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Tag: south east governors

  • BREAKING: South-East governors reject IGP’s community policing template

    BREAKING: South-East governors reject IGP’s community policing template

    The South-East zone, on Sunday, declared that it would not implement the community policing template rolled out by the police hierarchy.

    This was contained in a communiqué presented by the zone after their enlarged meeting in Enugu.

    The communiqué was read by chairman of the Forum and Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi.

    Present at the meeting included Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Hope Uzodinma, Enugu and Imo, respectively, as well as Deputy Governors of Anambra and Abia States. The Present-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, former Governing of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwodo, Igbo leader, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Chaired of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Southeast, Godwin Madu were equally present.

    They accused the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Adamu Abubakar of going contrary to earlier agreement they reached on the matter.

    “The recent communication from the Inspector General of Police to our governors on community policing composition is not in keeping with the agreement we reached with him during his last visit to the South-East.

    “In the circumstance, we cannot begin implementation of it until the programme reflects our earlier agreement.

    “The South-East Governors and their leaders request the IGP to revert to our initial agreement reached on community policing at Enugu,” the governors said.

  • Why we created, launched ‘Operation Amotekun’ – South West Governors

    Why we created, launched ‘Operation Amotekun’ – South West Governors

    …As Northern Governors hint on replicating same

    Governors of Southwest states declared on Thursday that the zonal security outfit is neither a replacement for the nation’s security system nor a state police.

    They also assured that the outfit will not be deployed as a political tool.

    The governors gave the assurance in Ibadan as the novel zonal security initiative – The Western Nigerian Security Network (WNSN) was inaugurated. It is code-named Operation Amotekun.

    All the six states in the region – Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti – are jointly funding the outfit, which will involve local hunters, vigilantes and designated members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) as personnel. The police will drive the process.

    Each of the states contributed 20 patrol vehicles – Oyo gave 33 – all fitted with communication gadgets to cover the region under a central command.

    The local level of the security outfit will be solely handled by individual states. The two levels will work in collaboration.

    While the headquarters will be in Ibadan, the operation will be controlled from Gbongan in Osun State.

    Chairman of Southwest Governors Forum, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, performed the inauguration of the equipment in the presence of Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Seyi Makinde (Oyo).

    Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola was represented by Deputy Governor Benedict Alabi while Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun was represented by Deputy Governor Noimot Salako-Oyedele.

    Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was part of the decision to create Operation Amotekun at the security meeting in November 2019 in Ibadan, was absent.

    Fayemi said: “Amotekun is not a duplication, neither is it a replacement for the Nigeria Police Force and other statutory security agencies. Amotekun is a complement that gives our people the confidence that they are being looked after by the people they elected into office”.

    The Ekiti State governor added that the magnitude of insecurity witnessed in the Southwest last year which led to the need for Amotekun could not be ignored.

    He said there was a need for additional support for security agencies.

    Fayemi added that enemies of Amotekun went on social media to give wrong interpretations of the security outfit.

    He said: “We were daily assaulted by armed robbers, bandits and kidnappers. The mainstream security agencies did their best. It was in that circumstance that we lost Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of our leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti. All these mounted pressure on political leaders because our people could not sleep with their two eyes closed.

    “So, our primary responsibility to provide security and welfare of the citizenry led to this. Though criminal activities were all over the country then, our people in the Southwest, a relatively peaceful zone, became agitated over the increasing insecurity.

    “I am pleased that Amotekun, whose idea has come, has been endorsed by the police in the country.

    “The IGP has announced its endorsement. Amotekun is nothing but a community policing response to the yearning of our people.

    “It will fill the void pending the time community policing structure being planned by the police will be ready. It is a confidence-building strategy for our people in the Southwest.

    “When elements that will work in a joint task force are ready, they will do it with the knowledge of the language and culture and terrain of the places where they will work.

    ”So, we do not want this to create any fear in the mind of anyone. We have seen all manners of things in the social media. It is an attempt to sabotage what we are doing.

