Fani-Kayode lists other groups FG may proscribe after IPOB

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, says the Nigerian government may go after other groups, now that Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been proscribed.

This is contained in an article he released on Wednesday.
Fani-Kayode wrote: “It is IPOB today but tomorrow, it could be OPC, Ijaw Youth Council, Ohanaeze, Afenifere, Middle Belt Forum, Arewa Youths, Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum or indeed anyone else.

“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation that has not killed or threatened to kill anyone and that has totally rejected the idea of violence and an armed struggle.

“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation whose only aspiration is to have a referendum to determine whether or not their people should or should not remain in Nigeria.

“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation whose only objective is the peaceful and lawful exercise of the right of self-determination.

“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation whose only crime is to take objection to the stripping away of their historical and cultural identity and to speak out against the willful marginalisation and mass murder of their people.

“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation who believe in passive and non-violent resistance and who consistently emphasise the importance of peaceful opposition.

“Saying that IPOB is a terrorist organisation is like saying that Mother Theresa is the Marquis De Sade. It is like saying that an angel from heaven is a demon from hell. It is like saying that Little Red Riding Hood is the hungry and ravenous wolf.”

Fani-Kayode recently alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari has an agenda to “wipe off” IPOB, its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and the “Igbo race”.

According to him, “Since when has it been acceptable or the norm to unleash the dogs of war against a group of innocent, unarmed and defenceless young people and their colourful leader simply because they dared to ask for a referendum?

“The fact of the matter is that whether anyone likes it or not, the attempt to break, subjugate, demonise, belittle, vilify and wipe out the Igbo race through the auspices of intimidation, disinformation, manipulation of the media, mass murder and ethnic cleansing by the Buhari administration shall fail.

“The truth is that this whole thing is not about IPOB but about the consistent expression of an irrational, illogical and pathological hatred of the Igbos by the maximum ruler of the Nigerian state.

“And if he gets away with it and manages to achieve his sinister and nefarious objective he will come after the Yoruba, the Ijaw, the Tiv and everyone else in a matter of time!

“That is why it is important to refuse to be intimidated, to stand firm, to hold the line, to resist him with every fibre of our being and to insist on the restructuring and the renegotiation of Nigeria”, the former presidential spokesman added.

Python Dance: Graphic Photos of People Killed by Soldiers in Aba Today

Multiple online reports coming in from Aba, Abia state – have it that soldiers are currently dispersing rioting members of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB with live bullets. According to an eyewitness, Ikemefula Nobart who has been giving live updates from the situation at hand, the military men shot live bullets directly at citizens in order to disperse the surging crowd.
 

Meanwhile, a tailor popularly known as Imo and another man were allegedly gunned down by bullets fired by the security operatives during the chaos along market road in Aba, Abia state capital.

North Korea threatens to 'sink' Japan, reduce U.S. to 'ashes and darkness'

By Jack Kim and Kiyoshi Takenaka

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - A North Korean state agency threatened on Thursday to use nuclear weapons to "sink" Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution and sanctions over its latest nuclear test.

The Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which handles the North's external ties and propaganda, also called for the breakup of the Security Council, which it called "a tool of evil" made up of "money-bribed" countries that move at the order of the United States.

"The four islands of the archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche. Japan is no longer needed to exist near us," the committee said in a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.

Juche is the North's ruling ideology that mixes Marxism and an extreme form of go-it-alone nationalism preached by state founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader, Kim Jong Un.

Regional tension has risen markedly since the reclusive North conducted its sixth, and by far its most powerful, nuclear test on Sept. 3, following a series of missile tests, including one that flew over Japan.

The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions on Monday in response, banning North Korea's textile exports that are the second largest only to coal and mineral, and capping fuel supplies.

The North reacted to the latest action by the Security Council, which had the backing of veto-holding China and Russia, by reiterating threats to destroy the United States, Japan and South Korea.

"Let's reduce the U.S. mainland into ashes and darkness. Let's vent our spite with mobilization of all retaliation means which have been prepared till now," the statement said.

Japan's Nikkei stock index and dollar/yen currency pared gains, although traders said that was more because of several Chinese economic indicators released on Thursday rather than a reaction to the North's latest statement.

South Korea's won also edged down around the same time over domestic financial concerns.

Despite the North's threats, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he was against having nuclear weapons in his country, either by developing its own arsenal or bringing back U.S. tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn in the early 1990s.

"To respond to North Korea by having our own nuclear weapons will not maintain peace on the Korean peninsula and could lead to a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia," Moon said in an interview with CNN.

South Korea's Unification Ministry also said it planned to provide $8 million through the U.N. World Food Programme and UNICEF to help infants and pregnant women in the North.

The move marks Seoul's first humanitarian assistance for the North since its fourth nuclear test in January 2016 and is based on a longstanding policy of separating humanitarian aid from politics, the ministry said.

"DANCING TO THE TUNE"

The North's latest threats also singled out Japan for "dancing to the tune" of the United States, saying it should never be pardoned for not offering a sincere apology for its "never-to-be-condoned crimes against our people", an apparent reference to Japan's wartime aggression.

It also referred to South Korea as "traitors and dogs" of the United States.

Japan criticized the North's statement harshly.

"This announcement is extremely provocative and egregious. It is something that markedly heightens regional tension and is absolutely unacceptable," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, visiting India, called for strict enforcement of the U.N. resolution, saying the world must force a change.

The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions against North Korea on Monday in response to its latest and most powerful test, banning North Korea's textile exports that are the second largest only to coal and mineral, and capping fuel supplies.

