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Tag: Simon Ekpa

  • Sit-at-home: Declare state of emergency in South-East – Ohanaeze tells Tinubu

    Sit-at-home: Declare state of emergency in South-East – Ohanaeze tells Tinubu

    Following the sit-at-home order by Simon Ekpa, that is crippling the economic activities in the region, Ohanaeze Ndigbo socio-cultural organisation has urged President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in South-east.

    Ohanaeze said declaring a state of emergency would send a strong signal to the Southeast governors, who would now be compelled to find a lasting solution to the order.

    Ohanaeze’s Secretary-General, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, in an interview with daily Post said, “A desperate moment needs desperate action. We want to warn again that Ohanaeze will not fold its arms and allow miscreants to destroy economic activities in the Southeast.

    “If possible, where this sit-at-home is happening should be declared a state of emergency. This is what Tinubu would do that will make the Southeast governors sit up and find a lasting solution to the problem.

    “Ekpa has declared a second Biafra War, which Igbos are not ready to fight. Igbos are supporting Tinubu and would assist in ensuring that this rebellion is squashed.

    “Ekpa’s action is an attempt to divide Igbos, and we wonder why Peter Obi and the rest are not talking. We hope this is not a conspiracy against the president.”

  • Ifeanyi Ubah slams Simon Ekpa for imposing sit-at-home in Anambra

    Ifeanyi Ubah slams Simon Ekpa for imposing sit-at-home in Anambra

    Senator representing Anambra South, Ifeanyi Ubah, has told a Biafran agitator, Simon Ekpa, to take his sit-at-home campaign to his home state of Ebonyi and leave Anambra State out of it.

    Ubah had urged residents of the state to open their businesses on the first weekday and shun the Monday sit-at-home order by non-state actors.

    There have been several reports of attacks on residents who defied the sit-at-home order of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Last week, De-facto IPOB leader, Simon Ekpa ordered the South East states to embark on a sit-at-home exercise to protest the continued detention of erstwhile leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

    Ubah while reacting to the order said the move is detrimental to Anambra indegenes and has warned Ekpa to stay off Anambra indigenes.

    Ubah, who claimed that Ekpa has been seeking his attention, warned the secessionist against enforcing any sit-at-home in Nnewi, asking him to start with his people in Ebonyi State.

    He said: “For good two years now, we have observed sit-at-home every Monday. We have found out that we are losing jobs and business opportunities. As a representative of the good people of Anambra South, we say we will not continue to have sit-at-home on Mondays.

    “From this Monday, every business venture will be opened in Nnewi.

    “This is your warning Simon Ekpa, for 17 good times, you have mentioned Ifeanyi Uba. You have been seeking my attention, 17 good times and I am replying you today.

    “Never ever mention Ifeanyi Uba or Nnewi again. You are in Finland contesting for councilor or whatever. You go for your job every Monday but you want to ridicule us because you have internet to run propaganda.

    “Start your sit-at-home from Ebonyi before you mention Anambra and Nnewi. I am telling you Simon Ekpa, be careful.”

     

     

  • Ohanaeze talks tough, declares Simon Ekpa dangerous terrorist

    Ohanaeze talks tough, declares Simon Ekpa dangerous terrorist

    The Igbo socio-political organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Tuesday condemned self-styled Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, describing him as one of the most dangerous terrorists in Africa operating from Finland.

    Ohanaeze’s Secretary-General, Okechukwu Isiguzoro said Ekpa and his paymasters can’t force Igbos into a civil war.

    In a statement, Isiguzoro described Ekpa as an enemy of the Igbo nation while distancing itself from the formation of the unity government.

    Isiguzoro said, “Ohanaeze worldwide views with great distaste and condemnation” the purported declaration by Simon Ekpa, leader of the Ekpa Killer Squad (Autopilots) as a “Biafran Prime Minister in Exile”.

    “Indeed, this latest episode, an orchestrated attempt by the Finland-based Igbo enemy, who has made himself a ready tool in the destruction of Ala-Igbo can only be blamed on his “deliberate pampering” by the Finnish and Nigerian Governments after detailed reports of heightening terrorism from his Finnish base, including reports from a Finnish journalist, who was in Enugu this February to personally interview families of victims of his terror attacks, which he boldly affirmed on Finnish Television was presented to the Finnish Government.

    “Ndigbo has rebutted and renounced in strong terms the formation of a purported Biafra Government in exile, by Simon Ifeanyi Njoku Ekpa who is seen as the greatest enemy of Ndigbo in the last 200 years and one of the most dangerous terrorists in Africa and operating from Finland, if the Nigerian Government fails to check this ugly development, Ekpa’s game-plan is to plunge Nigeria into another undeserved Civil War.

    ”Ndigbo are now given a standing order to capture Ekpa dead or alive, he must not be allowed to escape justice as the leader of the most dreadful killer squad in the Southeast whose sole aim is to destabilize the Southeast with his satanic agenda of leading another Civil War against Nigeria.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, Ndigbo can never be pushed into fighting another war, regardless of the provocations of Ekpa and his paymasters who surprisingly are hurt by the ongoing fraternity existing between Ndigbo and their Yoruba siblings and are hell-bent on thwarting it.

