JUDE OSSAI, South-East Bureau Chief, in an encounter with returnees from the North, recounts their ordeals in the hands of the dreaded Boko Haram.

Prior to last January 26 call by the former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku in Nsukka that the Northern leaders should address the issue of Boko Haram insurgence in some parts of the Northern states, many eminent Nigerians within and outside the country had condemned in its entirety the spate of killings in the country, especially in the North.

Unfolding events showed that Boko Haram is still on its prowl as victims of its barbaric acts are increasing each passing day. The activities of the religious sect have continued to inflict severe pains and sorrows on the people residing in the troubled region.

Apparently due to the fact that Igbo, who geographically occupy the South-East geo-political zone, are in greater percentage residing in the area, they have had the worst hit in terms of lose of lives and property to the perceived terrorism.

Already, the call by the leader of the Movement for Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, for urgent return of sons and daughters of Ndigbo living in the Northern part of Nigeria seems to be yielding result, as a group, which called itself  Igboville, a socio-cultural organisation with its headquarters in Lagos began the evacuation of Igbo residing in the North.

Creeks and South East, on Thursday, at 9th Mile Corner, near Enugu, the Enugu State capital, had a chat with some of the Igbo returnees, who gave an account of their ordeals in the hands of the Boko Haram sect. They were among the first batch of over 150 returnees convened freely from Maiduguri the Borno State capital by the Igboville group.The initial evacuation involved two buses with about 150 Igbo men, women and children who left Maiduguri on Wednesday morning and arrived the East early on Thursday morning. Another bus is expected to arrive with stranded Igbo in the North.

In his goodwill message delivered through a member of Igboville, Nelo Fina, the group’s founder, Mr Emeka Maduewesi, implored the returnees to quickly resettle in the East, while the government sorts out the security situation.

The Igboville evacuation anchor, Dr Chin Akano, praised his members for living up to the group’s slogan of Onye Aghana Nwanneya. He promised that many more evacuation would be undertaken to ensure that every Igbo that is willing to leave is enabled to leave.     The president of Oganiru Ndigbo Foundation, Dr Lucas Onuh, urged Ndigbo to think home in terms of investment and take measures to relocate the headquarters of Igbo-owned business to the South East.

Dr Onuh also urged governors in the region to assist the evacuees resettle in the South East as well as authorise public schools to automatically re-absorb their children. Dr Onuh, who is a renowned architect, urged the government to crash the cost of acquisition of stalls in the East as well as build more markets to accommodate those relocating from flash points in the North.   The evacuees were full of praises to Igboville and described the assistance as not only timely, but an excellent show of love and concern for their plight in the North.

They called on the Federal Government to compensate them for human and material losses, occasioned by the  religious extremists.      Many of them narrated how they relocated to the bush for days until they received news of the free buses arranged by Igboville. They also spoke of the continued bombings and killings in Maiduguri and its environs.    The spokesman of Igboville group, Mazi Ilo Alvan Chinagorum, said that the returnees’ actions were in order, stressing that Igbo are not cowards and they do not want to waist their blood again.

Chinagorom called on politicians and well-meaning Nigerians to assist in removing Igbo men and women from harms way, reaffirming the group’s commitment to one Nigeria founded on equity, justice and good conscience. He reiterated that the government must do more to secure the lives and properties of Ndigbo and Nigerians in general.
”Igbos are committed to the unity of Nigeria, but we do not want to be used by those who do not want the corporate existence of the country.

We subscribe to MASSOB leader’s call that Ndigbo should leave the North and come back home. They can go back when the situation will be calm,” he added.

“As a matter of fact, the expectation of many people, particularly in the East, is that our governors should assist these people by providing them with free transport and rehabilitating them in the east. You know that Ndigbo are not like other tribes who beg for survival. Soon, these people will melt away as their relations would absorb them with the spirit of “Onye Aghana Nwanne Ya,” meaning “We should be our brothers’ keeper.”

He maintained that agony of the Igbo returnees would not attract the attention of the international of communities because an Igbo returnee would not like to see himself settled in a camp like a refugee. “The spirit of begging is not in an Igbo man’s character, but the truth is that many of them are passing through a very difficult time in their lives due to the problem caused by Boko Haram.

On the philosophy of Igboville, Chinagorum explained that the Igbo group is focused on all aspects of Igbo life including the move to ensure a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2015, adding that it is a socio-cultural network made up of over 500 Igbo professionals in Nigeria and in the diaspora.

Mr. Okechukwu said that he had to return with his family because the situation in the North was becoming unbearable, yet the state governors in the East were not responding to their plight.

According to Okechukwu, who hails from Ogidi in Anambra State, “I had no option than to take advantage of the free transport provided by the Igbovilleve Organisation to return to my village.

Asked why many people, who are of Southeast origin are still living in the North despite the repeated threats by the Boko Haram that they should quit the area, the young man who had lived in Maiduguri for over 10 years as a trader, said that the reason could be that they do not want to leave their huge investments in the North.

“I know it would be difficult for me and my family to stay at home. I do not think we can make the same money we were making in the North, but I place my hope in God to save me and my family. Life comes first and that is why I have returned home,” he further said.

Madam Nkechi, who is another respondent among the returnees, said that she was at a crossroads over how her children would go to school, lamenting that their return meant that they have to start all over again which include thinking of what to do for a living and training of their children.

However, if the words of the Southeast governors are anything to go by, all hope is not lost for peace to reign in the North, as they had promised to liaise with their colleagues from other states with a view to stemming the growing social insecurity in the country, afterall, Boko Haram has become an ill-wind that blows no man any good.