By Uche Mbah
In his first live interview with a Media House in the country since his second term in office, President Muhammadu Buhari, dismissed the threat posed to Nigeria by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB.
He described the organisation, led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, as “a dot in a circle which has no access to exit.”
IPOB has been agitating for an independent Republic of Biafra out of Nigeria, citing the marginalisation of the South-east in the scheme of things in Nigeria. The organisation is, therefore, asking for a referendum for the people to decide their fate.
But the Federal Government thinks otherwise. The Government says that IPOB is a Terrorists organisation, and proscribed it in 2017. It also charged its leader with Treason. He escaped while on bail, the day the Nigerian Military invaded his father’s Palace. A British citizen, he is in London, pursuing the cause, he says, of an independent Biafra.
Speaking Thursday on ARISE Television, the President said that IPOB members were not thinking about the spread of the Igbo all over Nigeria, nor are they thinking of their businesses.
He said:”IPOB is like a dot in a circle. If they want to exit, they will have no access to anywhere. And the way they (Igbo) are spread all over the country, having businesses and property, I think IPOB doesn’t know what they are taking about.
“My statement about speaking Language is very simple. It is meant for all criminals in Nigeria. What it means for the IPOB is that I will go after them through the military and police and rid them of their criminal tendencies. I have no regret whatsoever.
“Anyway, we’ve said we’ll talk to them in the language they will understand. We’ll organise the Police and Military to pursue them. That is what we can do, and we’ll do it”
It was the same posted threat for which Twitter took down the President’s post and, for which the Federal Government banned Twitter from Nigeria.
On that statement for which both Twitter and Facebook took down his posts, the President said:
“My statement about speaking Language is very simple. It is meant for all criminals in Nigeria. What it means for the IPOB is that I will go after them through the military and police and rid them of their criminal tendencies. I have no regret whatsoever.”
Many are of the opinion that Buhari’s stand on IPOB during the ARISE interview is likely to infuriate the Group, and worsen the Security situation in the South-east.
They suggest dialogue or, at worst, a carrot and stick approach.
