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…IPOB leader missing — Spokesman
…He’s not in hiding — Group’s top leader
…Military says, ‘Not in our custody’
From Okey Sampson (Aba) and Jeff Amechi
Agbodo (Onitsha)
THERE is confusion over the whereabouts of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu in the aftermath of the recent clash the group had with the military in Aba, Abia State.
The Army had allegedly invaded the home of the IPOB leader at Afara Ukwu, Umuahia, Abia State, in the ongoing military exercise in the South-east tagged operation Python Dance II.
IPOB has claimed that about 22 of its members were killed while several others injured during the clash.
The Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Mr. Emma Powerful, told Sunday Sun yesterday that after the military onslaught, the whereabouts of Kanu, his father and mother were still unknown.
Powerful alleged that the Army killed many members of the group in Kanu’s house and took some others away during the invasion, wondering whether Kanu and his parents were part of those that were killed or whisked away to unknown destinations.
A top military source, who spoke with Sunday Sun yesterday on the condition of anonymity, however, said the claim that soldiers either killed or arrested Kanu and his parents was untrue.
“We did not arrest Kanu or any member of his family. His father is very old and looks frail and many Nigerians saw him when he attended a meeting with over 300 traditional rulers last week. So, we could not have arrested him because we did not want to have a casualty in our hands,” the source said.
Meanwhile, a top member of IPOB told Sunday Sun yesterday that Kanu was safe and remained resolute in his resolve to ensure that the people of South-east actualise Biafra soon despite recent developments. The source, who spoke in a telephone interview and does not want his name in print, said the action of the military and the South East governors would have no effect on their leader or IPOB. He said: “Kanu cannot abandon the struggle; people are allowed to say what they want to say or speculate on whatever they want to speculate upon. Kanu is a non-violent freedom fighter and there is no way he could run away or go underground. For the fact that the military did not see him to kill the day they invaded his home does not mean he has run away or gone underground; far from that. Kanu for all I know has started this struggle and he would fight to the end.
“Like him or hate him, he is a dogged fighter who does not give in cheaply; it doesn’t matter what people say. They can twist where it will please them but one thing is certain, he forever remains on the side of justice.” The source stressed: “Kanu cannot go underground for whatever reason. The IPOB leader is not afraid because he has not done anything wrong to anyone. What he has focused on over the years was to attack the policies, the conditions that affect everyone. I don’t know why they attempted to kill him.” According to the source, IPOB is not built on Kanu and would continue to function even after him.
He added: “It is so structured that even if the founder dies today, the group will forge ahead. IPOB is an institution that has tentacles beyond the shores of the country. Therefore, the question of the group being in disarray is out of place.
While debunking the terrorist tag given to IPOB by the Defence Headquarters last Friday, the source said: “Kanu has never attacked anyone. The non-violent movement will surely continue, whether they call it terrorist group or not. We remain non-violent and nobody can stop it as long as we are not taking up arms; we are not killing anybody.
“We are not surprised at the decision of the Nigerian military to declare IPOB a terrorist group. They have been looking for this opportunity and I tell you that it is another way of their continued annihilation of the Igbo nation. The whole world knows we are not violent and will continue to be; nobody can stop us.
“This justice Kanu is preaching also affects everything in this country called Nigeria. Until people understand this, including the military, they will keep on making mistake. “IPOB is also not perturbed by the decision of the South-east governors; their action was basically aimed at pleasing their Arewa leaders and paymasters but I can assure that their pronouncement will have no bearing on the group,” he said.
Real reasons South-east govs proscribed IPOB
From Iheanacho Nwosu, Abuja
THE main reasons behind last Friday’s proscription of the activities of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) by the South-east governors have emerged.
Sunday Sun gathered that the increasing gulf between opinion leaders from the zone and the Nnamdi Kanu-led IPOB weeks before the ongoing crackdown on the group by the military is one of the reasons.
