In order to supplement efforts to resolve separatist agitations in the geopolitical zone, the Federal Government has been encouraged by civil society organisations and other important players in the South-East to prioritise a non-kinetic strategy.

The request was made at a one-day discussion in Enugu with the theme “Building trust and enhancing civil-military relations in Nigeria’s Southeast geopolitical zone.”

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) Security, Violence, and Conflict Research Group (SVCRG) collaborated to organise the discussion.

In order to build on recent successes in re-establishing peace and security in the Southeast, attendees also demanded that the Federal Government free Nnamdi Kanu from custody.

Professor Freedom Onuoha, the SVCRG Coordinator, said that the group’s study on the underlying reasons of insecurity and separatist agitations in the area served as the basis for the call for Kanu’s release.

“SVCRG carried out research on combating violent separatism and criminality in the Southeast,” he stated. We discovered that implementing non-combative strategies, such as Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s release, will promote regional peace and security.

Because some residents believe Kanu’s ongoing arrest is unfair, the separatist agitation is being maintained.

The federal government must address the issues brought up by these residents in order to bring about enduring peace.

The Federal Government has attempted military interventions for years, but they have not been successful in putting out the fires of violent separatism, Onuoha continued.

“We suggest having a critical and strategic conversation with agitators, which should involve making concessions and releasing Nnamdi Kanu.”

He also exhorted the governors of the South-East to actively work with the federal government to find a political solution that would guarantee Kanu’s release and stop the region’s instability from getting worse.

In a similar vein, Professor Chris Kwaja, the Country Director of USIP, advocated for strategic communication between agitators and the military in order to strengthen civil-military ties in the Southeast.

Kwaja also asked Southeast governors to respect the people’s demands by actively engaging the Federal Government to embrace political solutions to the region’s issue, as represented by Terfa Hemen, a USIP Program Officer.

Professor Chukwuemeka Nwanegbo, the director of the Institute for Peace, Security, and Development Studies at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, blamed the increase in separatist agitations on Southeast governance shortcomings in his presentation.

Nwanegbo said that the agitations became a violent movement as a result of the Federal Government’s dependence on military solutions.

He emphasised that in order to ensure long-term stability in the area, the administration need to have included the independence fighters in the peacebuilding process.