Onitsha Market Shooting: Rights Activist Absolves Soludo, Blames Societal Ills

By Praise Chinecherem

Anambra based human rights activist, Comrade Osita Obi, has blamed the yesterday’s tragic incident in Onitsha, on what he described as societal, and Nigerian ills.

Describing the incident as an unfortunate situation which shouldn’t have happened, Comrade Obi, first of all, grieved with the family of the deceased and others injured as a result of the ugly situation.

Comrade Obi, the Convener of Recovery Nigeria Project, was speaking with newsmen in Awka, and emphatically stated that Governor Soludo or Ocha-Brigade, cannot be crucified.

According to him, the incident was an infraction from overzealous people working either for government or for individual persons in the state.

“It happens with the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Army, Air force and even civil servants. You see, that does not mean that Soludo sent them.

“Soludo didn’t send them, neither did the MD Ocha-Brigade, Comrade Celestine Anare, send them, he didn’t send them to do this thing they did.

“So, the work is illegal, despite the fact that the people in question were staying on the main road. It is what we are talking about the society.

“We have to ask ourselves the fundamental moral question, what are they doing there, that is number one.

“The society made them to stay there and when I talk about government, it is you and me, all of us .

“You see, if we begin to condemn things and ask that the right things should be done, one cannot see this kind of situation, it is allover the places, including Nigeria.

“Assuming now that policemen are somewhere there, and killed a person, should we begin to blame Bola Tinibu or blame the IG of Police of the country?

“They didn’t send them to do that, it is overzealousness, the important thing is that the state government has reacted .

Obi said the culprits should be arrested and tried to serve as deterrent to others who intend to do same.

On the issue of the culprits not being trained, the activist recalled similar incidents involving the Police, Nigeria Army, Navy and Air force, questioning whether are they not trained, saying that what they are talking about is the moral question which according to him, should come from home.

“You see, people are extorting, the society sends them out to extort. Simple, it is the society, is me and you that send them out to extort, because of the life we live, we have monetized every system, every aspect of our lives have been monetized , that is the problem”,the Comrade noted.

He added that even in government and governance that one can see criminals, 419 fraudsters and ritualists, questioning how could the issue of extortion, among other social ills in the country be handled head on.

“Because their own came open, many things happen today, life and last, government didn’t send them, is society, I and you know that, not only Soludo, not Tinubu that sent them.

“The issue is that because they have the governmental power and authority, the important thing now is that the MD Ocha-Brigade had reacted that this operation had not been permitted and clearance not givien for that operation.That is the important thing.”

Obi, who spoke among other things, advocated that heads of security agencies in the state and Nigeria at large should know the kind of people they recruit into their services, suggesting that there is an urgent need to repsych the Nigerian society.

“If we don’t repsych the society, we cannot make any meaningful change, this kind of thing, happens in the church. You are an eyewitness, it happened here. It’s because, these people, human life was involved, there are people who use pen to kill, it’s because they are not detected, we need to repsych our society”, Obi concluded