Okwe Obi, Abuja
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has begged President Muhammadu Buhari to lift the ban on the proscription of the Indigenous Peoples Of Biafra (IPOB) as a terror group.
In 2017, the Federal Government proscribed IPOB and was deemed a terrorist group. Then director of Defence Information, Major General John Enenche, in a statement, stated that IPOB had formed “a Biafra Secret Service; formation of Biafra National Guard; unauthorized blocking of public access roads; extortion of money from innocent civilians at illegal road blocks.”
But, National Coordinator of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, yesterday, said the tag was “absolutely untrue; spurious; unconstitutional and had demonstrated a plot to demonise the group only because the members are mostly Onwubiko the Igbo-speaking South East of Nigeria.”
Onwubiko urged the president to lift IPOB’s proscription as a terror group and also, make top-level security and national appointments in his second four year term reflect federal character principles.
He, also advised Buhari to present himself “as a statesman” and also “set free all political prisoners, including erstwhile national security adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd) and leader of the Shi’ites, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky.