammunition. I also sought services of a lawyer in this regard, especially as I was skeptical about government’s sincerity
Why did the amnesty promised by Governor Theodore Orji fail?
I hate to recall this aspect. Government House Umuahia was still discussing with my lawyer on ways to put a permanent end to the problem before September 30, 2010. The amnesty was planned to lapse October 7, 2010.
To assure government of our sincerity, journalists were scheduled to visit the militant camps and take photographs of the armoury, so that government can match what we will eventually surrender with the items in the photograph. The press was to visit September 30, 2010, while we were to surrender our arms on October 4, 2010. Although the school children were seized within this time frame, I still assured government of the safety and subsequent release of the children.
So, what happened?
In the early hours of September 30, the Abia State Government in conjunction with the Federal Government, declared military action in Ngwaland. Tension was high. Buildings were destroyed. Properties were damaged and lost. Women and girls raped. Livestock were stolen and eaten by the invading soldiers, who came in trucks and tanks of war.
With heavy military presence, the visit of the press failed and consequently, the amnesty programme collapsed. The military struck eight clear days ahead of the expiration of the amnesty deadline.
With the military in combat readiness and with the actual bombardment of Ugwuati and some other parts of Ngwaland, the various militant groups and camps dispersed without surrendering.
How many of your men have been arrested?
The soldiers are jokers. The killing, arrest, detention and trial of innocent citizens, who were branded kidnappers, have not and would not help matters. Of over 3,000 men in my camp, who were ready to surrender their arms before the military arrived, none has been identified or touched by any soldier or police man. The figure of arrests announced by the security agencies is a figment of their imagination and a cheap propaganda to score cheap political marks. The military presence has not solved the inherent issues that ignited the problem.
How do you escape from these security men?
It is very simple. We know them but they do not know us. Recently, a photograph of my father was published as my own. I had a good laugh. We pass through their supposed check points daily. They ask us to place our hands on our head as we pass through their check points. We even passed through their barricades as we came to see you here today. The soldiers just don’t know who they are looking for and that makes their task crazy.
So, where do we go from here?
Dialogue is the thing and not brute force. There has to be serious arrangements to change the ugly face of Ngwaland. My promise is that this struggle and war of good over evil will continue in many ways until the day our problems are addressed by government.
