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Tag: IPOB

  • We don’t see Kanu as a leader in South East – Presidency

    We don’t see Kanu as a leader in South East – Presidency

    The Presidency has said the government does not see Nnamdi Kanu, of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) as a leader of thought in the south-east region.

    Special Adviser to the President on Political matters, Babafemi Ojodu said this while explaining the reason Kanu was left out of the meeting Acting President Yemi Osinbajo held with leaders of the south-east.

    IPOB had described the meeting as a waste because its leader was not invited.

    But Ojodu said yesterday, “Well, the thing is that we were looking for leaders of the people, leaders of thought and we do not see Kanu as a leader of thought in the east. May be opportunity will come at one time or the other for him to be engaged.

    “But so far, what we have done is to look at people who have influence in the communities, whether it is religious, whether it is traditional, whether it is political, social or governance. These are the people we brought in for discussion.”

    He added that calls for secession and a referendum were not discussed in the meeting.

    “Nobody has tabled that in all the discussions we have had. Nobody, I can tell you. Ohanaeze came with a prepared document. They never talked about referendum. They never. They never even talked about secession,” he said.

    “They made complaints about police harassment at road blocks. They made complaints about losing some key positions, not being appointed into security positions and all those kinds of things.

    “And these are things that can easily be addressed. Nobody canvassed secession at those meetings, nobody canvassed referendum.”

    The presidential aide further noted that the south-east leaders were in agreement with the federal government that Nigeria should remain as one.

    “So, for us, and that was the conclusion that everybody came to in the consultations we have had that we should all agree that we can live together peacefully.

    “We should address injustice where we find it and the government should be equitable in the distribution of resources across the country snd then, find solution to youth unemployment and the frustration that is confronting most of the young people across this country.”

     

  • IPOB frowns at Osinbajo over meeting without Kanu

    IPOB frowns at Osinbajo over meeting without Kanu

    Indigenous People of Biafra on Thursday berated the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, for holding a South-East peace and conflict resolution meeting without involving its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

    In a statement in Awka, Anambra State, by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, on yesterday, IPOB said those who attended the meeting had no major stake in the conflict intended to be resolved.

    Osinbajo had on Wednesday held a meeting with leaders of thought from the South-East at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he warned those who had been engaging in hate speeches across ethnic lines in all parts of the country to always take into consideration that wars sometimes start with words and not necessarily with bullets.

    IPOB, in the statement, faulted Osinbajo’s meeting and described it as of no effect.

    It said “This meeting, we understood, was convened at the instigation of the Nigerian acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, following the political fallout from the hugely successful IPOB sit-at-home order of 30th of May, 2017.

    “From time, we firmly resolved that nobody among the governors or politicians can set an agenda for IPOB except our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

    “Therefore, any meeting without the consent of our leader or those nominated by him in a representative capacity, is a complete waste and is unacceptable to IPOB.

    “With one or two exceptions and with the greatest respect to the attendees at this Nigeria-sponsored gathering in Abuja, the so-called South-East delegation is in no way representative of the views of the leadership of IPOB worldwide, neither can they claim with any degree of sincerity to be speaking for the masses.

    “Therefore, all that Professor Osinbajo has succeeded in achieving with this meeting is to waste scarce resources that could have been channelled towards more useful purposes.

    “None of those that attended this meeting with Osinbajo gave the order for people to sit at home on May 30th. So, we are at a loss to understand the justification for their invitation to the meeting to discuss something they knew nothing about.”

  • Ndigbo, other Southerners should leave North – IPOB

    Ndigbo, other Southerners should leave North – IPOB

    The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Saturday backed the three-month quit noticed served on Igbo living in northern parts of the country by Areas youths.

    In a press statement made available to our correspondent in Awka by IPOB’s media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful, the group commended the northern youths and Arewa Elders forum for somewhat quickening the Biafra exit by their pronouncements.

    The group maintained that the quit notice had a human face unlike previously when the people perceived as Biafrans would be attacked without any notice or provocation.

    It said IPOB would prevail on Igbo living in the north to adhere to the quit notice.

    Their statement read in part, “The members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its leadership worldwide wish to sincerely thank the Arewa Elders Forum(AEF), Arewa Youths and Arewa Consultative Forum for seeing sense in what IPOB has been saying about the need for a referendum to be conducted in Nigeria to decide the fate of the component ethnic nationalities criminally lumped together by the British in 1914.

    “Biafrans in general also wish to thank these vocal Northerners for at least having the courtesy to issue advance warning this time before embarking on their routine massacre of Igbos and other Biafrans living in Northern Nigeria; unlike what their fathers did in 1966 when death, destruction and mayhem were unleashed upon unsuspecting innocent civilian populations from the South comprising of mostly Igbo men, women and children.

