By Adadareporters
The manner security agents at various checkpoints in South East compel passengers to alight from vehicles and walk across on foot has been described as ‘institutional humiliation’. Stakeholders who spoke with our correspondent in Alaigbo said such ‘inhuman act is only experienced in the South-East region of the country’.
A human rights activist, Barr Aloy Ejimakor, told our correspondent that, “The phenomenon in Igboland in which every passenger is forced to alight from vehicles and cross on foot at security checkpoints is an exemplar of the institutional humiliation and oppression of Ndigbo that started with Buhari and continues to this day. And it fuels provocation to boot.”
Also speaking, an Enugu resident, Sepiribo Peters, called on Igbo stakeholders to wade into the matter because ‘it is becoming very embarrassing’. According to him, “It might sustain because I have not seen the commitment of Igbo leaders towards ending such ordeals. Stakeholders at the last Igbo Day in Enugu did not even mention it at all. And our governors are not doing enough to find a lasting solution to the trend.”
The Methodist archbishop of Umuahia, Most Rev Dr Chibuzo Raphael Opoko, likened the practice to a warzone. He called on Presidency, the National Assembly and the military high commands to rise to the occasion.
He told Vanguard that, “I watch with trepidation the manner the South- Easterners and all those travelling across their roads are humiliated, degraded and punished against their will at different checkpoints regardless of age, health, sex and status of the passengers, especially in commercial vehicles.
“Everyone is demanded to disembark and walk across the military checkpoints despite the weather conditions- storm, rain, or sunshine. These sad incidents are rife in about four checkpoints along the Aba–Enugu expressway; about three spots between Ugba Junction to Owerri; and at the boundary between Akwa Ibom and Abia states on the Umuahia- Ikot Ekpene road. The aged, pregnant, and little children, among others, have been subjected to these inhuman treatments. This is condemnable. It is an atrocity to mankind and smacks of deprivation and subjugation of the fundamental rights of free movement and dignity of the human person.
“The continued recurrence of these acts raises questions: Are we in the same nation whose constitution guarantees the rights of free movement and dignity? Are we in a war zone situation? What has occasioned these inhumane treatments? We call on the leadership of the country to halt these degrading incidents. It gives a bad image to our nation and eats up the goodwill of hardworking Nigerians who ply these roads, while damaging the psyche of the peace-loving people of the South-East.
“We also draw the attention of the Chief of Army Staff and members of the National Assembly to ensure the stoppage of this human degradation and abuse of the fundamental human rights of the citizens of Nigeria residing in the South Eastern part of this country.”
A commercial driver, Okwudili Okekeamadi, said: “The soldiers there have a makeshift house where drivers or their conductors usually go to drop money, while their passengers are forced to disembark and walk to the other end with their hands raised. If the soldiers find out that any of the passengers grumbled, the vehicle conveying them would be delayed. During this delay, the soldiers would be insulting and abusing them and nobody dared to frown, otherwise the person would be asked to remain behind while others continue their journey.”
