Across Nigeria's Southeast, the growing presence of armed security forces, rising separatist tensions, and decades-old feelings of polit...
Across Nigeria's Southeast, the growing presence of armed security forces, rising separatist tensions, and decades-old feelings of political and economic neglect have merged into a dangerous cocktail. What's unfolding is more than a regional crisis — it is a slow erosion of democratic norms: shrinking civil liberties, weakened rule of law, and a frightened population caught between the state and non-state actors. Unless addressed through justice, dialogue, and development, this tension threatens the stability of Nigeria's democracy itself.
On a humid Monday morning in Imo State, the streets that once buzzed with traders and bus conductors are now eerily quiet. Shops remain shut, commuters stay home, and soldiers patrol junctions that used to be filled with schoolchildren. For many residents, this has become normal — a region squeezed by militarization on one side. It is a story of people living in fear and of a democracy strained to the breaking point.
The feelings of abandonment in the Southeast did not spring up yesterday. They stretch back to the scars of the civil war, resurfacing through decades of political exclusion, stalled federal projects, and weak investment in critical infrastructure. To many locals, development seems uneven, representation feels insufficient, and federal decisions often appear distant and dismissive.
"We do not feel part of the decision-making process in this country," a community leader in Abia told this reporter. "The gap is widening — not shrinking." Such sentiments have become fertile ground for agitation, mistrust, and, unfortunately, extremism.
Militarization Becomes the First Answer.
In the last few years, security checkpoints, raids, and military operations have multiplied across the region. What began as targeted interventions has morphed into sustained deployments of soldiers in markets, armoured vehicles in local streets, and special forces conducting sweeping arrests that often bypass civil policing structures.
Human-rights monitors have long warned that these operations, though framed as counter-insurgency or anti-banditry measures, sometimes blur the line between law enforcement and intimidation.
Residents speak of:
• Night raids
• Arbitrary arrests
• Disappearing youths
• Forgotten court cases
To the average citizen, the distinction between protection and oppression is growing harder to see.
The "sit-at-home" order was invented as a civic protest against the Nigerian state's lawlessness. However, it has crippled local economies. Traders lose income and students miss school. "We are frightened of both sides," says a woman in Enugu who has closed her shop three days a week for months. "Who is protecting us — and from whom?" Caught in the crossfire, ordinary people pay the highest price.
What's happening in the Southeast isn't just a regional challenge, it's a democratic emergency unfolding in slow motion. When state forces operate without transparency, and non-state groups enforce orders as a means of Protest, the legal system becomes irrelevant to ordinary people.
Civil society is fading away in Nigeria. Freedom of movement, speech, assembly, and press, the bedrock of a democratic society, is increasingly compromised. The Economic Life is not left out; it is Suffocating. A weakened economy means fewer thriving businesses, fewer empowered citizens, and fewer voices able to participate in political processes.
Security Is Becoming Politicized.
When policing appears to serve political interests rather than justice, democracy loses its moral legitimacy.
Behind the statistics are real families:
• A father in Anambra who hasn't seen his detained son in nine months.
• A widow in Ebonyi who lost her only source of income after shutting her store due to sit-at-home violence.
• In Markets where soldiers now outnumber customers.
• Schools are struggling to complete a single week without disruption.
These are not isolated experiences. They are the daily reality of thousands.
What is the Way Forward Before the Cracks Become Irreversible?
Experts agree that brute force alone cannot solve the problem. A sustainable solution requires a three-pronged approach:
First, there must be Justice and Accountability.
Reform security operations, restore civilian-led policing, and conduct transparent investigations into alleged abuses by the Masses.
There must be Dialogue and Inclusion.
The government must open genuine channels for political dialogue among government, community leaders, youth groups, and civil society. Not shambolic meetings, it must be genuine engagement.
There must be Development and Opportunities.
Address the roots of frustration by investing in roads, industries, electricity, health systems, and job creation targeted at southeastern communities.
In Conclusion, the Southeast is not merely facing a security challenge. It is confronting a democratic reckoning. Where fear governs the streets, democracy slowly dies. Where voices are silenced, extremism grows. Where development stalls, unrest thrives. Choose dialogue, justice, and inclusion or risk watching an entire region slip further from the democratic promise.
The choice is urgent.
Organize a Referendum and allow the people the constitutional right to determine where they wish to exist as a nation. The people of the southeast region of Nigeria have lost over 6 million people since 1967, and to date, the region is still bleeding. There can never be genuine Peace without Justice served
Written By
Mazi Onyia
Edited by
OGN
For: Enugu State Media Team
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