The pan-Igbo sociocultural organization Ohaneze Nd Igbo issued a statement on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in response to the statement made by the Nigeria chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Yahaya Faruk over the heinous murders of family members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who innocently staged a peaceful protest on March 31, 2023, in the suburban city of Aba, Aba State, demanding the unconditional release of their leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, as the supreme Court of Appeal had ordered.
Gen. Yahaya in an occasion in Abuja on Monday 3, April 2023 had made the supporting proclamation of killings of north of 10 IPOB dissidents by the joint assignment of the military and police. He also said that cruel acts like these would continue because, in his words, “those who protested were threatening the integrity of Nigeria” and deserve what they got.
This prompted the national publicity secretary of Ohaneze and Igbo, Mr. Alex Ogbonnaya, to respond to the general’s statement and the killings; describing it as heinous, unethical, and igbophobic.
Ohaneze also proved wrong the false claim made by the Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mustapha Bala Mohammed, that the protesters attacked the security guards. “On 31/03/2023 at approximately 11.45 hours, policemen on confidence building patrol/show of force within Aba metropolis came under attack by the proscribed IPOB/ESN members,” the commissioner’s report stated.
They had petrol bombs, machetes, battle axes, and other potentially lethal weapons. The attack was stopped by police with few casualties, and the majority of the criminals fled for safety.
In response, Mr. Alex Ogbonnaya attested that the chief’s report was misleading as well as shocking, as discoveries showed that the IPOB dissidents dressed on white formal attires, were neither outfitted nor shown any type of brutal unfortunate activities towards the security agents during their parade across the city.
Ogbonnaya also stated that, despite the fact that the Ohaneze group does not entirely support the IPOB’s campaign for Nigeria’s independence, it does support the underlying cause, which is the decades-long abuse of Nd Igbo in Nigeria by their collective Northern and Western counterparts.
In addition, he maintained that neither military repression nor state-sponsored extrajudicial killings by security personnel are the only options for resolving the IPOB agitation. The publicity secretary for Ohaneze advised the Nigerian president to heed the call and to warn his security officers about their “selective profiling” of tribal members.
The heinous murder of IPOB peaceful protesters has sparked widespread outrage and dissatisfaction across the entire South East, with numerous organizations and individuals describing it as cowardly and deliberate.
Keep in mind that another Igbo sociocultural organization called the Coalition of South East Youths Leaders (COSEYL) had condemned the incident in a previous Family Writers Press International (FWPI) report. In that report, they said that the Nigerian army was hiding under the guise of military operations in the peaceful region to launch vengeful depopulation programs against the youth and natives of South Eastern Nigeria. Read It Here: Nigerian Security Forces Are Not Participating in Peace Mission in the South East – COSEYL Alarms IPOB has vowed to avenge the deaths of its members and has urged the international community and foreign institutions that maliciously shine a spotlight on her activities to get involved right away and hold the Nigerian government accountable.
Reporting for Family Writers Press International is Enenienwite Ikechukwu.