‘Igbo leaders’ threaten war, after President Buhari’s Arise TV interview
*Publicly back Nnamdi Kanu’s criminalities against Nigeria
By KEMI KASUMU
An Igbo group parading itself as Ohanaeze Ndigbo has told President Muhammadu Buhari to choose between dialogue with terrorist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), whose members have been behind insecurity in South East, killing Army officers and personnel (by ambush), other security officers, members of other regions and setting police stations on fire in the South East, or face the Igbo race in war.
According to several media reports, the illegal organisation, on Thursday, chided the President, saying that he has a choice between dialogue or an avoidable war against the Igbo.
It justified the agitation for Biafra by Igbo youths through various pro-Biafra groups, adding that Buhari’s “nepotistic” and “sectional” government re-enforced separatist agitation in the South East.
Although, against its claims, agitations for Biafra are said to be as old as preparation for Nigerian Independence being that, according to findings, inability of the race to be handed Nigeria’s control by British “main reason they did the first ever military coup, took power by deceit, turned Nigeria’s Federal Constitution to Unitary Constitution and took arms against the country using some young Army officers and now, as it appears, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN),” it was gathered.
President Buhari had, while responding to questions from team of journalists of Arise TV on violent agitation for Biafra by IPOB, said that tougher times await them.
Each time the President has spoken about what he is doing to stop insecurity in North and South, only in the South East it appears that the entire region is solidly behind the killings, the positions of CAN, Igbo professionals and now the leaders come as proofs.
In the statement titled, “Buhari: A choice between dialogue and war”, signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, the pro-IPOB Igbo group said that President Buhari since inception of his regime has not hidden his disdain for the Igbo that failed to vote for him in 2015. This is despite that some Igbo have publicly confessed that President Buhari has been the fairest Nigerian leader they have witnessed.
They admitted this as, despite insults and humiliation in many ways of the much derided and envied Northerner in power, records showed that he gave the Igbo fair sharing of leadership positions and development by his administration, noting that although their own son, Goodluck Azikiwe Ebele Jonathan made his government an all-Igbo affair in term of his appointments, it did not translate to development as South East region was virtually cut off from the rest of the country due to lack of development.
The statement partly read: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo has followed with deep concern the security sequence targeted at the Igbo: the deliberate posting of Northern Military and Police Officers at the various strategic locations in the South East.
“The Special National Security Council Meeting, where major decisions were taken for the South East and the South South to the utter exclusion of security personnel from the South East of Nigeria.
“The ominous Launching of the Operation Restore Peace in the South East and South South.
“The Shoot on Sight Order by the Inspector General of Police targeted at the Igbo Youths,
“And the “Shock Tweet where Mr. President stated that “those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”
It said: “Today, June 10, 2021, Mr. President stated on Arise TV that “Tough Times await the South East”. He reiterated: “In any case, we said we will talk to them in the language they will understand. We will organise the police and the army to pursue them, that’s what we can do and we will do it.”
The purported Ohanaeze added, “for clarity, there has been a sustained agitation for secession by the Igbo youths, especially the IPOB, the Indigenous People of Biafra, led by Mr. Nnamdi Kanu. The agitation by IPOB became heightened by the obvious exclusion of the Igbo in the President Buhari’s government and Mr. President has not in any way hidden his disdain for the groups that failed to vote for him en-masse in 2015 and 2019 general elections.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo has cautioned that the unprecedented lopsidedness of the Nigerian government in favour of the Fulani, to the exclusion of other ethnic groups, especially in the security architecture, will rather exacerbate the internal security challenges in the country. History shows that leaders who espoused ethnocentric ideology, especially in Africa had often created more problems than they intended to solve.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo believes that the agitation by the Igbo youth over marginalization is justified. In spite of the orchestrated alienation of the Igbo, we are committed to a diplomatic approach towards a restructured Nigeria that guarantees equity, fairness and rule of law.
“With the present level of violence in Nigeria; armed robbery, banditry, kidnappings, unknown gunmen, herdsmen menace, Boko Haram, mass poverty, unemployment, downward spiral of Nigerian currency and other untoward signals, Nigeria has arrived at a critical juncture. Both history and literature show that the decision taken by a leader at a critical juncture has a lasting effect for the society.
“President Buhari has a choice between Dialogue on one hand and an avoidable War against the Igbo on the other. Again, history shows that our thoughts are very infinitesimal to the immutable Law of the Universe.”
