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Tag: south east

  • IPOB lauds Yoruba leaders for speaking against military invasion of South-East

    The Indigenous People of Biafra has commended Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere for its stance against Operation Python Dance in the South-East.

    In a statement on Monday, Emma Powerful, spokesman of IPOB, thanked Afenifere “for their firm and decisive stance against the overwhelming tide of tyrannical oppression and genocide against the people of Biafra”.

    “The Afenifere and Yoruba council of elders and other outspoken leaders of south-west collective and individual condemnation of the Operation Python Dance II, staged by the present All Progressives Congress (APC) regime to suppress legitimate agitation for freedom through intimidation, slaughter of the innocent and military occupation has earned them an enduring legacy which history will never forget,” the statement by Powerful read.

    “IPOB under Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not disturbed by the terrorising activities of the present administration against his members, but maintained that it must achieve Biafra through non-violence approached we have maintained.

    “We, the Indigenous People of Biafra worldwide under the command and leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu commend and thank the apex Yoruba socio-cultural group Afenifere, Yoruba elders council and other outspoken leaders from the west, for their firm and decisive stance against the overwhelming tide of tyrannical oppression and genocide against the people of Biafra.

    “You rose up to condemn evil and their supporting well-oiled propaganda machinery that sought to turn the truth upside down and make people believe that light is now darkness and darkness light.

    “Your collective and individual condemnation of the Operation Python Dance II, staged by the present APC regime to suppress legitimate agitation for freedom through intimidation, slaughter of the innocent and military occupation has earned you an enduring legacy which history will never forget.”

    He said by speaking in their defence, Afenifere has shown that agitation is not a crime.

    “We also commend those men and women of good conscience from across all ethnic divides in Nigeria and across the globe that condemned the genocidal campaign of this Buhari regime against innocent civilian populations across Biafra land,” it read.

    “With this public display of courage, we are hopeful that many more courageous men and women across West Africa and Africa, in general, will rise up against this APC tyranny and oppression in black Africa as other races have managed to do.

    “With this, IPOB worldwide will remain steadfast and committed to the pursuit of the finest ideals of liberation to set free all oppressed and marginalised people in Nigeria and beyond.

    “If IPOB worldwide is a terrorist organisation, all the freedom fighting groups in the world are terrorist groups. We must all stand firm now to confront and challenge this oppressive dictatorial regime of the present APC government because ultimately power belongs to the people not to the bigoted few.”

  • You are safe in South East, Ohanaeze assures Northerners

    The President General, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief John Nwodo, on Thursday assured northerners resident in the south East of their safety.

    Nwodo gave the assurance when he visited Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje at the Government House, Kano.

    He said every Nigerian is expected to live in any part of the country without discrimination or harassment.

    “Every Nigerian can live in any part of the country of his choice and no harm will ever come to a Northerner in the East.

    “When the temperature is high we tend to forget what bind us together and we forget the sweet past.

    “If there was any disturbance in Kano where we have 1.6 million Igbos, the entire Igboland would have been in mourning by now,” he said.

    He commended the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, and Kano state government for promoting peace and brotherhood among the people.

    Nwodo said the visit was to deliver the message of all Ndigbo and leaders in the zone.

    “Nigeria should not experience war the second time as it will not augur well for the country.

    “We must remain partners in progress of our country as we have seen how our own fathers lived to make it grow and develop,” the Ohanaeze chief added.

    He said unity and peaceful co-existence must be the responsibility of all.

    Kano State Acting Governor, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, told the delegation the state would always be home for all Nigerians irrespective of their religious beliefs.

     

  • Party dance for Arewa youths, python dance for IPOB – Reno

    By Reno Omokri

    I read the statement by the former Deputy Director of the Buhari Presidential Campaign Council, Mallam Mohammed Lawal with great amusement.

    Mr. Lawal, who is one of President Buhari’s lopsided recent appointees to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (AKA Northern Nigeria Petroleum Corporation) wants Nigerians to believe that former vice President Atiku Abubakar, has been plotting the downfall of President Muhammadu Buhari since 2014.

