“A week before this raid, three kidnapping incidents occurred at the Four-Corner/Nvene area of Ozalla Community in Nkanu West LG area of Enugu State. The abduction took place beside an army checkpoint.
“While the kidnapping incidents lasted, the soldiers didn’t only watch the terrorists operate, they were said to have monitored the counting of ransom brought by the families of the victims.
“Besides, the terrorists bore Ak-47 arms and barreta pistols with which they terrorise their victims. At Agbogwugwu, a neighbouring community to Ozalla, the former PDP youth leader, Okoye, was kidnapped for ransom.
“Men of God are not left out by these perpetrators. The terrorists have brutally attacked the Church of God during which some worshippers were murdered and others abducted. The prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria, Archbishop Kanu, was kidnapped some years back.
“His revelations after he was freed were threatening. Last Monday, Rev Fr Malachy Asadu of St Theresa’s Catholic Diocese, Nsukka, was kidnapped on his way to his Parish after a diocesan ecclesiastian meeting.
“Few months ago, at a Mass in a Catholic Parish in Owo, Ondo State, the Fulani terrorists invaded the Mass and murdered several worshippers. Previously, too, Chief Olu Falae, former secretary to the government of the federation, was abducted in his farm on Owo Road, Akure, Ondo state.
“The Abuja-Kaduna road has, at a time, become a ‘no pass area’ because many commuters have been kidnapped there. The height of Kaduna kidnap was the attack of a train and abduction of its passengers. The whole of the Middle Region had been sieged by terrorists and we can go on.”
To this end, CLO called for: “The inauguration of a judicial commission of enquiry to understudy the activities of these criminals and publish its findings and recommendations for full implementation.
“Request the international community and diplomatic institutions in Nigeria to intervene and help Nigerians prevail on the ailing APC government to take fast and positive steps in arresting this scourge.”
It also advised governors of the victim states or regions to close ranks to protect the lives and property of their citizens pending the period the federal government would take action.
It also recommended boosting the operations of indigenous security organisations, as well as interrogating the local, rural communities where these terrorists live and operate from.