    “We are not creating a regional police force. We are not oblivious of the steps we must take to have a state police.

    “Some of us are unapologetic in our belief in state police but we are also-law abiding citizens. We know the lawful steps to be taken to achieve that but that won’t stop us from taking steps to provide security for our people.

    “As long as they are close to our people and they can be held accountable, we are okay by it. So, this should not be misconstrued. They will operate independently but relate regionally. Most importantly, this is not an attempt to undermine the Federal Government of Nigeria. We will do everything to protect the integrity of our country. Our primary interest is the security of our people and we will do everything to push this frontier.”

    Akeredolu promised that they would not deploy Amotekun for political purposes.

    He said: “We acknowledge the efforts of the Federal Government in providing adequate security.

    “It is our sincere hope that our efforts at the regional level will be useful for the Federal Government in the future.

    “All we want to do is to protect our states. We are not coming up with an antagonistic structure. We are just working together. Criminality is alien to Yoruba. We always triumph over negative issues.

    “We must emphasize again that this is not in any manner a body which will operate as an alternative to the Police. It is in the realm of the intelligence gathering.”

    “The Southwest leaders believe in the unity of Nigeria. Some of us cannot afford to break this country. We are committed to a more united and stronger Nigeria. Allmost all of us agree that our unity is our strength.”

    Akeredola (SAN), warned criminals to stay away from the Southwest because” we now have our men who know the land, way and roads who will follow and track them.”

    The governor thanked the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission for a job well done. He said the commission was still working on the grey areas in Amotekun’s operational guidelines.

    He added: “We will make it difficult for undesirable elements to compound the problem on ground. You can’t use Amotekun to feather your own nest. You can’t use it for politics. No governor can deploy them for politics. Members of Amotekun will be accountable. We will depend on them to protect our territory.”

    Akeredolu assured that all the governors would continue “to provide logistic support to statutory security agencies and Amotekun.”

    Oyetola described the outfit as a fulfillment of the responsibility of the governments in the Southwest. He advised the personnel to operate within limits.

    Makinde said it was an honour for Oyo State to host the launch of another first-of-its-kind project in Ibadan.

    He said it was time for Southwest to be brave, stressing that Amotekun was in the direction of achieving that.

    Firing at critics of the initiative, Makinde said: “Traditionally, humankind has always been afraid of what they do not understand. Sometimes, people throw out revolutionary ideas because people either do not understand it or are not willing to understand it.

    “But, as an African proverb says, ‘the brave man is not he who doesn’t feel afraid, but he that conquers that fear.’’’

    “It is therefore is time for us to be brave. Six months ago, we met, right here in Oyo State and decided to set up a regional collaborative security agency. I am happy that we followed through. With our sister states of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, and Osun, Oyo State in launching Amotekun.

    “As governors of these states, it is our priority to ensure that both indigenes and settlers within the boundaries of our various states can carry out their legitimate activities in a secure environment.

    “The security of their lives and property should be of paramount importance. When we discuss the development potential of our states and talk about investment opportunities as well as growing our Internally Generated Revenue by exploring areas of comparative advantage, we remain keenly aware that we cannot achieve anything in a state of insecurity.

    “To those who are afraid, I say, when we assumed office, we all took the Oath of Office and promised to be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria; To follow the dictates of the Constitution and protect the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We have not forgotten our oath.”

    Makinde said the Southwest regional integration project should be seen “in one light and one light alone: that we are coming together to fight a common enemy. That enemy is not Nigeria, the enemies are the elements among us and their affiliates who are determined to cause commotion within the borders of our states and threaten our peaceful coexistence.”

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and the leader of the Yoruba World Congress, Prof. Banji Akintoye, commended the governors for the initiative. They called on all residents of the Southwest states to support Amotekun to succeed.

    Oba Ogunwusi said: “All the traditional rulers are in support, the Federal Government is not opposed to it, let all and sundary support it for peace to reign in the region”.

    Minister of Sports Sunday Dare; Chief Tola Adeniyi, Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly Adebo Ogundoyin, and other top government functionaries in the six states were also present.

