IPOB Celebrates Arraignment Of Abductors Of NYSC Members Says It Vindicates Stand

By Gideon Njoku

The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), is, at once,  celebrating and flaunting the arrest and arraignment of the abductors of 20 National Youth Service Corps members.

Recall that the Corps members who took off from Ibadan were on their way to their orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom States when they were abducted.

The two buses they were traveling in, ironically, on Nigeria’s Independence day, October 1, were intercepted at Umunoha, Imo State,  along the Onitsha-Owerri highway, and the 20 of them and one other, abducted.

Six days after, the abductees regained their freedom when they were rescued by a combination of personnel of  security agents.

Days later, five of the abductors were arrested, and on Tuesday, October 20, they were arraigned at an Imo State High Court, and charged with the criminal offence. Three of them are still on the run.

What surprised not a few, however, was that none of those arrested is of South-east origin. They were all of Northern Nigerian extraction. And that is what IPOB is pointing out.

In a statement issued on Monday, October 20, and signed by its Spokesperson, Emmanuel Powerful, IPOB said the identities of those arraigned, have vindicated its stand that  non South-easterners have invaded the region. More important, IPOB pointed out that if they were not arraigned, the members of the Eastern Security Network, ESN, could have been held responsible for the crime.

Those arraigned are: Usman Aliu, Babangida Aliyu, Mohammed Ali, Aminu Haliru and Ibrahim Jiji.

The statement reads: “The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB,

under the supreme leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, notes with keen interest the recent arraignment by the Department of State Services (DSS) of the five suspects responsible for the horrific abduction of prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members along the Owerri–Onitsha Expressway in Imo State.

“The public parade and arraignment of these individuals—Usman Aliyu, Babangida Aliyu, Mohammed Ali, Aminu Haliru, and Ibrahim Jiji—is symptomatic of the alarming extent to which Fulani bandits and foreign criminal elements have infiltrated and taken over the forests, bushes, and highways of Igboland.

We ask the world to reflect on this crucial question: Had this atrocious kidnapping happened without these suspects being caught red-handed, who would the Nigerian security apparatus and hostile media have blamed? As has been the pattern, the blame would have instinctively and falsely fallen on Biafra agitators and the Eastern Security Network (ESN). Innocent Igbo youths would have been rounded up, tagged “ESN terrorists,” and subjected to extrajudicial harm to cover up the true perpetrators.

Today, the world can clearly see those actually responsible for the kidnappings, killings, and systemic insecurity plaguing the South-East. We must thank the Almighty God (Chukwu Okike Abiama) for exposing these individuals. Had IPOB not promptly called for independent investigations and consistently maintained its innocence, enemies of the Biafran struggle would by now be peddling the false narrative that IPOB/ESN was behind this cowardly act.

This revelation serves as a categorical confirmation that IPOB and ESN have no hand in any form of criminality in our land. ESN was formed solely to defend our farmers, mothers, and territorial integrity against ruthless invaders.

We must also give credit where it is due: The DSS Director in Imo State and the prosecuting team deserve a special mention for upholding professional integrity by not burying this incident or lazily attributing it to IPOB/ESN, as has regrettably been the norm in past security operations.

However, the ethnicity, true origins, and full identities of these criminal elements must be thoroughly uncovered and made known to the international community to tell the world who these terror merchants in the South-East really are.

This incident validates the foresight of our leader, ONYENDU MAZI NNAMDI KANU, who established the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to safeguard our forests against these very threats. It is deeply unjust that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains incarcerated for daring to protect his homeland, while the security threats he warned against continue to escalate across Igboland.

We call on South-East Governors and leaders to wake up to this reality, cease their fixation on persecuting IPOB, and prioritize genuine security measures that protect the lives and properties of our people.

Signed:

COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL,

Spokesperson/Media and Publicity Secretary, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)