As concerns grow over the ongoing move by the federal
authorities to re-arrest leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),
Nnamdi Kanu, groups across the geopolitical zones have described it as a“costly
mistake” and warned of dire consequences.
In a statement issued at the weekend by the Eastern
Consultative Assembly (ECA) and Igbo Leaders of Thought said the federal
government which has been floundering with one political mistake after the
other should restrain itself from plunging the nation into more crises by
angling to re-arrest the IPOB leader.
The ECA which is a coalition of several civil society groups
noted in the statement signed by its secretary, Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko, who also
doubles as Deputy Secretary of Igbo Leaders of Thought, said the government at
the centre has continued to portray itself as “a parochial and ethnic-driven
government” in its actions and policies hence the bias in handling case of IPOB
and its leader.
“Any attempt to re-arrest Kanu, especially without arresting
the quit notice givers, genocidal song writers and herdsmen-murderers will
spell doom for Nigeria.
May the world never say nobody told them. Those plotting the re-arrest of Kanu
do not know how deeply divided Nigeria
is at the moment. It will be a miracle if Nigeria
survives this re-arrest agenda.”
“The agenda to re-arrest Kanu, agreed by the political
class, sponsored by those fiercely opposed to the restructuring of Nigeria
and endorsed by those who hate our people with passion, will permanently alter
the Nigeria
political firmament. This is probably ordained by God,” the statement said.
The group recalled that “for close to two years, the world
has been regaled by series of childish mistakes by the Nigeria
government, as regards to the manner the federal government has handled
agitation for self-determination.”
It therefore noted: “The decision to re-arrest the most
popular easterner alive today in the belief that nothing will happen, is a very
costly mistake (and) there will be consequences, from which Nigeria
might never recover.
“Arresting him in October 2015 was a big mistake. Denying
him bail was another mistake. Executing his followers in cold blood in Aba,
Onitsha, Asaba and Nkpor, a much
bigger mistake. And now, re-arresting a man who commands the fanatical
following of millions of angry young men will definitely spur grave surprises
for us all, head or tail. Nigeria
will never be the same after Kanu’s re-arrest.”
Meanwhile, groups in the Niger Delta and Middle Belt have
equally voiced their opposition to the move by the federal government to
re-arrest the Biafran leader, saying the entire nation would bear the
consequences of such action.
Speaking from the Niger Delta, the leader of the Afra
Descendants Movement (a pan- Ijaw ethnic organisation), Jene Kalada, said any
attempt to re- arrest Kanu would only exacerbate the already bad political
situation in Nigeria.
Kalada who voiced the concerns of Niger groups on phone,
said the federal government should know that the Niger Delta people “fully
support the Biafra agitation adding that the ongoing move to re- arrest Kanu
was ‘a step in the wrong direction because it negates the spirit of unity the
government claims it wants to achieve.’”
He argued that re-arresting Kanu would bring no solution to
the rising ethnic tensions in the country but rather it would “postpone or even
bring nearer the doom’s day,” adding that the demand for self- determination
did not amount to treason.
From the Middle Belt, an activist, Dr. John Danfulani, said
the consequences of re-arresting Kanu should not be taken lightly as it would
definitely spell doom for the nation.
He pointed out that there was no doubt that Kanu had so far
conducted his activities peacefully and had done nothing to be labelled a
threat to national security “when in fact obvious threats to national security
are ignored and allowed to fester.
Danfulai, who is from Southern Kaduna,
warned: “I don’t see the security agents ready and capable of containing the
fall out together with the Boko Haram insurgence in the North-east. So, the
best is to avoid any action capable of unleashing anarchy in the land.”
The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide, the umbrella body of
all youths from Ijaw land, yesterday alleged that the federal government was
institutionalising double standards in the running of the nation’s affairs.
President of the group, Mr. Eric Omare, in a statement in
Yenagoa, national headquarters of the IYC, specifically noted that the planned
re-arrest of Kanu was not only unfair but smacks of double standards.
He argued that the federal government partiality had even
become more obvious given that the Arewa youth leaders that threatened to evict
Igbo people from the North were neither arrested nor firmly reprimanded.
According to the group, many Niger Delta agitators are also
languishing in various jails in the country, while the Arewa youths are being
feted by state governments in the North.
Also, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign
State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said any attempt by the federal government to
re-arrest Kanu will be resisted by the people of the South-east zone.
The group described media reports credited to Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in which he
requested the Federal High Court to revoke the bail given to IPOB leader as the
“height of insensitivity’ and unwarranted ‘intimidation.”
The group in a statement by its leader, Uchenna Madu and
made available to journalists in Enugu
yesterday, said Kanu’s non-violent activities towards Biafra
actualisation and restoration have never breached, truncated or confronted the
“fragile and inconsistent constitution of this federation called Nigeria.”
He said the minister’s request was born out of “mischief and
ignorance,” stressing that the federal government was indirectly trying to
overheat the polity. “Even the Interior Minister, Abdurahman Dambazzu, a Fulani
man defended his Hausa Fulani youths of Arewa that threatened the people of
Biafra with an ultimatum of quit notice to vacate Arewa land before October 1,
2017 that the coalition of the Arewa youths were misquoted by the media,” he
noted.