    The Aare Onakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, was represented by Mr Gani Kayode-Balogun.

    After the branded vehicles were inaugurated, they were driven by the governors. Thereafter, the drivers took over and drove them round Ibadan City.

  • Don’t attempt traveling out of Nigeria if you owe workers salaries, Nnamdi Kanu warns S’E govs

    …condemns xenophobic attacks in South Africa

    The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has warned governors who owe workers in their states to forget about traveling out of the country.

    This is even as the IPOB leader said that his group would continue to hold Nigerian politicians accountable for the services they were elected to render by the electorate.

    Kanu, who spoke on Saturday during an interview with Rose Peter Graham, the anchor of ‘Rose On All Sides,’ on Ben TV, United Kingdom, said very soon, all governors in Nigeria who have refused to pay their workers’ salaries, but travelling aimlessly across the world would be stopped from doing so.

    The IPOB leader who spoke to the UK based television station from his temporary base in Germany, also condemned the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, describing it as something that should not be happening in this current generation He said: “Very soon, any governor who has not paid salaries will not come abroad anymore. If you owe salaries you’re not allowed to go abroad anymore. “You bank teachers’ salaries, you bank the salaries of pensioners, you cannot come abroad anymore.

    So this is just the beginning. “We’ll not attack them. We’ll just ask them questions. It is called picketing. It’s allowed within the ambit of democratic rules. “So, if we see you, we’ll ask you what you’ve been doing with teachers’ salaries, nurses’ salaries and why you’ve not been paying people and what are you doing here? “Any governor owing workers once we catch you abroad you’ll tell us what you’ve been doing with the salaries you’re supposed to pay.

    “There’s no time on this earth that any process of agitation will be palatable for everyone or easy for everyone to buy into. When Nnamdi Azikiwe was campaigning for Nigeria to be free from colonial rule, he was sent to prison. “Many people felt he was radical and declined to associate themselves with him. But in the end, he succeeded in freeing Nigeria not knowing that we are jumping from the frying pan to fire.

    “Awolowo was the same thing. He was a firebrand. Many people didn’t like his approach from the beginning, but on reflection and review of what he did and how he managed to accomplish them, people have come to understand that he meant well for his people.

    “So, now that these things are happening, most people would not appreciate it, but I’m sure that in many years to come, historians will look back to what’s happening today.”

    He described Senator Ike Ekweremmadu’s experience in Nuremberg as a family matter within the Igbo people that would be settled in a family way.

  • JUST IN: We won’t apologise to IPOB over threats to embarrass S’E govs – Umahi

    Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi on Thursday said the South-East governors have no apology to tender to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    In a recent open letter to the governors, IPOB had made some demands including an open apology.

    But briefing State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Umahi said “We have no apology to tender.”

    The governor also noted that the South-East governors did not proscribe IPOB because it didn’t have the power to do so.

    He also said IPOB lacked the power to issue travel ban to the South East governors.

