JAGISTS

THE growing insecurity in the South East has made this year’s Christmas very uneventful in many communities. Although many people were eager to come home to celebrate with their people, their relations were even the ones that discouraged them.

In fact, almost 90 of those who returned to Nigeria from abroad for Christmas could not travel to their villages in the South East because of insecurity. People are indeed afraid of going home because of the menace of kidnappers and gunmen operating in the zone. One of the people who came back from Europe and hoping to travel to the East had to shelve the idea and had to spend the period in Lagos.

In a video he made apparently out of frustration, he said: “ Almost 90% of those who returned to Nigeria from abroad for Christmas could not travel to their villages in the South East because of insecurity. The foreign currencies they would have spent with their people are being spent in Lagos hotels. Their village people are even coming to Lagos to see them.

All these are happening because the people of South East do not want to listen and the ultimate losers are the poor people in the villages. As a result of this ugly development, the economy of South East is going down the drains. As it stands, everything in the South East is in shambles. The Christmas celebration in the South East is total rubbish because people are afraid to go home. It is the people that invited this calamity on themselves and blaming outsiders for their woes”.

Saturday Vanguard discovered that the era of  conducting traditional marriages in cities in the South East resurfaced during this Christmas. For instance, a Nigerian from Nsukka in Enugu State who lives abroad and was to get married to a lady from Isiukwuato in Abia State had to perform the ceremony in Enugu city because of insecurity, especially along the Enugu – Okigwe axis.  Also, the renewed robbery and touting by government task forces claiming to be generating revenue for the state in Onitsha, Anambra State, scared many people from returning home for Christmas.

In Enugu State, the killings in Ehamufu in Uzo local government area jolted many people and this made them to cancel coming home for Christmas. As a result, many people conducted their annual family meetings via WhatsApp and zoom as they could not meet physically.

Unlike in the past, churches in the major cities in the South East were jam-packed during this Christmas because most people did not travel to the villages.

A critical look at this year’s Christmas season in Imo state showed that generally, people did not return in their villages in numbers as in previous years.

All the respondents, who spoke on the development, were unanimous in their submissions that the level of insecurity in the South East geo-political zone and the poor economic climate in the country, were largely responsible for the non-return of Ndigbo, to their country homes.

A retired banker, Mr. Sylvester Egbe, said: “I must tell you that people, generally did not return to their ancestral homes for this year’s Yuletide as was the case in the previous years.

“Personally, I was called from home on Thursday of the preceding week not to return for Christmas due to palpable insecurity in our area.

“A good example of the heightened insecurity in the state, was the sad assassination of a promising young man, who was given the Labour Party’s House of Assembly ticket, in my local government area, Onuimo.

“He was gruesomely murdered, about two or three Thursdays ago in the night in my town.

His house and vehicle were completely burnt, while his wife and children were beaten to stupor! Similarly, his neighbour, a welder, was also killed.

“A week prior to this ugly incident, no fewer than four people were killed near Umuna and three days later, people were shot along Umunachi”.

Making particular reference to December 11, 2022, when he was billed to go home for a family meeting, Mr. Egbe said he did not see any vehicle loading opposite the Correctional Centre, Owerri.

“I had to return to my house, sent text messages to people at home and the meeting was cancelled. The level of insecurity became so bad that our yearly town union meeting, held at home every December 26, was suspended due to insecurity.”

Another retired banker, Mr. Cyril Obi, who responded via WhatsApp, said: “Members of my family and I, did not travel home this Christmas. The same is also true of my siblings and members of their families because of economic crunch and security challenges in my area, Awo-Omamma.