    I find the allegation laughable. Why, you may ask? Well, because it is silly for any ally of President to say Atiku Abubakar plotted President Buhari’s failure.

    Does anybody need to plot the failure of a man who still calls Germany ‘West Germany’? Was it Atiku’s plot that made Buhari wait and waste six months before setting up a cabinet of square pegs in round holes? Atiku did not force Buhari to make promises he could not keep like making $1 equal to ₦1 or creating 3 million jobs per annum.

    Even before day one, didn’t Nasir El-Rufai warn Nigerians in 2010 that ‘if you ask Buhari, he will think that Blackberry is a fruit.’ A serial plagiarizer who plagiarized Barack Obama’s and Charles De Gaulle’s speeches, who surrounds himself with the likes of Amaechi, who is still afraid of rats as an ex general, needs no one to plot his failure! Just as you have an auto-correct function on your phone, so does President Buhari have an auto-fail function in his government. He does not need an Atiku to plot his failure! Let me cite an example.

    Two weeks ago, Benue state experienced a cataclysmic flooding of almost biblical proportions. Many pundits, including yours truly, appealed to the President to at least visit the victims of the flood to give them moral support. However, the President chose to ignore the 100,000 families that had been rendered homeless and I thank God that this same Atiku Abubakar who they claim is plotting the President’s failure was able to plot his way to donating ₦5 million to the suffering victims. But that is not where the story ends. President Buhari who refused to visit Benue shocked right thinking people by visiting Kaduna even while the people of Benue (who coincidentally voted for him) had not had the pleasure of his visit.

    President Muhammadu Buhari is strong enough to visit Kaduna state to commission a poultry but not strong enough to visit Benue to commiserate with humans. You visit with poultry but not people.

    Why does it seem as if this administration values animals over human beings? Recall that when Nigerians were facing possibly the worst food crisis in our history, Buhari’s minister of agriculture was more focused on importing grass for cows from Brazil. And even after herdsmen killed vast amounts of people in Southern, Kaduna the APC Governor of Kaduna admitted to paying them compensation for their cattle killed. Perhaps the President would have postponed his visit to poultry chickens in favour of visiting paltry citizens in Benue.

    Can his handlers continue to blame Atiku Abubakar for these unforced errors? President Trump who we unfairly like to criticize in this part of the world has visited Texas twice to help out with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts and to project hope to his people. His office has equally announced plans to visit Florida after Hurricane Irma eases.

    And here our President is visiting poultry! And look at what is happening in the Southeast. Do we blame Atiku for this avoidable crisis too? Until Nnamdi Kanu was arrested by Muhammadu Buhari, he was unknown to most Nigerians and this include Nigerians of Southeastern origin.

    The president actually created Nnamdi Kanu, made him a celebrity and gave him the power he has right now. Right now he has empowered the young man to do a lot more damage to him and his inept administration by making him a cause célèbre that even foreign diplomats go to pay homage to. What was Nnamdi Kanu doing before President Buhari had him arrested? Radio Biafra?

    How many people were listening to it? What President Buhari did by arresting Nnamdi Kanu was to turn him from a Bright Chimezie to a Michael Jackson without releasing a Thriller album! And to make matters worse, he has now initiated this unnecessary, ill thought out, ill advised and ill fated so called Operation Python Dance 2 in the Southeast.

    The US Army is in Texas and Florida helping hurricane victims. That is what I expect the Nigerian Army to do in Benue , where 100,000 families have been rendered homeless by flood, not doing a ‘Show of Force’ in a place that is in need of persuasion, not threats.

    Four days ago, suspected herdsmen killed 20 people in Ancha village in Miango district of Jos. If the army wanted to do a ‘show of force’, that would have been a good place to start.

    It makes no sense to do a show of force in a peaceful community when you have violence prone communities all over Nigeria. Since when did the dictionary definition of intimidation change to ‘show of force’? Please let us call a spade a spade and not a big spoon.