    Details shortly…

  • Igbo group condemns attacks on South East governors, insists RUGA unacceptable

    A pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Igbo Ezue has condemned the invectives directed at South-East governors despite their role in preventing tension in the region as a result of the controversies that surrounded the proposed but now suspended Ruga Settlement Programme of the Federal Government.
    The group, however, insisted that no project of any nature that will encourage or attract Fulani herders settlements being established in South East states by the Federal Government will be acceptable to them.
    Fake stories of invasion and attacks by the Fulani Herders have been carried and posted on the internet. Many of the Ruga narratives are exaggerated and planted to blackmail the South East Governors by some political leaders and clandestine organizations and groups to push their 2023 political agenda.
    The statement reads, “The proposed but now suspended Ruga Settlement Programme of the Federal Government has torn the nation apart along South-North and Fulani-Non Fulani lines. Threats and counter threats have come up from both the herders and famers across the country. Most worrisome to us is the heat generated by the project in the South East. A video showing “youths of Nenwe” in Enugu state driving away cattle and herders from the town made rounds. It took press releases and conference by the Police, the Igwe of Nenwe, his people and the Governor of Enugu State, Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, to prevent what would have been a national calamity as Northern youths were already planning retaliation.
    The South East Governors Forum had also issued a release on the Ruga Settlement Programme in their zone. The Governors rejected Ruga Settlement Programme and offered an alternative approach. In the heat of the Ruga controversies, President Buhari suspended the Ruga Settlement Programme in all the states of the federation. However, there is still tension across the country. Igbo Ezue, a pan-Igbo socio-cultural group investigated the Ruga project as it affects Ndigbo.
    OUR FINDINGS:
    1. The Ruga Settlement Programme is a project of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Ruga Settlement refers to the establishment of rural settlements in which animal farmers, not just cattle herders, would be settled in an organized place with provision of necessary and adequate basic amenities. Such amenities include schools, hospitals, road networks, veterinary clinics, markets and manufacturing entities that would process and add value to meats and animal products. The settlements are to be built in the 36 states of the country to stop roaming of cattle herders with the attendant clashes with farmers across Nigeria – President Muhammadu Buhari [Twitter/@NGRPresident].
    2. The Ruga Settlement Programme has been criticized and rejected in the South East, South West and South South states. Taraba and Benue states have also rejected the project.
    3. South East Governors Forum has also issued a release rejecting the Ruga Settlement Programme in their zone and respective states. There have been inflammatory comments and declarations from various quarters that are inimical to mutual co-existence of Nigerians.
    4. The Federal Government has assured that there is no plan to seize any state land or force state governments to embrace the scheme. The programme is voluntary.
    5. Based on the vehement outcry and condemnation of the Ruga Settlement Programme by the South East and South South states, misguided Arewa youths issued threats to southerners living in the Northern parts of the country. Also, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) also issued threats; giving a 30-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to reverse the suspension order or face dire consequences. In response to all these provocative statements, Ohaneze Ndigbo through her President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo, issued a statement in defense of South East states’ rejection of Ruga Settlement Programme and warned the Arewa Youths and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria against carrying out their threats as that would trigger same treatment on Northerners in the South East states. Ndigbo applauded Ohaneze for this.
    6. Igbo Ezue discovered that while it is true that the South East and South South States are against the establishment of Ruga Settlements or any form of herders settlement in our states; mischief makers have utilized the situation to cause friction among the Fulani herders and the South East zone and planted fears in the minds of the people. Fake stories of invasion and attacks by the Fulani Herders have been carried and posted on the internet. Many of the Ruga narratives are exaggerated and planted to blackmail the South East Governors by some political leaders and clandestine organizations and groups to push their 2023 political agenda.
    OUR STAND:
    Igbo Ezue is against any form of Ruga Settlement Programme on Igbo soil. No project of any nature that will encourage or attract Fulani herders settlements being established in South East states by the Federal Government is acceptable to us.
    We hereby observe that the pressure, insults and abuse targeted at our South East Governors are unnecessary and serve no useful purpose. We trust our governors to do what is best for our people all the time. We reliably informed that no approach or Memorandum on Ruga Settlement Programme has reached any state governor in the South East. Everything is still based on rumours and speculations. In spite of this, our governors met and issued a statement on that. This is highly commendable. We call on our Governors, who must accent to any part of our land being used for the Ruga Settlement Programme or similar programme to promptly reject such. We support their efforts towards maintaining peace and harmony among our people and people from other tribes in Nigeria. Ndigbo are peace loving and hospitable people.
    We say, “Enough is Enough” to mischief makers! Enough of the blackmail against our governors, who are working hard to protect our land, ensure peaceful co-existence and deliver dividends of democracy to our people. We must not play politics with everything. PLEASE LEAVE OUR GOVERNORS ALONE!
    Thanks You.
    Chief Ibeziamko Zimako Jnr.
    President.

