By Emeka Idika Kalu
PORT-HARCOURT: The South-East region of Nigeria, a commercial nerve centre and thriving economic hub, became synonymous with insecurity, driving waves of Nigerians from the region to relocate and seek refuge abroad.
This is besides the current economic hardship in the country, which is perceived as the primary cause of the high influx of Nigerians migrating abroad to escape the economic misery (The Japa syndrome).
Between 2019 and 2025, non-state actors held sway in the region, brazenly perpetrating kidnappings, armed robberies, assassinations, ritual killings, and other violent crimes, claiming countless lives and crippling local, state, and regional economy.
The agitation by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) created more tension in the region and exacerbated the situation, with the emergence of its militia arm, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), accused by both State and Federal Governments of unleashing terror on innocent civilians and security checkpoints in the region.
The region particularly witnessed a surge in kidnappings and assassinations, including attacks on prominent citizens in the period under review.
Anambra State, in particular, was plagued by the violent crime with over 14 reported cases of political assassinations between 2022 and 2024.
The attacks became increasingly brazen, with the convoy of the late Senator Ifeanyi Uba coming under heavy attack in 2022, resulting in the deaths of some of his aides and orderlies. Additionally, the political rally of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo was attacked at Isuofia community in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra in 2021, before his first tenure as Governor of Anambra State, where three police officers were killed.
In November 2025, an attack on former Governor of Anambra State and immediate past Minister of Labour and Productivity Dr. Chris Ngige’s convoy by unknown gunmen left one person dead and several others injured.
In 2021, the region was shocked by the cold-blooded murder of Ahmed Gulak, a former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Affairs, who was assassinated on the roadways of Imo State by unknown assailants.
A strong shockwave was felt across Imo State on January 20, 2023, when the Sole Administrator of Ideato North Local Government Area, Chris Ohizu was attacked by unknown gunmen in his country home in Arondizuogu axis of the State. He was kidnapped with two others, and his house was set ablaze.
Two days later, the gunmen gruesomely murdered and beheaded the Local Government Chairman after receiving a six-million-naira ransom for his release. The incident sparked outrage across Imo State when the gunmen released videos showing how they beheaded him with his hands tied while kneeling down.
In March 2025, the Azumini axis of Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway in Abia State was the scene of another brutal attack, when heavily armed gunmen ambushed the convoy of Chief Obasi Lawson, the Founder/CEO of Sobaz Oil and Gas, a prominent player in Nigeria’s downstream/midstream oil and gas sector.
Chief Lawson was abducted, while two of his aides were not lucky as they were killed in cold blood in the incident. This attack sent shockwaves through the business community, highlighting the region’s vulnerability to violent crime.
The insecurity which forced notable Nigerians from the South-East and beyond to relocate abroad includes Mr. Kessington Okorie, a Port Harcourt-based oil and gas worker who fled abroad with his family in 2022 after surviving a kidnap incident with his wife in June 2022 and series of other attacks and kidnap attempts within that period.
Mr. Kessington was kidnapped along with his wife in Imo State on June 3, 2022, and freed two days later after paying huge sum as ransom to the kidnappers to secure their release. The ordeal left his wife hospitalized for days due to the trauma she suffered from the harrowing experience.
This incident, among others, came barely two years after Mr. Kessington narrowly escaped abduction in August 2020 in Port Harcourt as gun-wielding kidnappers trailed him from Elelenwo to JDP roundabout off Peter Odili Road, Port Harcourt. He evaded their capture by driving into a military checkpoint at the gate of an oil servicing company in the area, forcing the gunmen to retreat.
These back-to-back horrific and traumatic incidents compelled Mr. Kessington to relocate abroad with his family in 2022, seeking safety until Nigeria’s security landscape improves especially in the South-East and South-South regions.
Several female kidnap victims who were defiled by their abductors while in captivity choose to maintain a culture of silence after regaining their freedom, to avoid stigma. This culture of silence perpetuates trauma and hinders justice. Victims often face societal judgment, shame, and rejection, making disclosure daunting.
Besides the cases of crime highlighted in this report, there are preponderance of such unreported cases witnessed during the heightened insecurity in Nigeria’s South-East region.
Apart from the economic hardship facing the country, the exodus of Nigerians abroad due to insecurity is not abating, as investors and citizens flee the country’s crippling insecurity and economic misery.
The economic implications are dire, with the contributions of the South-East region to the wealth of Nigeria hanging in the balance.
A resident of the region lamented that, “It is heartbreaking to see our region, once a beacon of prosperity, reduced to a hotspot of insecurity such as kidnapping and other violent crimes, worsened by the multi-faceted economic crisis plaguing the country.”
For another resident “the insecurity got too much that a family member of my friend was kidnapped, and it was a nightmare. We were considering moving abroad, like many others. It’s sad to leave our home, but safety comes first.”
The Nigerian government must act decisively to stem the tide of insecurity and restore stability in the South-East. Until then, the exodus of Nigerians seeking safer shores abroad will continue, draining the region of its talents and potentials (Brain Drain).
