Security Lapses and the IPOB Sit-at-Home Order in the Southeast NIGERIA: A Critical Appraisal

IPOB’s incessant restriction of movement in Igbo land has no doubt put fear on the security agencies such as the Police, Civil Defense, Army, etc as well as the citizens of the Southeast who are presently afraid of pursuing legitimate handiwork due to the inability of the security agencies to provide any form of security for lives of any citizen who dares to pursue legitimate work or adventure. On sit-at-home days, the roads and highways are deserted by the security agencies that should ordinarily be seen to be emboldening and fulfilling their statutory responsibility, which is to provide security on sit-at-home days with a view to encouraging citizens to go about their normal businesses. These security lapses have bolstered the members of IPOB as well as other men of the underworld to flourish and threaten all legitimate efforts for both collective and personal survival. The persistent order which has gone from a Monday’s sit-at-home order to, presently, weeks of sitting at home order, have not only affected the economy of the region and by extension the nation negatively, it has also dampened the morale and determination of both old and young people of the Igbo extraction from attempting to pursue legitimate livelihood so long as the order is in place. Legitimate meetings of government and private sector driven businesses and organizations, schools and missionary programs are all called off, abandoned or canceled for the purpose of adhering strictly to the sit-at-home order since security agencies will not dare provide any security. This study posited that there is a deliberate security lapse on the part of government security agencies and the negative effect of this action is that it has emboldened and made the sit-at-home order unmitigated. The paper adopted insights from both primary sources and secondary reports whilst relying on qualitative content analysis to achieve the objectives of this study. The findings revealed that there is a premeditated lapse on government security in the region as we cannot find any cogent reason why agencies with arms and munitions to counter illegitimate operations are scared to come out and contend with negative forces militating against the social economic development of the entire Igboland.