Rights Group, InterSociety Accuses Southeast Governors Of Issuing C-of-O To Suspected Fulani Jihadists

Posted by Ignatius Okpara Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Wednesday, June 4th, 2025

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Foremost human rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), has again raised concern over the criminal activities of suspected armed Fulani herdsmen in South East Nigeria, and the alleged “conspiratorial role of the five governors of the zone in ceding communal land and issuance of Certificates-Of-Occupancy to them for settlement in the region.

It therefore, frowned on what it described as the governor’s act of “religious radicalism, land Procurement, communal Land Ceding and Secretive Issuance Of Certificates-Of-Occupancy to Jihadists Fulani in the zone.

The group further accused the governors who are all Christians of engaging in the act because of “alleged, or strongly suspected “Electoral victory and post Election court win” positing that the Jihadist Fulani settlements in Igbo land and swap deal is highly unacceptable to the people.

It noted that a recent detailed research and investigation “by Intersociety, has shown that there are likely to be not less than 950 locations in 770-800 of the existing 1,940 Igbo Trado-Judeo-Christian Communities across South-East of Nigeria that are presently under occupation or threats of attack by armed Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and allied others.

“The 950 locations in 770-800 South-East Communities also indicates that approximately 40% of the entire 1,940 Communities in the South-East are gravely facing dangers of jihadist occupation or under threats of the same”

The group however, applauded what it termed “courage and outspokenness of community leaders and people of Okahia in Obingwa, Abia State and Umuapu-Ohaji and Obitti-Ohaji in Ohaji/Egbema, Imo State over the development.

This was contained in a detailed research and investigation report by Intersociety), which was made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Enugu.

The advocacy group with a track record in promotion of freedom of religion or worship and respect and preservation of ethnic identity, among other civil liberties, said “these research and investigative discoveries of ours also exposed “three-way direct or vicarious involvement” of the Five South-East Christian Governors.

Among them, are four Catholic-Governors of Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi and Imo (potential recipients of Papal Knighthood) and a Seventh Day Adventist-Governor of Abia State.

“Their “three-way” involvement was found by our investigative findings to have arisen from conspiratorial communal land procurement or seizing/ceding and secretive issuance of Certificates-Of-Occupancy to the Jihadists Patrons.

“It is also our investigative finding and information that the Abia Governor, previously removed from our list of South-East Govs promoting religious violence and attacks on Christians and traditional religionists in our 35-Page report of April 3, 2025, has been restored to the list.

According to the group, the restoration of his name on the lists followed fresh discoveries that detected direct or vicarious involvement of his Government in facilitation of Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and allied others jihadist settlements in the South-East or any part thereof including Abia State.

” Particularly by way of bureaucratic and policy legitimization of such jihadist settlements despite inherent security and safety dangers involved”

“Totality of the above is widely believed to have explained why the Five South-East Christian Govs. have not only refused to speak out or rise in strong condemnation of the genocidal jihadist activities of the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and allied others in Igbo Land-Southeast, but have also bluntly refused and failed to act or take action as Chief Security Officers of their respective States.

“The Five South-East Christian Governors are also found not to be alone in such conspiracy of silence, complicity and inaction as top leaders of Christian Faith especially Episcopal and Pastoral heads of the Catholic, the Anglican and the Pentecostal churches have joined them by being too attached to the Govs; forcing them to lose their assertiveness, independent voicing and Episcopal neutrality.

“To the extent that some of them are facilitated by gubernatorial or political establishments to publicly speak or engage in false denials, misinformation or misrepresentation of facts whenever such jihadist herders attacks erupt in communities or dioceses where they are episcopally In charge.

It cited example with the “recent Herdsmen attacks in Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo, Enugu State). This is even when their Episcopal houses are on fire” warning against inherent grave dangers ahead which must as a matter of urgency must be averted before it is too late.

“It is not as if the five South-East Christian Governors are not aware of grave dangers inherent in leasing and mortgaging the territorial, personal, collective, faith, ethnic and infrastructural security and safety of the South-East.

The report was jointly signed by InterSociety Board Chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi , Criminologist, Lead-Researcher, Barr. Chinwe Umeche, who is the head, Democracy and Good Governance, and Barr. Obianuju Joy Igboeli, a human Rights Lawyer/Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

Other top Staff of the organization who appended their signatures on the document includes, Chief Anayo Leonard Okoli, a Media Practitioner/Member of the Board, amongst others.

“They are fully aware and not blind to the goings-on in places like Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, etc” the group stated.

“That is to say that the five South-East Christian Govs are most likely to be aware that the greatest threat facing provision of physical security in the South-East is the gross partisanship and discriminatory law enforcements and operations by the country’s security agencies drafted to the Region since August 2015. Particularly personnel of the Armed Forces.

“The above is to the extent that in the South-East where they hold sway as Govs, not less than 20,500-21,000 defenseless “sedentary South easterners have been killed or hacked to death by combined forces of Islamic Jihadists and Jihad-enablers within the country’s security forces, covering a period of ten years or May 2015 to May 2025”.

“The partisanship and discriminatory law enforcements and operations of the drafted security forces are so noticeable and manifestly biased that there are little or zero operational statistics showing the number of Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and allied others gone after or apprehended and prosecuted or “neutralized”.

” In the line of crossfire since August 2015. Roadway and captivity killings or abductions and allied ransom payments and disappearances in the South-East have been critically studied by the Intersociety and estimated 40% traced to the doorsteps of the assembled Jihadists in the Region.

“Yet such have never been traced or located in the official operational records of the deployed personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces and Police Crack Squads anywhere in the Region; who regularly turn around and blame them on “IPOB/ESN/UGM terrorism”.

“There are therefore grave dangers ahead on personal, physical, territorial, faith and ethnic identity safety and security in the South-East; bearing in mind the intractable jihadist tragedies befalling the Christian-held Northern Nigeria’s Benue, Plateau and Southern Kaduna.

“With a typical case in point being in Benue State (largest Christian State in Northern Nigeria) where Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen have ceaselessly continued wreaking havoc in many parts of defenseless Benue Christian communities.

“The most shocking of it was disclosure by the Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests Association in Makurdi Diocese, led by Rev. Father Joseph Beba.

The priest had “in a press briefing on Sunday, June 1, 2025, disclosed that “15 Catholic Parishes under Makurdi Diocese have been closed down or sacked and over 50 Christians hacked to death by armed herders in the past two weeks (of May 2025), in addition to sacking of several communities including Tse Orbiam, Abume, Jimba, Nagi-Camp, Aondoana, Yelewata, and Abegana”.