    The injustices under the Buhari administration are just too glaring, too blatant and too obnoxious. Arewa youths gave their fellow Nigerians a Quit Notice and they get a song and dance from the Buhari administration. IPOB youths who did not threaten other Nigerians get Python Dance from the same government. How is that fair?

    Ignorance is a disease and the Buhari administration appears to be heavily inflicted by this disease. If not, they ought to have known that no nation on earth has permanently put down a separatist movement by force of arms alone. History does not repeat itself. Men repeat history. The United States has 14 separatist movements. England invited her own separatist movements to form regional govt in Ireland and Scotland.

    In the case of Scotland, they even threw in a referendum into the bargain! President Buhari could have defeated Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB and its separatist agenda if he had only been equitable and just in his management of Nigeria. Buhari’s appointments overwhelmingly favour the North. The military and security agencies are almost entirely in the hands of not just Northerners, but core Northern Muslims. The chief of army staff is a core Northern Muslim from Borno.

    The National Security Adviser is similarly a core Northern Muslim from Borno. The Chief of staff to the President is likewise a core Northern Muslim from Borno. The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is, you guessed it-core Northern Muslim from Borno. The chief of air staff is a core Northern Muslim from Bauchi.

    The Inspector-General of Police is a Northern Muslim from Niger state. The Controller General of Prisons is a core Northern Muslim from Kebbi. The Comptroller General of Immigration is a core Northern Muslim from Jigawa. The Comptroller- General of the Nigerian Customs Service is a core Northern Muslim from Bauchi.

    The Director General of the Department of State Security Services is a core Northern Muslim from Katsina. The Chief of Defence Intelligence is a core Northern Muslim. These are the appointments in the security agencies. Even if you are a core Northern Muslim, as long as you fear God, you can see that this list is obviously lopsided in favour of the core North.

    In fact, the President has even stopped pretending. At the last eid-el-fitri, President Muhammadu Buhari discarded all pretense and addressed the nation in Hausa, the language of the core North. When you take into consideration his famous comment, to wit “the constituents, for example, gave me 97% cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%”, you can now see how alienated he has made the South feel from Nigeria.

    Since his swearing in as President of Nigeria, President Buhari has not seen it fur to visit the Southeast yet this is a man that said “I belong to everybody, and I belong to nobody” (never mind that he plagiarized Charles De Gaulle. If President Buhari wants to end the Biafran agitation, he needs to, with urgency, retrace his steps and start acting like he is the President of Nigeria, and not the President of core Northern Muslims only. The day he makes this paradigm shift, will mark the day that separatist agitation will start to fizzle out. President Buhari does not need guns to quell any separatist movement.

    All he needs is guts. Reno’s Nuggets This week’s nugget is very special to me. It is directed at one Peter Odumosu, a man who has for weeks been going around social media spreading false and wicked lies about me to the effect that I stole government money.

    In this regards he was helped by one Olumide Dada, a certain Dr. Yomi Ogunyemi and one Kola Arubayi who joined him to cast aspersions on my character that have no bearing on reality. To them I prayed to God whom I have served with what I believe is a pure conscience from my childhood, during my recent pilgrimage, that if their allegations against me are true may God punish me and do so publicly. However, if they have falsely accused me, may God fulfill the word He confirmed in 2 Thessalonians 1:6.

    Congratulations guys, you made it onto my column in ThisDay newspaper. To all of you I say the following If you see someone ‘flexing’, don’t hate or falsely accuse them of flexing ‘with other people money’. Instead, study what makes them flex. If you hate a successful person, you can NEVER attract what you hate.

    The Bible says “He that walks with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed”-Proverbs 13:20. The main reason haters don’t succeed, is because they walk with bitterness instead of walking with God! #RenosNuggets And to Enebeli Theo, Adamu Usman Attaboh, Ogbonnaya Kanu and Ebi Warekromo.