  • We won’t donate land for ranching — South-East govs

    We won’t donate land for ranching — South-East govs

    Governors of the South-East states rose from a meeting in Enugu on Sunday evening with a decision that no land would be made available for the establishment of cattle ranches in the zone.

    The meeting, which held at the Enugu State Government House, had the governors of Enugu (Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi), Ebonyi (Dave Umahi) in attendance, while Abia and Anambra were represented by the deputy governors.

    Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, was absent and was not represented by his deputy.

    The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, presented the association’s ‘template on restructuring’ to the governors at the meeting, which ended late on Sunday evening.

    Addressing journalists after the parley, the Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum, Umahi, disclosed that the governors had agreed that ranching would not be allowed in the zone.

    Umahi explained that the reports that some South-East states had made land available for the establishment of ranches, based on a request by the Federal Government, were not true.

    The Ebonyi State Governor stressed that while the Federal Government had not asked for any land for ranches, the governors would not accede to such a request, should it be made.

    “No land in the South-East has been donated for ranching. We have not donated any land; we have not been asked to donate and we are not going to donate.

    “Ranching is not approved by the South-East governors in the South-East,” Umahi declared.

    The governors, in the same vein, condemned the recent killings in Plateau State, and demanded “justice for Plateau people.”

    The governors, however, raised the alarm over what they described as challenges posed by the movement of herdsmen in the South-East.

    They agreed to meet with heads of federal security agencies over the development.

    Reading from a communiqué adopted at the meeting, Umahi said, “The South-East Governors Forum commiserates with the Governor of Plateau State and the people of the state for the recent killings.

    “We condemn the killings and join other regions to demand justice for the Plateau people.

    “South-East governors have noticed increased challenges in the movement of herdsmen from one state and region to another with the resultant effect of massive destruction of farmlands with attendant clashes with farmers.

    “South-East governors have been spending huge funds in settling farmers whose farms and crops are destroyed – we, therefore, request an emergency meeting in the South-East with federal security chiefs, farmers and herdsmen to stop the movements and prevent clashes.”

    Following the presentation by Ohanaeze, the South-East governors restated their demand for restructuring.

    “Ndigbo’s Stand on Restructuring of Nigeria was presented to the South-East Governors Forum by the Ohanaeze President, based on the resolutions arising from the Awka enlarged Igbo meeting.

    “He (Ohanaeze President) also laid down the template for the governors. The Forum thanked Ohanaeze on a job well done and reiterated its earlier stand that restructuring is the only way forward for Nigeria.

    “The Forum also decided that the governors should take a studied look at the template of restructuring and will make its final stand clear by the next meeting of the Forum,” the communiqué said.

    The governors, at the meeting, observed that the ‘dispute’ between the governments of Anambra and Ebonyi states over the recent renaming of Abakiliki Street in Awka, Anambra State, was due to ‘communication gap which is already being closed.’

  • Biafra: Buhari meets Sout-East Governors, Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met with governors and leaders of south-eastern states over the recent agitations in the region.

    The meeting held inside the new Banquet hall of the State House in Abuja shortly after Islamic prayers.

    The leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, John Nwodo, who spoke with State House correspondents after the meeting said they had a “frank and robust exchange” with the president concerning the alleged neglect of the region by successive administrations.

    “We dealt with problems of development in the South-east, basic capital projects which have for a very long time been neglected not just from this government but for a very long time.

    “Major arteries of federal highways in the South-east have been in complete state of disrepair. Enugu-Onitsha, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Aba-Ikot Ikpene are virtually impassable.

    “We talked about the inland waterways and the dredging of the River Niger. We talked about the reticulation of gas pipeline on the South-east. We export gas from the south-east to the other parts of the country, but there is no reticulation of the pipeline and industrial clusters in the south-east,” he said.

    Nwodo also said the meeting discussed the bad state of the only international airport in the region.

    “We got assurance from the president that he will deal with each of those problems,” he said.

    The Ohanaeze leader said the meeting also discussed alleged marginalization of the South-east by the Buhari administration, saying, “like I have said these problems have been there overtime and we have had several presidents, it didn’t just happen in the last two years. But we expressed the desire that he should be able to address them.”

