Over seven thousands members of the
Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday, shut down markets and
all commercial activities in Nnewi, Anambra State in solidarity protest
for the release of the Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who
has been incarcerated by the Directorate of State Services, DSS, for
over one month.
Members of the IPOB mobilized from Onitsha, Asaba, Awka, Ekwulobia,
Awka-Etiti, Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi and Abia states, converged at Nnewi from
where they marched to the house of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu to ask for his blessing even in death.
This came as constitutional lawyer and leader of eminent group of Nigerians, The Patriots, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN), admonished the groups to have a re-think over their renewed calls for the state of Biafra.
According to one of the commanders, of IPOB, Mr. Emeka Onwane, the
protest was a warning signal to the Federal Government to make sure that
Kanu, who he said, would appear in court today is released without
further delay.
Onwane
said they decided to shut down Nnewi and made sure there were no
commercial and business activities to further press home their demand
for Kanu’s release without which he said there would be no peace in
Nigeria.
He said the protest would last for three days, and they chose Nnewi
for the mother of all rallies as it is the home-town of the former
Biafra war lord, late Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu.
“IPOB is looking up to the international community including the
United States, Russia, France and every other countries excluding
Britain which is the enemy of Biafra. We are not talking about Igbo
presidency; we are talking about an independent nation of Biafra. So, we
are looking up to world leaders to help us actualize Biafra,” he said.
The protesters moved from St. Mary Junction to Nkwo Nnewi market,
down to the express way leading to Nnewi Area Command, through Odumegwu
Ojukwu’s residence to Owerri Road, Nkwo Nnewi Triangle and later headed
for Awka-Etiti through Nnobi.
Onwane said their journey was an endless one but assured that it
would all be peaceful as they displayed placards with inscriptions as
‘Free Nnamdi Kanu,’ ‘Free Biafra,’ ‘No Biafra, no peace,’ ‘We want
Biafra now,’ ‘Biafra now or never.’
Strict warning
In Aba, Abia State, members of the group warned traders across markets not to open for business today.
Vanguard gathered that IPOB members visited Ariaria
International, Ngwa Road, Cemetery and Ekeoha markets with public
address system announcing to the traders to shut their shops.
A cross section of traders, who spoke to Vanguard, condemned the order and appealed to the IPOB members to allow the markets open.
According to them: ”They should allow the markets open. Any trader,
who wants to join the protest is free, but a total closure of the market
will hurt us severely.”
A trader, Mrs. Nwamaka Nnadi, who also faulted the ‘order,’ said the
announcement warning traders to steer clear of the markets started on
Sunday, as some pro Biafra agitators were observed in some areas,
‘spreading the message.’
Pledging their loyalty
But traders under the aegis of South-East Amalgamated Markets Traders
Association, SEAMATA, yesterday, stated that they were in total
support of the pro-Biafra groups but condemned the invasion of markets
by the agitators.
The traders said that contrary to media reports that they were
against Biafra agitation, they were indeed in support of the efforts to
restore Biafra through non-violence and not through violent agitation as
obtained in the recent protests embarked upon by the agitators during
which they forcefully entered into the markets and harassed the traders
for opening their shops.
President-General of SEAMATA, Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo in a press
statement he jointly signed with the Secretary-General, Mr. Temple Udeh,
noted that in as much as the traders support the movement for the
state of Biafra, they were in total condemnation of a situation where
the pro-Biafra agitators/protesters allowed themselves to be infiltrated
by some miscreants who cashed in on the protest to loot and do all
sorts of things in the markets.
SEAMATA further stated that the invasion of the markets by Biafra
supporters in the name of protest which led to vandalization and
destruction of shops, vehicles and other valuables belonging to their
fellow Igbo was not only condemnable but unacceptable.
He added: “To set the record straight and for the purpose of clarity,
the traders are not challenging the constitutional right of peaceful
assembly of any one. We only condemn the attitude of the protesters (or
miscreants that infiltrated them) that went into markets, chased the
traders out and closed the entrances to the market”.