    I say God bless you for coming to my defense without being asked. That’s what true friends are for. And for all those who sat on the fence, joking and exchanging banters while these people engaged in the vilest form of character assassination, I pray that in your own time of false accusation, you will have friends like Enebeli Theo, Adamu Usman Attaboh, Ogbonnaya Kanu and Ebi Warekromo and not friends like yourselves. In Jesus’ name I seal all that I have written here.

    Reno Omokri is a Christian TV talk show host and founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center and the Helen and Bemigho Sanctuary for orphans. He is the author of the worldwide amazon #1 bestseller (Conspiracy Theory) Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years: Chibok, 2015 and Other Conspiracies and three books, Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, Why Jesus Wept and Apples of Gold: A Book of Godly Wisdom

  • Senate will meet security chiefs over tension in South East – Saraki

    The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said the Senate would meet with security chiefs to chart a path for resolution of contentious issues engendering tension in the South-East.

    He said that the meeting, expected to hold shortly, would address the tension in the South-East and the skirmishes in Plateau.

    Saraki said in a statement on Sunday in Abuja that security agencies, political and religious leaders must work for the promotion of dialogue as means for tackling agitations, to ensure peace in the country.

    In the statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, he urged all Nigerians to maintain peace and avoid statements or actions capable of aggravating the tension in parts of the country.

    The president of the senate said that the crises in the country were not unconnected to the economic challenges being faced by citizens.

    “The tension in some parts of the country has its roots substantially in the economic situation.

    “The nation should be assured that some of the legislative and executive actions taken to address the economic problems are beginning to yield fruits.

    “This is why we recently witnessed the rebound of the economy and the exit of the country from recession,” he said.

    He called for calm among the people, especially in the South-East and Plateau, saying that the government required the cooperation of everyone in solving all problems.

    “I want to appeal to our people to avoid stoking ethnic or religious fires. We should not deepen the fault lines of our nation and place citizens in danger of violence and sustained crises.

    “The government requires the support of all Nigerians and we should please give peace a chance. No real development or genuine economic activity can take place in the midst of crisis or tension.

    “Investments and development thrive only where there is peace,” Saraki said.

    He advised political, community and religious leaders to take actions that would douse the tension and reassure the people that the best way was for us to live together in peace and harmony.

    “All leaders at this point must canvass support for government and preach peace, love and harmony.

    “Once again, I plead with our people to avoid taking laws into their hands or antagonizing our neighbours,” he added.

  • South East govs have enslaved themselves – IPOB

    South East govs have enslaved themselves – IPOB

    The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday condemned the South East Governor’s Forum over their proscription of the activities of the organization which it described as most peaceful body in the world.

    In a statement signed by its media and publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, the organization said the speed with which the governors announced the proscription of IPOB activities had proved that the governors would remain slaves in the hands of their Hausa Fulani masters. According to IPOB, it was unfortunate that the governors declared the group as illegal without condemning the barbaric and unprovoked killings of IPOB people in Umuahia,

    According to IPOB, it was unfortunate that the governors declared the group as illegal without condemning the barbaric and unprovoked killings of IPOB people in Umuahia, Aba and Port Harcourt, as well as the continuous killing, raping of women and destruction of farm crops by herdsmen masquerading as cattle rearers in Biafra land.

    IPOB said: “We want to find out how the governors who do not know the foundations of IPOB, would make such a statement when they know that IPOB had staged 297 peaceful protests and rallies both at home and in Diaspora without a single record of violence or crime.

    With the record on ground, IPOB under Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is one of the most peaceful organized freedom fighting group in the world today. “It is dangerous that the governors who are the chief security officers of their respective states in the zone would decide to hand over their people to the enemies who were out to kill, maim and destroy because of their selfish reasons.

    “We are also aware that late Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and General Philip Effiong protected their people during the first pogrom and ethnic cleansing from 1966’to 1970.

    “These governors and their collaborators are in the forefront to eliminate our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other peaceful members of IPOB. It is on record that IPOB activities are peaceful since the inception and nobody can prove where and how IPOB activities became violent over night.

