Awka Youth Leader claims 4,000 youths killed in four years.
By Udodirim Oti, Awka
The Youth Leader of Awka Development Union, Nigeria (ADUN), Comrade Ikechukwu Ezenwa has lamented the killing of about 4000 able-bodied youths in the community in the last four years, blaming the scourge to failure of security apparatchik
Ezenwa whose leadership is about one year old further argued that the dastardly acts are taking their toll on the youth population, leaving a trail of high number of widows and finances without future husbands.
He contended that in the last one week, 12 persons were killed, with ten having their arms amputated including the ones at Umuzocha and Ogechukwu Street in the capital city amputated.
Speaking on the backdrop of protest of some select youth of Awka at Government House, he pointed out that he didn’t want infiltrators and hijack of the protest,hence the insignificant number of protesters.
Ezenwa who reacted to the condemnation of the protest march and faulting of both the State Government and security agencies to contain the security challenges by the State Commissioner dismissed it as a distraction.
He maintained his stance that the protest of Awka Youths to Government House Awka was not to indict anybody, but to draw attention of the government, security agencies and general public to the unsafe and insecure environment.
While hailing the State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo for his resounding performance especially in infrastructural development of which Awka is a beneficiary, he wondered where governor would live, as he wished after hjs tenure, if the entire community is over-run by kidnappers and killers .
He pointed out that the worrisome aspect of the breakdown of security is that the governor is not being told the truth, blaming security chiefs in the community for apathy in tackling the menace of killings in the capital city, insisting, “government is not helping matter at all.”.
Ezenwa condemned the daily killings in the community each passing day of able-bodied youths for whatever reason.” The ADUN Youth boss regretted that Awka young persons in the town hardly move around for fear of meeting their untimely deaths.
According to him, night life which boomed in Awka in the recent past is threatened by spate of kidnappings and killings.
The Youth Leader warned that if the ugly trend of killings continues, he would succumb to pressure and lead a protest march of widows to the Governor, “even if government officials and police are prepared to kill all of us “
Ezenwa said, on assumption of office, he promised to reach out to stakeholders and convoke security summit, introduce skill acquisition programmes and empower the youths, but the sate of killings and kidnappings has distracted his leadership from executing them.
The Youth Leader hinted that if the current insecurity is related to Boko Haram insurgency, he would ideally not mind joining to fight insurgents,” but this is a different ball game.”
He. equally blamed the stakeholders for their acts of omission and commission in the security challenges being witnessed in Awka and beyond,, stressing that they took away their children abroad including London and Canada, leaving the poor and helpless folks to face their fate.