North Korea had already rejected the Security Council resolution, vowing to press ahead with its nuclear and missile programs.

A tougher initial U.S. draft of Monday's resolution was weakened to win the support of China, the North's lone major ally, and Russia. Significantly, it stopped short of imposing a full embargo on oil exports to North Korea, most of which come from China.

The latest sanctions also make it illegal for foreign firms to form commercial joint ventures with North Korean entities.

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed that North Korea will never be allowed to threaten the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile, but has also asked China to do more to rein in its neighbor. China in turn favors an international response to the problem.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the international community had reached a "high consensus" on trying to realize a peaceful solution.

"We urge the relevant directly involved parties to seize the opportunity and have the political nerve to make the correct political choice as soon as possible," Hua told a regular press briefing.

The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.

The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

(For a graphic on North Korea's missile and nuclear tests, click: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/NORTHKOREA-MISSILES/010050SV1V2/northkorea-missiles.jpg)

(Additional reporting by Christian Shepherd in Beijing, Hyonhee Shin in Seoul, Sanjeev Miglani in New Delhi and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie)

They drove in their thousands to arrest and maim him - Nnamdi Kanu's lawyer raises alarm

A lawyer to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu has raised alarm on the life of his client. Ifeanyi Ejiofor said he is not aware if his client is alive or dead following an ongoing invasion of Kanu's residence by the soldiers of the Nigerian military. In a statement released on Tuesday, September 12, Ejiofor said: "Just to notify the world that my client's (Nnamdi Kanu) house is presently under siege by the trigger happy soldiers acting under the direct instruction of Chief of Army staff."

"They drove in their thousands to arrest and maim him. I just got a distressed call from him now. Further efforts to establish contact with him has remain unsuccessful.

"As it stands now, I can't confirm whether he is dead or alive. "The operation python dance presently launched by the Buhari led administration in the south east, principally targeted at eliminating my client, is yielding the desired result to the presidency, having launched a man hunt for my client and unarmed members if indigenous people of Biafra. "Let the world know that the federal Government has practically abandoned their case in court in search of a brute route to eliminate my client. As I type this statement, his residence has been cordoned off by the military, majority of whom are of Fulani extraction.

"The world should hold Buhari led federal government responsible if anything untoward happen to Nnamdi Kanu. The situation is very tense at the moment." NAIJ.com earlier reported that soldiers of the Nigerian military laid siege in the home of the IPOB leader in Afara Ukwu in Umuahia on Tuesday, September 12. Kanu's sister, Tonia said, the soldiers had invaded the compound of the IPOB leaders's father shooting into Kanu's window.

This particular invasion comes two days after soldiers of the Nigerian Army and some members of the IPOB clashed at the entrance of the compound of the IPOB leader in Umuahia on Sunday, September 10. However, the military in their defence, the soldiers were only in the area to carry out its military exercise - show of force.

Nnamdi Kanu's home under siege by security operatives - Lawyer

A counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has raised an alarm saying his client’s home is currently under siege by security operatives. Speaking exclusively with NAIJ.com, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Kanu’s lawyer, said some soldiers stormed Kanu’s home on Tuesday, September 12, and laid siege on the residence.

"As I am speaking to you now, they are currently in his house shooting there. "It was just confirmed to me now, that unarmed IPOB members on a solidarity visit to their leader (Nnamdi kanu) from Aba were intercepted by the soldiers executing the python dance deadly mission, and consequently gunned down four of their members.

"As I had earlier indicated, we shall continue to update the world on the casualty figures as the unprovoked war declared on my client and unarmed members of indigenous people of Biafra, in the south east, by the federal government progressed," he said. At the time of this report, Ejiofor's claim had not been independently verified.

In her claim to NAIJ.com, a sister to the IPOB leader, Tonia Kanu, said the soldiers shot at Kanu's window. "They came in their troops shooting, they shot into the sitting room downstairs. They also shot at his window, the window glass are shattered," Tonia said.

The Radio Biafra also confirmed the alleged attack with a post on social media.

A counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has raised an alarm saying his client’s home is currently under siege by security operatives. Speaking exclusively with NAIJ.com, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Kanu’s lawyer, said some soldiers stormed Kanu’s home on Tuesday, September 12, and laid siege on the residence. Read more: https://www.naij.com/1124873-nnamdi-kanus-home-siege-by-security-operatives-lawyer.html

BREAKING!!! Army Shoot Dead 7 IPOB Members on Their Way to Kanu’s House

Very disturbing reporting just coming in indicates that Nigerian troops have shot dead atleast 7 IPOB members going to IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu’s home

They were arrested by the Soldiers at Isialangwa.

Python Dance: Why I Don’t Talk About Nnamdi Kanu Again – Gov. Wike

I have been receiving many calls from different groups of people and even from Aso Villa wanting to know the real deal why I stopped talking about IPOB leader NNAMDI KANU.

There is something extraordinary about him that you cannot defeat no matter how hard you try, anything you try to stop him is immaterial, a man who has more followers than any human on the face of the earth currently now, to defeat him, will be mathematically impossible.

If you kill him, the fight will not only end here, but to other countries, if you detain him, the World and Biafrans will agitate for his release even at gun point.

The only way to handle that man is to over look him, let him have his way, don’t use force on him, because that will never work, but will add more wounds to already bad wound. At least since I have over look him, I can now have peace of mind and face my work as a governor of the people.

Wike made this statement while addressing journalists during his speech in government house portharcourt.