A human rights lawyer and public affairs analyst, Barr. Carl Umegboro, has strongly condemned the approach of the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, in curtailing sit-at-home in the state.
The legal practitioner said that the governor’s actions on most issues “leave much to be desired, especially in Prof Soludo’s ranking in terms of educational qualifications and as a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria”.
Barr. Umegboro, however, particularised on his orders in Anambra state against the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) imposed sit-at-home across the South-East states.
He argued that Soludo’s approach to relax the sit-at-home “reflects everything negative: myopia, insensitivity, lack of pragmatism and empathy, drawing a blank, being stuck, and it has been counter-productive and always led to tragedy, claiming human lives”.
He cautioned that the lives of citizens and residents must be a topmost priority for the government in all its policies, stressing that “life is sacred and nobody has a spare life to bank on if the unexpected happens”.
Umegboro said: “It’s unimaginable for the governor to persistently push residents to compulsorily clock in at their duty posts and threaten traders to open shops to defy the sit-at-home on Mondays, when the same approach has resulted in many people being sent to their early graves during the previous anti-sit-at-home enforcement by the state government.
“And sadly, after the ugly outcomes, all the governor did after some people were gruesomely murdered, was to condemn the killings in the media, and move on. Where is the empathy?
“The governor should not be unmindful that human lives are precious and sacred; hence, such insensitivity is unacceptable.
“The primary purpose of government pursuant to Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, is the welfare and security of the people, that is, the protection of lives.
“Or does it mean the governor did not know that the majority of the people observing the sit-out-home on Mondays are not complying? He asked.
“Admitted, the sit-at-home on Mondays negatively affects the economy of the southeast states, however, a better and more realistic approach that will not put the lives of the people in danger should be considered.
“Ideally, the governor ought to be dynamic in finding a lasting solution rather than resorting to the commando-style approach against helpless residents and traders in the state”.
He challenged the governor to fortify the state with optimum security as he provided for himself and his family, which gave him the courage to come out on Mondays to know if the workers and traders would also not come out without fear.
He reiterated that the governor is bold and fearless to move freely and safely amid numerous derogatory, provocative, and reckless statements because of the overwhelming security around him with state funds, unlike the helpless people who are at their own mercy.
Proffering a solution to the quagmire, the legal analyst said “the simple, appropriate and pragmatic step the governor ought to have taken was to reinforce the security across the state optimally to protect the people to move freely on Mondays, and not to force them into the deadly roads at the detriment of their lives”.
