The people of South-East are worried – that the geo-political zone, which was the epicenter of destruction and massive killings during the civil war – will be at risk with the transfer of Boko Haram detainees to Ekwulobia Prison in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. That worry may not be much ado about nothing.

The people of Ekwulobia, or Ndi Anambra, have reasons to feel insecure as this highly sensitive terrorist – prisoners transfer deal was made arbitrarily. When the news filtered out, it was difficult to believe at first, details later surfaced.

The transfer deal was said to have been sealed far back in 2012 under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, who became a close ally of the Jonathan presidency.

Implementation of the deal had to wait till the 2015 general elections not to harm the electoral chances which the PDP eventually swept in the South-East except Imo. The job of implementation was done under Governor Willie Obiano who was never part of the transaction, with President Muhammadu Buhari in the saddle at the federal level, which has authority over prisons.

Meanwhile, the leadership of pan-Igbo socio-political and cultural body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has kicked against the transfer, saying it was not acceptable to the Igbo people.

Chairman of Anambra State Ohaneze Ndigbo, Elder Chris Eluemuno, reacted furiously, saying:
“Successive federal administration of Nigeria have always taken the Igbo for granted; nobody should push the Igbo to the wall to incur their wrath; the Federal Government should remove the suspects from Anambra State”. Several protests against the transfer had been carried our peacefully.

In a radio programme, the Senior Special Adviser on Media to Obiano, Mr. James Eze, said the transfer of the Boko Haram detainees to Ekwulobia posed concerns as insurgency was becoming a cancerous growth that has blighted Nigeria.

According to him, not the same attention was being given to the South-East in terms of infrastructural development, even as the region has high rate of crime, kidnapping, armed robbery in the last one year.

“Transfer of the detainees poses a threat to peace and economic growth, foreign investment in multi-million US dollar participation and the development of human capital in Nigeria”, Eze stated.

“ For most successful businessmen who were willing to come home back to the state to invest, it is no longer the fear of armed robbery or kidnapping, now it is the fear of terrorism, which strikes terror in the minds of the people.”

Experts say there are global standards in dealing with terrorism. Terror suspects in the US, for example, are kept away from the rest of the people. Ekwulobia is the fourth largest town in Anambra, unsuitable for terror detainees.

For the U.S., there is Guantanamo Bay in Cuba where terror suspects are kept. There are special facilities, with special programmes. Terror suspects ought not to be moved to where they will elicit fear and constitute threat to peace. Government should look elsewhere to move them.

A public affairs analyst, Mr. Fidel Edeh, spoke on the transfer of the Boko Haram detainees, saying: “Our over 54 years of nationhood has showed our divisiveness rather than unity, throwing up politics and sentiments”.

While acknowledging that prison is on the exclusive list, he said the prison was congested already, as Ekwulobia was meant for 85 inmates, but now has 135, and not for high profile criminals, or detention of deadly terrorists. He decried a situation in which many prisons are now located in towns.

“Tension generated among the people such as this won’t end over night. The Federal Government has the right to transfer prisoners, but Ekwulobia prison is not a high maximum security prison to keep dangerous terrorists. It cannot handle jail break incidents, which could compound terrorism. Facilities be developed for prisons that can handle jail breaks.

Other respondents in the radio programme acknowledged the authority of the Federal Government to transfer prisoners to any prison within the country, but suggested the building of special facilities like the Ita Oko Centre for the detention of terrorists. Special, maximum security facilities should be built.