By Kamsi Anayo, Awka
The Igbo women under this aegis of Igbo Women Association (IWA), says soldiers deployed on roads in the South-East have become a menace to motorists and commuters.
There are various checkpoints on the roads within and leading to the South-East region of the country manned by soldiers who are saddled with the responsibility of curtailing the activities of gunmen and violent secessionists.
However, travellers have been complaining about the alleged excesses of this security personnel, which include extortion and heavy traffic jams that usually leave motorists and commuters groaning in frustration.
Lolo Nneka Chimezie, President of the group while fielding questions in Enugu questioned why soldiers deployed to tackle insecurity in the region have abandoned their objective to engage in extortion and humiliation of the people.
She said the soldiers have prioritised extorting money from motorists and harassing commuters over what they were assigned to do.
Chimezie also noted with regret the humiliation of commuters on the roads by forcing them to disembark from their vehicles and cross checkpoints on foot before rejoining their vehicles.
She argued that such practice is only prevalent in the South-East, wondering what offence the people of the region committed to deserve such a treatment.
She described as embarrassing the fact that criminals would attack and abduct people at locations close to these checkpoints yet they would not be apprehended.
“Since they have failed to secure the people they were asked to protect, we demand that the Federal Government withdraws them immediately, police should be encouraged to protect the people as they are more approachable than soldiers who are always harsh on the people, irrespective of age,” Chimezie said.
Commenting on the #IgboMustGo campaign controversy, the group expressed concern about why the Federal Government hasn’t arrested promoters of the ethnic campaign and hate speech.
