Group tasks Buhari, Uzodimma on unemployment

A group, Igbo National Council, has called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, to declare a state of emergency on unemployment following the Friday night explosion at an illegal refinery site at a forest in Abaezi community in the Ohaji Egbema Local Government Area of the state, which claimed no fewer than 100 lives.

The group also flayed Buhari and Uzodimma for not visiting the scene 72 hours after the tragedy occurred.

A statement, which was issued by the group’s President, Chilos Godsent, also called on the youths of the area to stop getting involved in illicit businesses.

They also demanded a compensation for owners of farmlands that were destroyed during the explosion.

The statement read, “The Igbo National Council condemns in its totality the ugly incident that occurred at Abaezi in the Ohaji Egbema Local Government Area on the night of Friday 22nd April 2022, where over 100 Igbo youths were burnt and roosted like goats in a forest at the site of illegal refinery activities.

“The INC is very shocked that 72 hours after the ugly incident, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, and President Muhammadu Buhari have not physically visited the deadly site to condole with the Abaezi people, Ohaji Egbema people, Imo people, the Igbo Nation, and Nigeria for this irreplaceable generational loss.

“Consequent upon the above, the Igbo National Council, therefore, calls on the Imo State Governor and President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately visit the site and also declare a State of Emergency on Youth Employment in the South-East and South-South geopolitical regions in order to forestall the reoccurrence of this satanic incident.

“The INC demands the immediate arrest and prosecution of the owners of the site inclusive of all the security agents that were protecting and aiding the operation of such illegal refinery site.

“The INC requests the Executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, to immediately visit the site within 48 hours of this release in order for him to have a first hand on-the-spot report of the sufferings of the unemployed Igbo Youths.

“In addition, the INC requests the Imo State Government and Federal Government of Nigeria to carry out census of the families that lost their wards and children, including those whose farmlands were damaged, and pay them adequate compensations without delay.

“Finally, we call on the Youths of the Ohaji Egbema Local Government Area to immediately disengage from illegal mining of petroleum resources in the oil-rich communities as the INC cannot afford to see a repeat of this ugly incident in Igbo Nation.”