… Says neglect part of reasons Igbo youths restive
Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
He limped into the Onitsha office of The Sun on that hot afternoon looking dejected and forlon. The 75-year -old, Lt. Lawrence Ebeigwe (retd) from Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State is a war veteran.
He joined the army in 1967 as a very young officer, but had sustained a fatal injury during the civil war.
In an emotion-laden voice, he said the war had shattered his life because of the injuries he sustained as he is now battling to treat himself and also cater for his other family needs.
“I needed Daily Sun to carry my story so that the Federal Government can hear my cry. I know that there are many others like me who have died; some are dying by installment while some others are living like vegetables all as a result of the devastations of the war.
“In countries where things work, we are supposed to be treated like heroes because we put our lives on the line for the country, but here, we are left to die in agony and anguish. Many people lost their lives during the war, but their families were not compensated in any way.
Those of us who sustained injuries are left to bear the pains and the cost of treatment alone is unbearable. This is unfair.”
While sending a Save our Soul appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari, Ebeigwe said he and his colleagues were dying of hunger.
He reminded Mr. President of the need to realise that as the father of the nation, it was his responsibility to ensure that there is happiness of the greatest number of citizens in the country.
Ebeigwe said that as a former military general too, President Buhari should ensure that no soldier, whether serving or retired or those who fought for the nation at any given time, was allowed to suffer.
He described soldiers, including those who fought on the side of Biafra, as great patriots who should be accorded lifetime support and respect.
He noted that successive governments have been playing politics with the issue of Biafra soldiers as no concrete efforts were made to settle them, disclosing that many of them have been reduced to beggars.
This, according to him, was one of the reasons there were so much restiveness among the South-eastern youths who were not happy seeing their fathers and uncles in their present state of abandonment and frustration.
“Government should not look far to get answers why there is so much tension in the land. The youths are restive because oppression and injustice have been so long in practice in the system. This entrenched injustice and marginalization have longterm consequences.
It is the ripple effects of such acts that we are suffering today. The South-East youths are fighting again for Biafra through IPOB and MASSOB.
“The youths of the Niger Delta are taking up arms struggle destroying petroleum pipelines and taking people hostage. When the spirit of the dead are not appeased and conditions of people like us who eat the bread of sorrow everyday gnashing our teeth are not rehabilitated, it contributes to the fire of agitation because our children see our condition and vow to do something,” he said.
He recalled that former President George Bush of United States ofAmerica at a time allegedly made available a whopping $45 billion to the Nigerian government for the purpose of settling the retired Biafran soldiers but the cash never got to the intended target.
“Many of us have been reduced to beggars and dependent on family and relations not because they are lazy but because they sustained fatal injuries during the civil war which will not allow them to function effectively again,” he said.
He said that President Buhari would write his name in gold and in the sands of time if he listens to the cry of the suffering and dying
Biafran soldiers many of whom are now in their 70s.
“I understand that the soldiers that fought during the civil war from other zones have been settled long time ago, it is only reasonable, fair and just if our case is looked into. The level of suffering we are subjected to because of our incapacitation is unimaginable,” he lamented.