New Telegraph

Kanu: Ohanaeze slams Malami, says he has crossed ‘red line’

*Insists any unwarranted attack on IPOB is attack on entire Igbo

 

Kenneth Ofoma, Enug

The pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has expressed anger at the levying of all manner of criminal allegations on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and its detained leader Nnamdi Kanu by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) despite the ongoing trial of the IPOB leader.

In a release issued to journalists by Chief Alex Ogbonnia, National Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze in Enugu on Sunday, the apex Igbo group said it was uncharitable to blame IPOB for violence committed by the #EndSARS protesters in Lagos and other parts of the country even when none of those arrested by the police for those offences is Igbo.

He said: “In October 2020, young people across Nigeria took to the streets calling for disbanding an abusive police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and for ending brutality in a movement tagged #EndSARS. As part of the protest, rampaging #EndSARS youths besieged the palace of the Oba of Lagos on Wednesday, October 21 and various forms of destruction were recorded.

“In the aftermath of the attack on the Lagos monarch’s palace, the Lagos Police Command swept into action and some arrests were made. The police brought 15 suspects before a Lagos State Magistrate Court sitting at Ogba, in the Ikeja magisterial district, with charges bordering on theft and felony.

“The court documents with the charge number CR/MISC/ES/L/002020 revealed that all the suspects charged by the Nigerian Police are Messrs Eniafe Olawale, Gbenga Ajayi, Lamidi Rafiu, Oladunmoye Ayodeji, Soliu Tajudeen, Ahmed Olayinka, Samuel Damilola, Wasiu Grewa, Habib Salit, Nurudeen Yusuf, Safiu Quadri Lekan, Afolabi Lukuman and Yusuf Babalola.”

Ohanaeze was therefore miffed that Malami during a press conference on Friday, accused Kanu and IPOB of “instigating others to attack public properties, security agents, civilians and any other perceived enemy using Radio Biafra as a major means of communication”.

Malami went further to state that there were several IPOB/ESN attacks and destruction (arson) of public and private properties during the #EndSARS and Biafra agitations across the country, especially in the South-East and South-South regions, notably the Palace of the Oba of Lagos where 12 flats were completely looted and vandalized.

Malami also claimed that: “Over 150 buses were burnt at the Lagos Bus Terminal, Sen. Ndoma Egba’s home in Calabar Municipal, Cross River State, was completely looted and vandalized.”

The AGF also claimed that some prominent Nigerians like the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Ahmed Gulak was killed by IPOB, among others.

Ohanaeze stressed that IPOB is mostly populated by the Igbo and that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide and the Leader of IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu are united against the orchestrated marginalization of the Igbo in one Nigeria.

“For instance, the South East of Nigeria has the least number of states compared to other six geopolitical zones in the country; the least number of local government areas, the least number of seats in the Senate, the least number of seats in the House of Representatives, the least in the federal budget allocations, least in the distribution of constituency projects, zero representation in the headship of the security architecture of Nigeria, zero minister in grade A category of the ministries, unemployment to Igbo Youths; and indeed obvious conspiracy against the South East in every sector of the Nigeria polity.

“The major roads passing through the South East, namely, the Enugu Onitsha road, Enugu Port Harcourt road, Oturkpo-Enugu road, etc are death traps. In addition, the Fulani herdsmen roam about with AK 47 rifles, ravage the farms of the Igbo rural dwellers, debauch their women, abduct their men, maim and kill, and no arrest is made by the relevant authorities.

“The point of divergence between the Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the IPOB is that while the former believes that the Igbo ingenuity will find full expression in a restructured Nigeria, the latter appears to be tired of the age-long marginalization of the Igbo in a country they have sacrificed so much to build.

“In other words, the IPOB are our children and we owe them undiluted love, duty and responsibility. Therefore, any unwarranted attack on IPOB is an attack on the entire Igbo.”

Ohanaeze said that from the names of arrested suspects it was easy to see that Malami was merely engaging in shenanigans.

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