    He said the South-east leaders were confident the president will deliver on his promise to them.

    “There is no reason for me to doubt him because this is the first time I have had this interaction with him. I have the feeling that he spoke to us very frankly,” he said.

    On whether the meeting discussed the issue of the Indigenous Peoples Of Biafra, IPOB, an organisation seeking secession from the Nigerian state, the Igbo leader said, “We talked about IPOB as a symptomatic consequence of the continuous marginalization of the South-east over a long period of time.

    “Understandably our children are restive and we want to make sure that the federal government is responsive to the issues that have cumulated in the quintessence of these agitations.”

    The federal government has since declared IPOB a terrorist organisation and arrested several of its members.

    Other issues discussed, according to Mr. Nwodo, include “devolution of powers, the constitution, the paucity of the states and local governments in our place.”

    “And the president has asked that he be given time to look at this more holistically,” he said.

    TheThose who attended the meeting include governors from the South-east, traditional rulers and leaders of the Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo.

  • Proscription: IPOB blasts FG, Army, S/E Govs, says ‘You can’t intimidate us’

    The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Monday said that no intimidation or harassment from any quarter will make it neglect its demand for independence from Nigeria.

    The group described its proscription by the Southeast governors and the declaration of it as a terrorist organisation by the Defence Headquarters as actions that could not stand.

    IPOB said a referendum to determine a sovereign state of Biafra would compensate the people.

    In a statement yesterday, IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary Emma Powerful, said it wondered why herdsmen that had several times caused havoc in various parts of the country had not been declared a terrorist organisation.

    IPOB said: “It is also on record that till date, no police commissioner or governor in the South East or South South has dared to rise up against the fourth deadliest terrorist group in the world we know as Fulani herdsmen.

    “When Fulani herdsmen attacked Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi and Abia states, none of the police commissioners in these various states or any of these governors now supporting genocide against their people ever uttered a word in opposition.

    “82 Division of the Nigerian Army at Enugu, a mere 13 kilometers from where Fulani herdsmen armed with sophisticated weaponry attacked innocent villagers, did not rise up to aid Enugu people.

    “They did not storm the hideout or known settlements of Fulani herdsmen in Enugu. There was no stop and search of Fulani people. There were no arbitrary arrests of Fulani men. Fulani women were not carted off to be raped and dehumanised by Nigerian soldiers.

    “Fulani leaders and Arewa North never rose up in condemnation of Fulani herdsmen.

    “We must not stop to let the police and Nigeria DHQ know that Biafra restoration project, led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, cannot be moved or deterred by any threats or killing of unarmed innocent civilian populations.

    “We also want to let them understand that they don’t have the power to declare the peaceful and nonviolent IPOB a terrorist organisation.

    “It is unfortunate that the Nigerian police and DHQ cannot differentiate between freedom fighting and terrorism yet most of them claim they are graduates.”

    “Every right thinking person must continue to ask South East governors why they allowed envy and jealousy to overwhelm them to the point of inviting an entirely foreign army full of Hausa Fulani men to come to our land to kill us because they lost the masses to IPOB”

    “The ranting of some of the cowardly governors of South East zone, especially Willie Obiano and Okezie Ikpeazu, to the effect that they will continue to kill innocent unarmed people fighting for their freedom in a peaceful manner but swore to protect the children of his slave masters in the North, is meaningless to us.”

    “IPOB is not in the habit of attacking anybody or group of persons and will never do anything to bring harm to non-indigenous Biafrans residing in Biafraland. We are civilised people and not as blood thirsty as the Arewa North.”

    “We will not fail to remind the Southeast governors that they have lost the battle with IPOB under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, especially Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Willie Obiano of Anambra State.

    “IPOB cannot and will not succumb to pressure resulting from intimidation, arrest and brutal murders going on now all over Abia, Anambra and Rivers states at the moment.

