An emergency meeting of major stakeholders from the South-east geopolitical zone including the five governors, ministers, members of the National Assembly, traditional rulers, religious leaders as well as leaders of the apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has been scheduled to take place in Enugu next Sunday with the sole objective of looking into the activities of pro-Biafra protesters which had recently grounded business activities in the zone.
Briefing journalists shortly after a closed door meeting of the governors of the states in the South-East, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State said the governors were concerned over the security threat posed by the increased mass protest by pro-Biafra groups led by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and other affiliated groups in the zone.
Okorocha who addressed journalists in company of Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Dr. Nkem Okeke, Deputy Governor of Anambra State, said the stakeholders’ meeting in Enugu next Sunday has become imperative in view of recent developments in the zone. Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State neither attended nor sent a representative to the meeting.
He noted that they resolved in their meeting to consult widely with the Ohanaeze leadership, traditional rulers, development unions, clergy, and other stakeholders on how to ensure lasting peace in the zone, while advising MASSOB and IPOB members to continue to tow the path of peace as that remained the only way to ensure economic development in the zone.
The governors also resolved to appoint a high level Economic Advisory Committee to harness the economic potentials of the people of the zone.
They also expressed concern about the poor state of the federal roads in the zone especially the Enugu-Onitsha, Aba-Ikot-Ekpene, Owerri-Port Harcourt and Enugu-Port Harcourt roads, among others, and stressed the need for the federal government’s urgent attention on the roads.