Uwazuruike expelled
In a new twist, the crisis rocking the MASSOB which led to the
factionalization of the group, with Chief Ralph Uwazuruike leading one
group and his National Director of Information heading another group,
yesterday, deepened and led to the alleged expulsion of Uwazuruike and
installation of Uchenna Madu as the new national leader of MASSOB.
The installation of Madu took place after the national officers
including the zonal and regional administrators of the group formally
announced the expulsion of Chief Uwazuruike as MASSOB national leader in
an event that was witnessed by even non-MASSOB members.
While Madu became the new leader in acting capacity for six months, Ugwuoke Ibem Ugwuoke, emerged the National Secretary.
MASSOB warned Uwazuruike “to stop parading himself as MASSOB leader or using Ojukwu’s name to dupe Ndigbo or garner personal fame to pursue his political ambition.”
The members also indicted the sacked MASSOB leader of allegedly
defrauding the members through “the introduction of the Biafra
international passport, a gross and dubious means through which he
generated about N100 million for himself.
“The over N40 million realized from the dedication of the Biafran war
veterans home in Okwe, built by MASSOB members, was diverted to
Uwazuruike’s personal purse,” the group alleged.
No to secession
But speaking yesterday in Lagos at a press conference to announce the
4th Goddy Jidenma Foundation bi-annual Public Lecture, entitled:
‘Leadership, Responsibility & Good Governance,’ holding on
Wednesday, December 3, at the Nigerian Institute of International
Affairs, NIIA, Victoria Island, Lagos, Professor Nwabueze, who blamed
the nation’s leadership problem, for the renewed agitations for the
state of Biafra, however, advised the protesting youths that the answer
to their genuine grievances did not lie in secession.
According to Nwabueze, who was flanked by the Principal Solicitor,
Zik Chuka Obi & Co and Dr. Ije Jidenma, Executive Secretary, GJF,
and wife of the late Goddy Jidenma, clamping down on pro-Biafra
protesters or sending them to prison is not the solution to the
problem. This was a problem that led us to war. What did we achieve by
that war? Did we achieve Biafra? We didn’t. Is there any basis to think
that it can be realised this time? Are we more prepared for it now than
we were in 1967. Certainly not, we aren’t prepared for it.”
Speaking further, he said: “However, we must not condemn the people
that are agitating. The present administration must look at the root
cause of their protests. These people protesting are all young people.
Some of them have not been employed for over 10 years after graduating
from the university.
“In my own time, graduate unemployment was unknown. There was nothing
like that. The unrest we are witnessing today is caused by this
anomaly.
“Tied to this, the recent actions of President Buhari contributes to
this unrest. Buhari made 24 key appointments, not a single one came from
the South-East. What do you expect the youths from that area to feel.
They will feel that they have been deprived of that sense of belonging.
They will feel that they don’t belong to Nigeria. If by the President’s
actions, he’s saying they don’t belong to Nigeria, then, they will start
agitation for Biafra, where they can belong.
“People may describe this feeling as an illusion, but I must say that
the feeling is already there. You can’t say to a man who is aggrieved
that he has no right to be aggrieved. Address the source of the
grievances. Correct your own approach to leadership. Make them feel that
they belong. That’s the answer. The answer is not clamping them to
prisons.”
The former Nigerian Secretary of Education, however, advised the
leadership of MASSOB and IPOB to change their names, noting that the
names they currently bear act as a clog in the wheel of their causes.
“I have said it in the past that there is something wrong with the
name that pro-Biafra groups are using for their cause. As the pioneer
Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a position I held for 25 years, I
had meetings with the leader of MASSOB, Ralph Uwazurike, where I told
him the honest truth, that look, you may have something up, but the name
MASSOB, defeats your cause. Therefore, you must change the name. How
can you be talking about actualisation of a sovereign state within a
sovereign state. That’s treasonable. The name alone is treasonable.You
can see that the authorities are charging the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi
Kanu and others for treason. Although, I have called for his immediate
release and have asked that he comes to see me when he’s released. I
want to see him. The name should be changed. MASSOB is there, IPOB is
also there. So, which is which? The name should be changed,” he
insisted.
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