IPOB alleges unfair treatment of members
Former Enugu State Governor, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, yesterday, urged his kinsmen to shelve the emotional sentiments over the 2023 elections and support the incoming administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Nnamani, in a statement, affirmed that Tinubu would be sworn in as President on May 29, 2023, saying: “Our leaders and people should join other ethnic nationalities to negotiate for accruals from the joint Commonwealth of Nigeria as soon as possible.
“In God’s time, Igbo elite will shake off the shackles of politico-visceral emotion, unreasonable petulance of her youth and twin apathy and non-chalance of her elders.
“Ndigbo should join the comity of other ethnic nationalities of Nigeria to share equitably her palaver and resource accruals.”The senator said he believed that Tinubu’s administration would be fair and just in the allocation and distribution of resources to all Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic or religious affiliations.
MEANWHILE, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has alleged that unfair treatment has been persistently meted out to the Igbo ethnic group and also unfair treatment of its members in the country.
In a statement, yesterday, titled, “The Unfair Treatment Being Meted Out To The Igbo Ethnic Group Persists,”, the IPOB Spokesman, Emma Powerful, stated: “We are surprised that the Nigerian government and its security agencies, especially the army and police, allowed the Shiite Islamic group who protested peacefully twice in Abuja to do so without humiliation or attack, but murdered IPOB members who were protesting peacefully in Aba, Abia State, for asking for the unconditional release of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, on April 3, 2023.
“It is now on record that Ndigbo are not wanted in Nigeria owing to the hatred shown to us and we must organise ourselves immediately and leave Nigeria for other nationalities that are allowed to act freely.
“We are not wanted in Nigeria as it has been demonstrated by the Fulani government of Nigeria.”
“On the 30th of March, the members of the Islamic Shiite Movement of Nigeria, embarked on a peaceful protest around the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, to compel the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to release the seized international passport of their leader -Sheik Ibrahim Elzakzaky, to enable him to travel out of the country for a medical treatment”.
According to him, during this peaceful protest within the FCT, the combined team of the Nigeria Security Agents led by the Nigeria Police Force visited the protesters and peacefully dispersed the crowd with mere teargas, and nothing more. There were no casualties recorded, and no arrests were made.
“But on the 6th day of April 2023, the members of the Islamic Shiites Movement of Nigeria again embarked on another peaceful protest within the FCT. And again, no arrests were made, and no casualties were recorded.
“On the 3rd day of April 2023, members of the non-violent Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) staged a peaceful protest in Aba, Abia state to demand for the release of their leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who is still being illegally and unconstitutionally detained in solitary confinement at the facility and dungeon of the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters in Abuja, in violation of the Order of the Court of Appeal that directed that he should be unconditionally released from the DSS custody and should not be sued in any court in Nigeria again.
“We are calling on the American State Department, the UK government, its home office, the GTI group, and other reputable Western world institutions to observe the things that the Nigeria government is doing to Ndigbo in Nigeria. We ask that the world not blame us when we start to employ self-defense”.
Part of the IPOB Statement reads “The members of IPOB who were peacefully protesting were brutally attacked by the same combined team of the Nigeria Security Agents led by the Nigeria Police Force.
“During the bloody attack on the non-violent and unarmed protesters, fifty (50) persons were gruesomely murdered in broad day light, and five dead bodies were confiscated by the Nigerian Security Agents. Over one hundred and fifty (150) persons were arrested and taken to an undisclosed location, and until today, they have not been seen.
“You will understand that the members of the Islamic Shiites Movement of Nigeria conducted their peaceful protest in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory and not even in Kaduna state. Yet, they were neither attacked nor gruesomely killed. Please recall that this group is still politically proscribed in Nigeria by the Nigeria government.
“Unfortunately, for a similar peaceful protest, the non-violent members of IPOB were not dispersed with teargas but brutally attacked, killed, corpses confiscated, and harmless protesters arrested and taken to undisclosed locations.”
Asking where there is fairness in this matter, Powerful continued “ Sadly and unfortunately, this goes to clearly reveal that there are different laws for different groups and nationalities in Nigeria.
“We are, therefore, calling on the Federal Government of Nigeria and other international bodies and communities especially Amnesty International and other reputable human rights organisations across the globe to wade into the recent genocidal massacre in Aba, Abia State and call Nigeria security agents to order. You must direct for the immediate release of the corpses of those killed to their families for proper burial, as well as the immediate release of the 150 peaceful protesters arrested and taken away.”