    “From declaring a 5 Day sit-at-home in the South-East during the Presidential election to the declaration of Sit-at-home in Lagos, Ekpa has only one agenda- the destruction of Ala-Igbo, to fulfil his paymaster’s political ambitions.

    “Indeed, his latest drama is aimed at distracting the Labour Party, LP, Presidential candidate from the pursuit of his Pan-Nigerian mandate at the election tribunal by questioning his belief in Nigeria when his people are pressing on with Biafra and now have a “Prime Minister in exile.”

    Ohanaeze urged the Nigerian and Finnish Governments to delay no further in extraditing Ekpa to Nigeria to face prosecution for crimes against humanity.

    “That is the only thing that will be a deterrent to Ekpa and his co-travellers,” he added.

  • Biafran agitator, Simon Ekpa released by Finnish police

    Biafran agitator, Simon Ekpa released by Finnish police

    Pro-Biafran agitator, Simon Ekpa, has been released by Police in Finland, hours after he was arrested on Thursday, according to HS.

    Earlier in the day, Ekpa was escorted out of his apartment in Lahti by Finnish policemen.

    He was later released after the police allegedly arrested him for a suspected crime.

    The Finnish Central Criminal Police has now confirmed Ekpa’s release on Thursday.

    The police claimed Ekpa’s arrest was in connection with the ongoing preliminary investigation.

    “The person being questioned today is suspected of a crime. We will return to the title on Friday,” Tommi Reen from the Central Criminal Police told HS during a phone interview.

    Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, had repeatedly ordered the people of the South-East to observe a sit-at-home and asked them to boycott the country’s general elections billed for Saturday.

  • Just In: Simon Ekpa arrested by Finnish govt

    Just In: Simon Ekpa arrested by Finnish govt

    Finnish authorities have arrested pro-Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa.

    According to a Finland news outlet HS, the police escorted the separatist out of his apartment in Lahti on Thursday.

    Criminal Investigator, Tommi Reen from the Central Criminal Police told the HS news outlet that the Keskusrikospoliisi (KRP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Finland had a police operation in a private apartment in the centre of Lahti.

    The platform claimed that they had gone to Ekpa’s residence for an interview but the Finland police, KRP, surprisingly answered when the HS team rang the separatist bell.

    Details to follow…

  • 2023 Elections: Ohanaeze appeals to Buhari to allow Nnamdi Kanu address the Igbos

    2023 Elections: Ohanaeze appeals to Buhari to allow Nnamdi Kanu address the Igbos

    Ahead of the forthcoming general elections in the country, the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to allow Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous people of Biafra, IPOB, to address the people of the South-East.

    Recall that Finland-based Simon Ekpa is being accused of sponsoring the unknown gunmen causing chaos across the Southeast.

    Ekpa, who used to be a self-styled disciple of Kanu, was suspended by the separatist group over alleged insubordination.

    Unpertubed by the suspension, Ekpa has continued his Biafra agitation and orders sit-at-home in the Southeast.

    However, the apex Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has placed a $50,000 bounty on him.

    Findings show that  the killing in the Southeast became more rampant following Kanu’s arrest and detention.

    The IPOB leader has been detained by the Federal Government since June 2022 after he was arrested in Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria.

    Over the weekend, a video surfaced online of unknown gunmen beheading Chris Ohizu, the Chairman of Ideato North Local Government of Imo State.

    The decapitalization of Ohizu’s head is one of the many killings witnessed in the Southeast.

    While these gunmen have denied links to IPOB, some stakeholders in the Southeast have accused Ekpa of backing them.

    However, the Ohanaeze Secretary-General, Isiguzoro, said the killings in the Southeast would subside if Buhari allows the IPOB leader to address Nigerians.

    Speaking with journalists on the activists of gunmen linked to Ekpa, Isiguzoro reiterated his stance on a plot to destabilise the 2023 elections in the Southeast using Ekpa.

    According to Isiguzoro: “This madness of sit-at-home and incessant killings and insecurity we are witnessing in the Southeast can be traced to the continuous incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu, which Simon Ekpa is taking undue advantage of.

    “Ekpa is an opportunist, a fame and fortune seeker who saw the window and lapses of Kanu’s detention as an opportunity for him to venture into his journey of amassing wealth from politicians and destroying the people of the Southeast.

    “The only cure to this madness of Simon Ekpa is a passionate appeal to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to allow the leader of IPOB to address Ndigbo possibly this February before the elections, because there is a grand conspiracy by some external enemies of Ndigbo, and they are using Ekpa to shortchange and ensure that there is an election boycott in the Southeast.

    “The only cure to this Ekpa’s madness is for Buhari to allow Kanu, even if it’s a five-minute broadcast, because Kanu has continued to say through his lawyers that these killings and insecurity in the Southeast should end. The activities of unknown gunmen instigated by Ekpa should end, and why there has been no effect on those messages is that the people doubt if those messages are from Nnamdi Kanu.

    “So, in order to have a peaceful election, the Federal Government should give Nnamdi Kanu a five-minute broadcast to talk to the people of the Southeast; this would end Ekpa and his madness.”

    According to INEC the presidential election will hold on the the 25th of February while the gubernatorial elections will hold on the 11th of March.