The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Yoruba traditional rulers, Afenifere leaders, and Gani Adams to stop the attacks on Igbos.
IPOB asked the Yoruba leaders to stop those trying to ignite an ethnic war in Lagos State and the Southwest in general.
The group lamented that there was a plot to pitch Igbos against Yorubas in Lagos and the Southwest.
In a statement made available to journalists on Thursday, March 9, 2023, the spokesman of IPOB, Emma Powerful, urged Igbos in Lagos and the Southwest to defend themselves against all forms of ethnic agenda.
The statement reads partly: “IPOB is urging Ndigbo and Biafrans in general resident in the Western region Nigeria particularly in Lagos, to be very vigilant and be prepared and ready to defend themselves and their businesses against thugs and criminals if the Nigerian security apparatus is incapable of or unwilling to protect them.
“That same evil bird that sang in the 60s is singing again. Fulani cabals rigged the 2023 election to set Ndigbo up against the Yorubas. But we are so much wiser now, and we hope that Yoruba people will not fall into the script of the Fulani caliphate. The political thugs and criminals hired to terrorise and burn down properties belonging to Ndigbo should know that they have no monopoly on violence, hence, must be prepared to receive at least as much as they give.
“IPOB is urging the Lagos State Governor, Yoruba Traditional rulers, their opinion moulders, politicians, Afenifere leaders particularly Gani Adams to do all that is necessary to stop these criminals and their sponsors in their track to avoid igniting a fire that will pitch us against each other while the Fulani Caliphate is standing on the sideline laughing at us. These thugs must be compelled to desist from further attacking and bullying Ndigbo that are doing their legitimate business in Lagos.
“Lagos government should know that 2023 is not 1993 and Igbos will defend themselves against these criminals with whatever means is available to them.
“We are making this requests in good faith so that tomorrow none should wake up to tell the story from the middle that Ndigbo are fighting their host community.
“The leaders and elders in Yoruba land should call the criminals terrorising Igbos and their sponsors to order before things degenerate into dangerous and unimaginable dimensions. Igbo leaders and Traditional Rulers should equally speak out to their Yoruba counterparts. Nobody should blame Ndigbo and the youths for defending themselves against ethnic cleansing and impoverishment agenda.”
‘IPOB kidnapped our female lieutenant’ – Nigerian Army Vows To Rescue Her
Authorities of the Nigerian Army, on Friday, December 30, 2022, said that one of its officers, Lieutenant PP Johnson who was abducted on Monday, December 26, 2022, by suspected IPOB/ESN militants in Imo state while visiting her grandmother, is yet to be released contrary to insinuations to that effect.
This is just as the Army has vowed that it will leave no stone unturned in its effort to rescue the officer and bring the perpetrators to book.
Onyema Nwachukwu, the director of Army Public Relations, who made this known on Friday, December 30, 2022, said, “The Nigerian Army wishes to state that the information making the rounds is unsubstantiated as the officer is yet to be released or rescued from her abductors.
“Likewise, the video footage being circulated and associated with the rescue claim is an old video of the arrest of a suspect earlier effected by troops.
The statement reads further, “The attention of the Nigerian Army (NA) has been drawn to some publications circulating in the social media insinuating the rescue of Lieutenant PP Johnson, a female officer who was abducted on Monday 26 December 2022 while visiting her grandmother in Aku-Okigwe in Imo state, shortly after completion of her Cadet training and subsequent commissioning as a Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army.
“A video footage of her abduction had emerged in the social media where her abductors claimed her abduction was in line with their fight for Biafra against the Nigerian State.
“It is instructive that the officer’s circumstance as a woman and a Nigerian citizen of South Eastern extraction did not dissuade her abductors from dehumanizing her in their mindless attempt to commit atrocities under the guise of fighting for Biafra.
This evidently is another pointer to the myriads of crimes being unleashed by IPOB/ESN on Ndigbo, the very people they claim to be fighting for their emancipation.
“It should therefore be crystal clear to those who are still in doubt of the true status of these groups, that IPOB/ESN are terrorists, masquerading as freedom fighters and do not deserve the support of anyone particularly the good people of South East Nigeria.
“Much as we appreciate the concern and goodwill of the general public for her safe rescue, we also wish to note that the information on the rescue of the officer did not emanate from the NA.
“The Nigerian Army will leave no stone unturned in its effort to rescue the officer and bring the perpetrators to book.
“We appeal to the general public to provide credible and reliable information that could lead to her safe rescue and arrest of the perpetrators.”
Source: Daily Post