    “The solders brought in to eliminate or murder our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB members, including the innocent civilians across Biafra land, are still going from house to house picking anyone suspected to be IPOB or seen with any Biafra insignia. “IPOB under Mazi Nnamdi Kanu must remain a nonviolent group in the pursuit for Biafra freedom, despite the high handedness meted against IPOB members and our leader.”

  • Army/IPOB clash: South East Govs hold emergency meeting with GOC, 82 Division in Enugu [Photos]

    Sequel to a recent clash between the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and operatives of the Nigerian Army in Umuahia, Abia State, the South East Governors on Friday met with the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu, Maj.-Gen. Adamu Abubakar at the Government House in Enugu.

     

    See photos from the meeting below:

  • Army/IPOB clash:Nnamdi Kanu shuns meeting with South East governors, says ‘they want to assassinate me’

    The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has said he won’t honour Friday’s meeting with South East Governors in Enugu because the security agencies are working in collaboration to assassinate him on that day.

    The IPOB leader revealed this in a statement he personally signed on Wednesday.

    The statement reads: “Before now, prominent leaders and groups had insisted that I tow the line of peaceful dialogue and meet with the governors to find a lasting solution to our grievances. I conceded to that request which led to the 30th of August 2017 meeting with the South-East Governors Forum at the Government House in Enugu, in the company of the very eminent Prof. Ben Nwabueze and Evangelist Elliott Ugochukwu-Ukoh”.

    “In view of the concerted effort by the oppressive Nigerian state to shatter the peace and tranquility of the South-East and the rest of Biafraland through military intimidation, it has become necessary for me to clarify why, regrettably, I may not be able to attend Friday’s meeting with the South-East governors as earlier agreed, for three main reasons.

    “We are currently busy attending to our dead and injured from this latest round of unprovoked military onslaught against innocent civilians in our own land. All the casualties so far were shot by men of the Nigerian Army deployed to my house and those stationed along motor ways leading into Umuahia my hometown”.

    “I have been reliably informed also, that a detachment of these same soldiers responsible for the murder of innocent unarmed IPOB family members have now been stationed near Enugu to ambush and assassinate me on my way to the meeting with the governors on Friday.

    “On that same Friday the 15th of September 2017, the leadership of IPOB through the instrumentality of the Directorate of State (DOS) headquartered in Germany, will be meeting to vote on the viability or otherwise of continuing our struggle in this non-violent manner. There is urgent need to begin the process of defending ourselves in the face of relentless murderous attacks from the Nigerian state.

    “It is impossible to engage in any meaningful conversation with the governors in the midst of so much bloodshed, abductions and military siege of our town and villages. Accordingly, we will not engage in any meeting with anybody until the atmosphere is conducive and peaceful enough to allow for such.

    “The siren-blaring military convoys and armoured vehicles occupying the entire region is not only designed to intimidate our people but also deliberately primed to scuttle the IPOB/South-East governors meeting of Friday 15th September.

    “I would like to use this opportunity to thank all men and women of good conscience from all over the world that have risen to condemn the barbaric slaughter of innocent Biafrans by the Nigerian military.

    “Above all, I salute the steadfastness, devotion and total commitment to freedom from eternal slavery by the great IPOB family in Biafraland. I assure you that I remain resolute and dedicated to our shared vision of freedom regardless of the cost and visionless antics of the mindless oppressor.

    “We have since crossed the Red Sea and arrived at the shores of the promised land. We have our trumpets ready to begin the great march around the evil walls of Jericho, and I assure you that in no distant time, the walls of Jericho will come crashing down.

    “We can still hear the cries of Pharaoh and his horsemen as they are swallowed up by the Red Sea, chariots and all. Victory is ours! Victory is assured!!

    Collaborators and agents of the oppressor are hereby advised to embark on self-exile as there will be no hiding place for them”.

  • ‘Ongoing military operation against IPOB will only escalate tension…,’ South East senators warn FG

    Some Senators representing the Southeast have condemned the methods of the military operation, Operation Python Dance II, which was inaugurated a few days ago.