The military is currently staging Operation Python Dance II in the South-east. The operation has attracted mixed reactions with Ohanaeze Ndigbo deploring it and calling on the military to withdraw its personnel from the zone. However, a serving senator from the zone disclosed to Sunday Sun in confidence that, “IPOB no longer listen to anybody but themselves.”
He explained that IPOB leaders had distanced themselves from those who worked to effect the release of Kanu from prison on bail. He disclosed that various efforts made by leaders of the zone to strike a deal with Kanu ahead of the South-east Governors’ meeting in Enugu last week were snubbed.
Beyond that, it was learnt that moves by the South-east caucus in the National Assembly to discuss with Kanu was rebuffed by the IPOB leader and his henchmen. It was also gathered that the caucus had reached out to Kanu and IPOB urging them to back down on their insistence that a referendum must be held, as the 1999 Constitution does not provide for that, but the IPOB leader didn’t budge but rather maintained that the United Nations should be made to come and conduct the referendum.
“The IPOB was actually getting involved in all manner of things that started endangering the peace of the people of South-east. The governors and leaders had no choice than to seek for the proscription,” the source disclosed.
Another source told Sunday Sun that members of the IPOB had already started threatening politicians in the region with rejection in 2019. The source said that such politicians were becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the influence and control of youths by IPOB.
To this end, some politicians in the zone were said to have promised huge sums of money to the group to win their support against would be opponents in 2019.
Sunday Sun also learnt that the governors feared that their inability to contain IPOB might lead to the declaration of a state of emergency in their states.
According to the source, the declaration of a state of emergency would have swept the affected governors out of office and made blight their political journey.
He said: “The leaders believe that the situation became tight with the deployment of the military. Though some of them believed that the police could have handled the matter, the deployment of the military was already a source of danger and threat to peace.” He stressed that the intransigence of Kanu on so many issues the governors initiated to ensure peace forced them to proscribe the activities of IPOB.
IPOB proscription: Heavy security in Rivers
… As militants give soldiers Monday to leave Abia
From Tony John, Port
Harcourt
Security has been beefed up in some parts of Rivers State, particularly in Oyigbo, the headquarters of Oyigbo Local Government Area of the state, prone to the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Though normalcy had returned in the area after two days mayhem between pro-Biafra agitators and security operatives, which led to loss of lives and property, several police vehicles were stationed at the popular Oyigbo Express junction.
Commuters and other road users, who passed through the checkpoints mounted by the police in the area, were forced to raise their hands up. A senior police officer, who was among the police personnel deployed to the area, told Sunday Sun that they would remain in Oyigbo till absolute peace returns.
The officer, who did not want his name in print, disclosed that surveillance and intelligence gathering was their priority so as to forestall further breakdown of law and order in the area.
Meanwhile, some Niger Delta militant groups have given the Nigerian Army till Monday, September 18 to pull out from Aba, Umuahia and some other troubled places in Abia and Rivers States or face attacks.
The groups included the Niger Delta People Democratic Front (NDPDF), Concerned Militant Leaders (CML), Rainbow Marabas Group (RMG), Creek Revenge Warriors (CRW) and Niger Delta Sea Lords (NDSL).
They said in Port Harcourt, yesterday, that the terror unleashed on unarmed IPOB supporters was provocative. Leaders of the groups, General Playboy Iyoyo (NDPDF); General Ben (CML); General Billy Atigah (RMG); General Dolph Pepple (CRW); and Major General Isdore Oghemgbe (NDSL) accused Federal Government of abusing the fundamental human rights of Igbo people.
General Ben, who is the convener of the group, faulted the Federal Government for branding unarmed IPOB as a terrorist group, stating that it was a plan to exterminate the south easterners.
He also condemned the proscription of the activities of the group by the South-east governors, warning that their decision would be counter-productive. However, a Port Harcourt-based security expert, Jackson Ojo, has said that the declaration of the IPOB as a terrorist group by the Defence Headquarters was timely. Ojo, who spoke with Sunday Sun in Port Harcourt, cautioned that Federal Government should not wait until the pro-Biafra agitators start carrying arms before curbing their excesses.