    “Igbo massacres in Northern Nigeria have occurred so many times that it has almost become some sort of an annual sporting activity for blood thirsty Northern youths. That is why we are particularly grateful to Arewa Youths and Elders for having the decency to give us prior notice before the slaughter commences.

    ” We promise to adhere to your warning to leave Northern Nigeria because a word is enough for the wise. Biafrans and other Southerners should start packing their properties to come down to the South.

    “We also advice the Northern youths and their Elders to keep it on because all they have done is to exercise their right to free speech which is not a crime under any law known to man.

    “We are therefore against those calling for the arrest of these Arewa Youths and their Elders.”

  • NBC says Biafra TV illegal, unable to shut down station

    NBC says Biafra TV illegal, unable to shut down station

    Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, director-general of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has said that a media station, Biafra Television, is transmitting illegally on Nigeria airwaves.

    The TV station is purportedly owned by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Kawu also said the Boko Haram insurgent group had commenced radio transmission via a station located between Nigerian and Cameroonian borders.

    He said that while security agencies have been able to stop the Boko Haram-owned station from transmission, Biafra Television is yet to be blocked.

    Kawu said this is as a result of the international transmission system with which the station is using.

    He warned against revolutionary transmission, saying such unlawful act could threaten the Nigeria’s unity.

    “Last week, I was in the office of the inspector-general of police and they had a TV screen and what was being broadcast was on Biafra Television; they were saying some of the most outlandish things, showing videos from the 1960 s and abusing everyone,” he said.

    “Now, this is happening and they were asking us (NBC) because our duty is to monitor and regulate such but the television is coming from outside of Nigeria.

    “Our engineers have been making contacts with the international satellite organisation that does broadcast to Africa about the fact that you cannot allow subversive broadcast into Nigeria from other parts of the world.

    “The Biafra Television in the south-east, we have been tracking the station. The broadcast is coming from outside Nigeria. We have been asking questions from international satellite test systems where they are coming from. That is how it is for now.

    “Last June, Boko Haram was starting a new radio station, I think on 91 .00 megahertz on the FM band from the border between Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon and so it was our duty to inform security organisations what was happening so they could take it up and which they did eventually,” he added.

    He further stated that the commission is currently owed about N3bn and that stations yet to pay their fees risk getting shut down.

     

  • ‘let Igbos go,’ Northern youths beg FG

    The Coalition of Northern Groups has called on the Federal Government to initiate a process allowing the Igbo to vote in a referendum that will allow them to have an independent state of Biafra.

    The group, which comprised of the Arewa Citizens Action for Change; Arewa Youth Consultative Forum; Arewa Youth Development Foundation; Arewa Students Forum; and the Northern Emancipation Network, in a statement issued on Thursday, following the backlash that greeted its Tuesday statement in which a three-month ultimatum was issued to Igbo living in the North to leave the region.

    “We urge the Federal Government of Nigeria as a matter of urgency to initiate the process for a peaceful referendum to allow the Igbo to go. Let them go. We restate our determination and commitment to ensuring that the North will never partake in any contrived arrangement that would still have the Biafran Igbo as a component.

    “We reiterate our call on Nigerian authorities and recognised international bodies such as the ECOWAS, AU and the UN to hasten the initiation of the process for the final actualisation of the Biafran nation and with it the excision of the Igbo out of the present federation,” the group said in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman.

    The group, which had on Tuesday urged Igbo leave the North for “their newfound country in order to allow other people have peace” said its statement was twisted out of context, hence the need for clarification.

    “We are today compelled to make this further statement to clarify our stand on some issues that trailed the Kaduna Declaration made on Tuesday. After meeting to review the fallout of that Tuesday’s declaration, our groups have arrived at the following fundamental observations: That some elements have for reasons best known to them, mischievously distorted the intent of our original script by alluding to such words as ‘violence,’ ‘threat,’ ‘war,’ and ‘mass action’ to it.

    “We find this mischievous because as cultured, thoroughbred northerners we have never anywhere and at any time, under whatever circumstances, called anybody to violence as a means of conflict resolution. In strict observance of that tradition we never employ violence as a means of pursuing our interest and at every opportunity, we opt for peaceful engagements and implore people to eschew violence in all its ramifications,” it said.

    The coalition noted that despite the minor distortions that caused some measure of anxiety, many Nigerians were in support of its position, describing them as people “who have been tormented and menaced by the irredentist proclivities of the Igbo.”

  • Disregard threat by Northern youth – FG

    The Federal Government has, on Wednesday, asked Nigerians to remain calm and disregard the threat issued to Igbos by the Northern youth.

    A coalition of Northern youth, including the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, had in a press conference asked that Igbos vacate the North and the Hausas in the South to return home.

    Speaking to newsmen after the FEC meeting on Wednesday, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, said security measures have been taken already.

    “The issue of one or two groups issuing statements that are capable of destabilizing the polity did not just start today or did not start yesterday.

    “What I want to assure you is that security organizations are very very much on top of this matter.”

    Recall that TheNewsGuru.com reported yesterday that prominent Northern youth associations on Tuesday after a joint meeting tagged ‘Kaduna Declaration’ issued a serious threat to Igbos residing in the region to vacate on or before October 1 (Nigeria’s Independence Day) 2017 or face physical attacks.

    Their declaration was premised on the shut-down of major towns in south eastern part of the country on May 30, by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and their sponsors.

    The Northern youth organisations, which had their arrowheads in attendance, include Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network on The Igbo Persistence for Recession among others, stated categorically that, never again will they fold their hands and a time has come to take their destiny into their hands.

  • Biafra: Nnamdi Kanu not afraid of returning to prison – IPOB

    Biafra: Nnamdi Kanu not afraid of returning to prison – IPOB

    The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said that Mazi Nnamdi KANU is not afraid of going to prison a second time.

    The group in a statement made available to journalists by its media and publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful said there was need to make the clarification, especially for those who were calling for the rearrest of Kanu for flouting his bail conditions.

    ALSO READ: Nigeria has already disintegrated, we won’t give up on Biafra – MASSOB

    The group said the call stemmed from the success of the sit-at-home protest declared by KANU, which it said witnessed a large participation.

    It said: “Arresting Mazi Nnamdi Kanu again cannot stop the agitation rather it will be a very big mistake on the side of Federal Government and her security operatives because when the security operatives arrested him on his arrival from London in his hotel room in Lagos it sparked protests and rallies across the world.

    “Arresting him again will draw the attention of the world leaders and other relevant world organizations closer to the quest for Biafra independence.

    “Therefore, we don’t give a damn, whether they arrest him or not we don’t bother. Keeping Nnamdi Kanu in or out of Nigeria prison matters nothing to us because the restoration effort continues unabated. Having Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in prison is always good for the struggle to restore Biafra.”

    The group said the refusal to free him after two courts of competent jurisdiction granted him unconditional release elevated the struggle to another level.

    He boasted that if “Nnamdi Kanu dies in prison or any other means then Nigeria will witness a level of seismic destruction unknown to mankind that even Britain cannot stop.

    “IPOB and it’s leadership are not even deterred by any threat from any corner because what we are doing is inalienable rights to all the indigenous people around the world and it was enshrined in the United Nations charter.”

  • Okorocha sacked commissioners, LG chairmen over sit-at-home success – IPOB

    Okorocha sacked commissioners, LG chairmen over sit-at-home success – IPOB

    The Indigenous People of Biafra on Saturday condemned the sacking of Commissioners and Local Government chairmen in the 27 council areas of Imo State by the state Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, alleging that the action was because of the success of the sit-at-home order in the state.

    In a press statement made available to journalists by the IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group said Okorocha had instructed his commissioners and council chiefs not to allow the order to take place in the state.

    It said Okorocha’s objective was to please the powers that be in Abuja.

    It added that to the surprise of the Imo governor, the exercise recorded huge success in Imo State, something the group said angered the governor and culminated in the sacking of the victims.

    The statement read in part “IPOB intelligence unit discovered that APC party led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari through her security operatives mandated Rochas Okorocha to do all he could to stop the sit-at-home order issued by our leader Mazi Nnamdi and IPOB family members worldwide but to his greatest surprise he could not stop the sit-at-home and remembrance of our fallen heroes and heroines.

    “In line with this, Okorocha mandated his commissioners and his LGA’s transitional chairmen in all the 27 Local Government Areas of Imo State to move into the villages and communities to sensitized them to boycott the sit-at- home order at all cost, unfortunately, those mandated to do so could not do it because power belongs to the masses not those in Government.

    “The Governor of Imo State Chief Owelle Rochas Okorocha dissolved the commissioners and the leadership of all the LGA’s transitional chairmen in 27 Local Government Areas of Imo State because of their inability to do the job he paid for to discourage our people not to comply of the sit at home order issued by our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on 30th of May 2017 in honour and remembrance of our fallen heroes and heroines who paid the ultimate price during the genocidal war against our people in 1967 and 1970.

    “The tremendous total compliance in Imo State particularly in Owerri and other parts of Biafraland marvelled the Governor of Imo State Chief Owelle Rochas Okorocha and other APC members in Biafraland both South East and South South.