    “We have gone too far ahead to be bothered by the sound of bullets, bombs and fighter jets waiting to rain bombs on us. Nobody can stop the agitation for Biafra freedom at this point in time, only a referendum can do that.

    “We are putting our people and the entire world on notice that we are not relenting until this or any other Nigerian government and her cabals give us a date for referendum.”

    “Every family member of IPOB is advised to be patient because we are at the stage of last fight against the internal forces of darkness that have held us hostage for generations against our will.”

     

  • Military, South-East Governors’ ban of IPOB unconstitutional – Saraki

    Military, South-East Governors’ ban of IPOB unconstitutional – Saraki

    The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki on Monday said the declaration by the Nigerian military that the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is a terrorist organisation

    He also said the ban placed on the group’s activities by the South-East Governors did not follow due process.

    The Senate President who revealed this in a statement on Monday assured Nigerians that the National Assembly would wade into the crisis.

    Saraki, however, commended the military for maintaining peace in the region.

    He said, “I also wish to state that the announcement of the proscription of the group known as Indigenous People of Biafra by Governors of the South-East states and the categorization of the group as a ‘terrorist organisation’ by the Nigerian military are unconstitutional and do not follow due process.

    “Our laws make clear provisions for taking such actions and without the due process being followed, such declaration cannot have effect. I am sure the President will do the needful by initiating the right process.

    “This will go a long way in demonstrating to the world at large that we are a country that operate by laid down process under every circumstance. So, those who have been hammering on this point should maintain their cool.

    “Following the clash between the military and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), I hereby call for calm and restraint by all Nigerians so that we would all jointly find the right solution to the current problem rather than worsening the crisis.

    “Our brothers and sisters in the South-East, in particular, should continue to maintain peace and tranquillity and go about their lawful businesses. This crisis will not benefit anybody but would only expose innocent people to unwarranted danger,” the Senate President explained.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the South East Governors on Friday proscribed the activities of IPOB in the region, a little while after the Military also declared it (IPOB) a terrorist group.

     

  • JUST IN: South East governors proscribe IPOB

    The South East Governors’ Forum has announced the proscription of activities of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).

    Arising from its emergency meeting on Friday in Enugu, Chairman of the forum, Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi requested the group and other of such groups to articulate their grievances and send to the forum.

    Umahi appealed to all governors in the zone to ensure compliance with the directive in their various states and for the Federal Government to withdraw the troops in the zone.

    Umahi said: “All activities of IPOB are, hereby, proscribed. IPOB and all other aggrieved groups are advised to articulate their position on all national issues.

    “Such should be submitted to the committee of governors, Ohaneze Ndi Igbo and National Assembly members from the South East zone through the chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum,” he said.

    The Ebonyi governor said that the forum believed in the unity and indivisibility of the country and reinforced their desire for the restructuring of the country.

    “We reinforce our desire for the restructuring of Nigeria where all national issues will be discussed and amicably settled to achieve justice and fairness to every Nigerian.

    “Accordingly, we appeal to President Muhammad Buhari to, please, withdraw the military in the South East zone, while police perform their traditional role of maintaining law and order,” he said.

    Umahi said that the forum was in touch with their northern counterparts “who have assured us of the safety of our people living in the north and we have also planned for exchange of visits to reinforce confidence.

    “We wish to assure Nigerians that full investigation is ongoing on all allegations of killings, maiming and other unlawful conduct in the zone within this period,” he said.

    He said that appropriate actions would be taken against those found culpable.

    Umahi said that governors in the zone had taken adequate measures to protect the lives and property of indigenes and non-indigenes and urged northern governors to do same in their respective states.

    “We advise all residents of the zone to go about their normal businesses as governments of each state is committed to protecting everybody,“ he said.

    The governor said that all those invited for the meeting were present except the leadership of IPOB that sent in their apologies.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that at the meeting were governors of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu while Imo was represented by the deputy governor.

    Other notable personalities that attended the meeting were the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, the General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Maj.-Gen. Adamu Abubakar and the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo.