Tribune / Nigeria: Businesses were, on Saturday, disrupted as protesters demonstrated across Anambra State over the alleged plot by the Federal Government to relocate Boko Haram prisoners from North-East prisons to Anambra prisons.
This was just as a top security official told newsmen in confidence that under the programmme, the Federal Government wanted to relocate some violent criminals to Aguata Prisons in Anambra State and not all the prisons in the state.
The protest, which started as early as 8.am, swept through major cities in the state, including Awka, Nnewi, Ekwulobia and Onitsha, restricting vehicular movement within and outside the state, with all the markets closed.
As the shops remained locked; traders and their customers gathered outside the market premises, criticizing what they termed the clandestine moves by the Federal Government to relocate the Boko Haram members who are currently in detention in the northern parts of the country to Anambra Prisons or any other prison in the South-East geo-political zone.
Some of the traders carried placards with various inscriptions: “Mr President, we support you, but not on this planned Boko Haram prisoner’s relocation”, “Anambra traders say no to Boko Haram detainees on our soil,” “President Buhari, Anambra State is too calm for Boko Haram!”, among others.
However, the timely intervention of policemen from Onitsha Area Command saved what could have led to a bloodbath as the police dispersed the crowd and re-opened the roads to traffic, without violence or arrests.
Confirming the development, the Police Area Commander for Onitsha, Mr Philip Ezekiel, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, told newsmen on phone that no casualty was recorded, neither was there any arrest.
The Publicity Secretary of AMATAS, Dede Uzor, who addressed the traders on the closure of the markets, said: “AMATAS condemns the plot by the Federal Government to relocate suspected Boko haram members to Anambra State or, by extension, South-East states. We see this as a plot to destabilize the peace of the states, as their comrades in arm will be relocated or focus their attention on the state, especially on how they could storm the prisons to rescue their colleagues.”
According to Uzor, “They had stormed Kogi, Adamawa and other prisons in the course of rescuing their members, which usually left innocent citizens dead”.
Also, in a press statement issued yesterday over the matter, the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) said it condemned the alleged government’s move.
In the statement, MASSOB’s Deputy National Director of Information, Mazi Chris Mocha asked rhetorically: “Why can’t the Federal Government allow Ndigbo to enjoy the current peaceful atmosphere existing in Igbo land? Does it mean that all the prisons in all the norther parts of the country can no longer accommodate the Boko haram suspects again?”
Meanwhile, Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, a publisher of Orient Dailies frowned at the Federal Government decision saying that such action is capable of causing chaos.
Ezeemo said that such directives was not in tandem with social reformation and co peaceful existence as such mix up would pollute their mind set of those in prison who have committee civil offence and are awaiting trial either for sentences or release.
According to him, mixing the extremists with the ordinary prisoners tends more danger than they were trying to prevent,” In American such case was handled by placing the identified terrorist in a special cell and decision was taken on them.
Ezeemo called on the Federal government to have a rethink on the decision and see that such decision would breed bad blood in the minds of the Igbo’s and should avoid such actions that could lead to unrest in the country.
It would be recalled that federal government, through the office of National Security Adviser had announced the implementation of the Radicalization programme for violent criminals whereby some of the violent criminals would be radicalized by way of relocating them to others parts of the country.