    In a statement made available to journalists yesterday, the chairman of the South-east Senate caucus said the Igbo senators viewed the military operation as one that could compromise their ongoing engagement with the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which the lawmakers suggested were exercising their constitutionally-backed rights.

    The ongoing operation was, according to the Army, intended to check kidnapping, banditry, assassination, secessionist activities within the region, amongst other forms of criminal activities.

    Their statement read, “We had hoped that our ongoing engagement with the group would be given a chance but here we are with a hurried military action deep into a highly populated area with a high propensity for casualty, which occurrence would rather escalate the already tense situation.

    “It is more worrisome that military operation, ‘Python Dance II,’ restricted to the South-east in a peace time, has no doubt fouled the environment and sent a strong signal that the region is under siege, which should not be so in a democracy.

    “We, therefore, urge extreme caution and advise the military to de-escalate the situation and choose the best operational modus that will not only guaranty the safety of Nigerians but also enhance national unity.

    “Nigeria is not at war, people are only exercising their constitutional and universally guaranteed rights, so far they are carrying on in a manner that has never given room to violence which could warrant a wholesale military expedition.”

  • South-south, South-east governors to meet in Rivers August 27

    South-south, South-east governors to meet in Rivers August 27

    Governors from the South-south/South-east geopolitical zones will meet on August 27, 2017, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, Rivers State by 7 p.m.

    Interim Chairman of the South-south/South-east Governors’ Forum and Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, made the announcement on Wednesday.

    Emmanuel, in a statement, said the meeting would provide another avenue for deliberation between the governors of the states in the regions on issues of regional and national interest, with a view to solidifying the ties that bind the people of the states together.

    Emmanuel added that the meeting would also explore areas of economic, socio-cultural and political cooperation between the states to the overall benefit of the citizens and residents of the regions.

    “I hereby extend an invitation to all the governors in the two regions to attend the meeting as a follow up to the successful inaugural meeting held in Enugu on July 9, 2017,” he said.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the governors had earlier met on Sunday, July 9.

    They discussed restructuring and re-echoed calls for the implementation of the 2014 national conference resolutions, among others.

    The also said it was regrettable that the entire South-East has only 5 percent allocation out of the entire power generated in the country.

  • President ‘Okechukwu’ Buhari will meet all needs of South East – Adesina

    Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina has assured the people of Southeastern Nigeria that President Muhammadu ‘Okechukwu’ Buhari will meet all the demands of the region.

    Adesina made the revelation while addressing a coalition of south-east youth visited the villa to declare support for Buhari, on Tuesday, Adesina said the region would get its fair share from the government.

    He furthered, “The fact that a coalition from the south-east region has come to mount this solidarity rally for him is very significant because some mischief makers always say that the south-east region is not with the president, that is not true,” he said.

    “It was in the south-east region that he was given the name Okechukwu during the campaign, it was in the south-east in Abia precisely that Eze Ikot Nne gave him a traditional title. So, we know that every part of this country approves the leadership of President Muhammadu Okechukwu Buhari.

    “Last week, youth from south-south region were here to also show their solidarity with him. This gives us confidence that no matter what anybody does, no matter the antics of people who plot mischief, Nigeria will remain one.”

    Adesina said the president would do everything within his power to keep the country as one.

    “You must have heard our president yesterday (Monday) in his nationwide address when he said whatever it takes Nigeria will be kept together. And I tell you, whatever it takes this president he will keep the country together,” he said.

    “Therefore, anybody who is planning something else should know that it’s just a mere waste of time, is like beating a dead horse which is share waste of energy. Nigeria will remain as one, President Muhammadu Buhari will keep the country together.

    “And I also want to promise on his behalf that the southeast will get its due during the time of President Muhammadu Okechukwu Buhari. The roads in the region will be fixed, the second Niger Bridge will be done, everything, infrastructure, positions, offices, all that the centre needs to do for the region, the south east region will get its own fair share. Thank you very much God be with you all.”