    It added “It is very pathetic that the governor of Imo State Chief Rochas Okorocha will be belittled himself to this level by going uncontrollably from house to house and one market to another calling people to come out and open their shops on that fateful day Biafrans were celebrating and honouring those who paid the ultimate price during the great war in the history against the people of Biafra between 1967 and 1970.

  • Biafra: Nnamdi Kanu in trouble as SEPA writes court to revoke his bail

    Biafra: Nnamdi Kanu in trouble as SEPA writes court to revoke his bail

    Activities of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have pitted the group’s leader, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, against the South East Peoples Assembly (SEPA).

    For organising a sit-at-home after he obtained a court bail, SEPA has asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to revoke the bail granted Kanu, a pro-secession leader.

    IPOB in collaboration with other groups, on Tuesday organised a successful sit-at-home in South East, an action SEPA regards as a breach of the bail conditions granted Kanu.

    Kanu, leader of IPOB, has been facing trial for treason and terrorism, being a major sponsor for the secession of South East from Nigeria on the platform of IPOB.

    He was arrested on October 15, 2015 in Lagos and eventually granted bail in May this year with some conditions.

    The Federal High Court, Abuja, admitted him to bail on health grounds.

    Justice Binta Nyako said that she was convinced that Kanu was ill and needed more medical attention than the Nigerian Prisons was giving him.

    She, however, ordered that while on bail, Kanu must not hold any rallies, grant any interviews or be in a crowd of more than 10 people.

    Nyako gave other bail conditions to include three sureties in the sum of N100 million each.

    The judge further ordered that Kanu must deposit both his Nigerian and British passports with the court and that a report on the progress of his health must be made available to her on a monthly basis.

    She adjourned the matter till July 11 and 12, for definite commencement of trial.

    However, SEPA has accused Kanu of infringing on the bail conditions.

    In a letter to the Chief Judge of the High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, the President of SEPA, Prince Chukwuemeka Okoriein, as the court, as a matter of urgency, to revoke Kanu’s bail.

    He said that Kanu has continued to conduct himself in a manner that was totally at variance with terms and conditions of his bail.

    He listed the infractions to include holding rallies, grant of interviews or be in a crowd of more than 10 people.

    “Obviously, the recklessness with which he made media statements and even organised the ‘Sit at Home and Stay Indoor’ protest to mark the so called BIAFRA HEROS DAY on Tuesday, 30th May, 2017 is a threat to the unity, security and peace of Nigeria as a sovereign nation.

    “We have no iota of doubt that he is trying to push our dear country Nigeria into an unnecessary precarious situation for his personal agenda and those of his paymasters.

    “Sir, our decision to write this demand letter to your good office at this time is to forestall another civil unrest in Nigeria, particularly around the Igbo speaking region.

    “As you well know, the struggle by Kanu to be relevant under the guise of actualisation of Biafra does not enjoy the support of right thinking Igbo people both at home and in diaspora.

    “That he suddenly addresses himself as the Supreme Leader of Biafra points to how arrogant and disrespectful he is to legitimately constituted authority in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “The pertinent question on our minds as stakeholders is: Has Kanu been consistent in providing the court with reports on the progress of his health and treatment on a monthly basis since he was granted bail?

    “We fear that if Kanu is not tamed by Your Lordship as a matter of urgency, the IPOB may create a situation where it becomes difficult if not impossible for genuine development to take place in the South East under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

    “History has taught us that the Civil War of 1967-1970 started gradually and later turned out to be something that caused our people unimaginable losses.

    “We cannot afford to fold our arms this time and allow a stooge imported from the United Kingdom by stark enemies of Nigeria to maintain a state of belligerence against the nation and keep the name of Igbo people in the news for the wrong reasons.”

     

     

     

    Source: Vanguard with agency report.

     

  • We are not in support of IPOB’s sit-at-home order – Archbishop

    We are not in support of IPOB’s sit-at-home order – Archbishop

    The Archbishop of the Enugu Province, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, says the clergy are not in support of the sit-at-home declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

    IPOB and MASSOB had urged the people to sit at home on May 31 to observe the groups anniversary.

    Chukwuma made this known at the the Democracy Day celebration and second year anniversary of Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in Enugu on Monday.

    The cleric, who spoke before offering the opening prayer of the democracy day, called on all people in South-East to go about their legitimate businesses, saying that the clergy were against the declaration.

    “Before I offer the opening prayer, let me first of all state the position of the clergy on the sit-at- home declaration by IPOB and MASSOB.

    “We are not in support of the call. We advise all to ignore it and go about their legitimate businesses,” he said.
    Chukwuma, whose clarification was applauded by the crowd, urged traders and workers to open their shops and ignore the call.
    He said the people of South-east would fair well and enjoy more and better dividends of democracy in a united Nigeria.