News - South East - Anambra
Updated: December 19, 2020

Biafra: ‘Buhari Govt Wrong To Have Proscribed IPOB’

By Ridwan Yusuf
December 19, 2020
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Hundreds of pro-Biafra supporters wave flags and chant songs as they march through the streets of Aba, southeastern Nigeria, to call for the release of a key activist on November 18, 2015. The protesters support the creation of a breakaway state of Biafra in the southeast and want the release of Nnamdi Kanu, who is believed to be a major sponsor of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and director of the pirate radio station Radio Biafra. (Photo credit: PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)

Anambra State President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene has called on the Nigerian Government to erase the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) because, he argued, the organization does not threaten lives and property, AllNews reports.

IPOB is a group canvassing for the sovereignty of Eastern Nigeria.

It is led by British-Nigerian activist, Nnamdi Kanu.

Addressing reporters recently in Awka, the Anambra state capital, Okeke-Ogene urged security operatives to concentrate more in the Northeast to end the unwanted killings by those who, he said, hate the unity of Nigeria.

He described as unfortunate and unacceptable the declaration of IPOB as a terrorist organization.

Okeke-Ogene, who is aspiring for the position of national vice president of Ohanaeze in the election slated for January, 2021, said it was unfortunate that a group that does not carry arms could be labeled terrorist.

He wondered why the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has refused to prosecute killer herdsmen, bandits and other dangerous groups responsible for the kidnapping and killings going on in the northern part of Nigeria.

He said: “Have you ever heard that IPOB kidnapped or killed anybody unjustly?

"Why should the government go to court within 24hrs after a misunderstanding between Operation Python Dance II of the Nigerian Army and IPOB without a proper investigation and declared the group a terrorist organization, while those with intention of tarnishing the image of the country before the international community are operating freely in the society without any government action?

“The Federal Government was totally wrong in declaring IPOB a terrorist organisation.”

According to him, IPOB is a group of young men of Igbo extraction that do assemble when the need arises to deliberate on issues affecting their welfare and the region as enshrined in Nigeria Constitution.

“I think that what we should do as one people is for us to continue to pray and work together to ensure that the current security challenges tormenting the country come to an end and not to tag a particular group in a region that happens to be the safest region in Nigeria, as terrorist organization,” Okeke-Ogene stated.