The recent blood-chilling massacre of Ebonyi State indigenes in Ogboji, Orumba South LGA of Anambra State has again exposed the dark underbelly of a nation drifting fast into chaos. It is not just a tragic incident—it is a signal fire screaming into the conscience of the Southeast, and indeed Nigeria, that all is not well. We are no longer dealing with isolated criminality. We are witnessing the unraveling of the social fabric, with mass killings becoming dangerously routine.
This is not a matter to be glossed over or swept aside with the usual empty political statements. It is a moment of reckoning, a wake-up call to every Igbo son and daughter, every responsible government, traditional ruler, religious leader, and community figure in the Southeast. It is time to act. Now.
Let the Ebonyi State Government take the lead in convening an emergency security and peace summit of all Southeast stakeholders. This must include the governors of the five Igbo states, traditional rulers, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Igbo World Assembly, and other cultural and solidarity groups across the region. The cost of organizing such a high-level dialogue is insignificant compared to the cost of inaction. Lives are at stake.
There is more to this than meets the eye. This looks like a deliberate attempt to ignite discord among the Igbo, to fracture unity and provoke retaliatory violence. We must be wise. Any act of revenge, no matter how emotionally justified, could spiral into widespread ethnic strife across Nigeria, where the same communities coexist in other regions. That would be catastrophic.
What happened in Anambra is not just an attack on Ebonyi people; it is an attack on the collective dignity of the Igbo nation. If we fail to see it for what it is, we risk becoming tools in the hands of enemies who thrive in our division. We must resist every temptation to turn on one another. The blood of our brothers must not become the seed of deeper hatred.
This tragedy is also a harsh reminder of Nigeria’s deepening rot. Insecurity has become a booming industry. Kidnappings, assassinations, and mass killings have become means of livelihood for criminals, many of whom operate with impunity under the nose of a distracted, sometimes complicit, state apparatus.
The economic collapse, skyrocketing cost of living, and social disintegration have only fueled the crisis. A hungry population is a ticking bomb. Ethnic profiling and political provocations are the sparks that ignite them.
The danger is not only in the killings. The real danger is in how accustomed we’ve become to them. How they no longer shock us. How outrage lasts barely a day. How justice is never pursued. How silence grows in place of action. This indifference must end.
The time to act is now. Let the Southeast rise with one voice. Let there be peace, not silence. Let there be dialogue, not denial. Let there be justice—not for revenge, but for healing.
Nigeria may be fast turning into a republic of guns, blood, and death—but the Igbo nation must not surrender to it. This is not just about Ebonyi. It is about all of us.
To God first. And to the conscience of Ndigbo—may we not fail this moment.
Lawrence Egede mourns with the families of the victims of the Ogboji killings and calls for an urgent, united response from the Southeast.
