As Nigerians continue to express concern over a viral video of gunmen enforcing a sit-at-home order in different locations in the Southeast region of Nigeria, Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has called out Oby Ezekwesili and other prominent politicians and celebrities over their lingering silence in the face of rising security challenges in the Southeast.
Omokri in a tweet where he tagged Oby Ezekwesili’s photo, criticised those who defended the fraudulent act of Mmesoma Ejikeme but whose voices had suddenly become silent as they watch the sit-at-home enforcers humilate people in the region.
“How come all the prominent celebrities and politicians who were so focused on Lagos during the last gubernatorial elections are now so quiet over the growing insecurity in the Southeast and the forced sit-at-homes paralysing economic and social activities in the region? Where are the loud voices that defended the fraudulent act of Mmesoma Ejikeme? How come those who spoke up during the #NigerianElections2023 remain quiet as different non-state actors punish schoolchildren for going to school and deal with market women for going about their lawful businesses?” he wondered.
“If these sit-at-homes are popular in the region, why would they need to be enforced? We had sit-at-homes called by the late Dr Beko Kuti’s Campaign for Democracy in Lagos during the Abacha regime, and nobody enforced them. Lagosians willingly stayed at home because they supported that act of civil disobedience against a brutal dictator.
“Where are IPOBy Ezekwesile and others who led the chant against Lagosians? Were they this taciturn when Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour declared himself the incoming governor of Lagos? Or when Lagos wanted to demolish structurally deficient buildings at Alaba? Or when the Lagos State House of Assembly mooted the idea of laws protecting indigenous Lagosians?
“Where have your voices gone? Or do you endorse what is currently happening in the Southeast?
“It is so bad that Southeast leaders are meeting in Abuja to discuss insecurity in their region. They could not meet in the Southeast. Have you ever heard that Southwest leaders met in Abuja over conditions in the Southwest?”
It would be recalled that Shehu Sani, a former senator who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th Senate, recently reacted to the manner at which the sit-at-home orders were forcefully carried out by the so-called unknown gunmen.
While recalling his struggle against military dictatorship under the platform of Campaign for Democracy, senator Sani who was arrested and jailed by successive military regimes in Nigeria, said during his time there was compliance even when the activists were not around to ensure that the people kept the faith.
