The vice-president of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, has promised that the President Bola Tinubu administration is determined to end the reign of terror in the South-East.
Shettima claimed that the insecurity is fueled by those he called “self-serving criminals” taking advantage of the security situation to foster their political agenda.
He was speaking in Bende, Abia State when he unveiled the Peace in South-East Project by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu.
“The problem we are here to solve as a community, as a Umunna, is a creation of self-serving criminals who do not represent the interests of the Ndi-Igbo and Nigerians,” Shettima said.
His comments came over three weeks after he advocated the adoption of non-kinetic mechanisms to tackle insecurity in the South-East.
Shettima who received a delegation led by the Deputy Speaker at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on December 5, said, “The approach is the most beautiful I have seen so far. We need to build bridges, there is a need for a handshake, that way, those that have not been radicalised can be captured.” Kalu’s delegation were at the State House to seek the VP’s buy-in on the PISE-P.
Since 2012, insecurity in Nigeria’s South East, where the Indigenous People of Biafra is most active, has become increasingly complex and multifaceted as the region continues to see a rise in unrest and conflict in recent years.
The increased unrest is partly attributed to the activities of IPOB and its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network, which, proponents say, was established to combat criminality and protect the local population from perceived threats.
