IPOB To Lockdown South-east For One Month

By Gideon Njoku

The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, has threatened to lock down the South-east for one month, without let.

The Group is not joking.

In a statement dated September 22, 2021, signed by its Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, the Group says it would embark on this action if its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is not brought to Court on October 21, 2021, for his trial.

Kanu is facing prosecution at a Federal High Court in the FCT, by the Federal Government over sundry issues, including alleged treason and murder.

After a long lull, occasioned by the invasion of his father’s Palace in his Afara Community, Abia State in 2017 (where he was) which forced him into exile, the trial began again after his rendition to Nigeria from Nairobi, Kenya.

But last month, after much expectation, he was not brought to Court on the adjourned date, due to what was said to be “logistics”. The next trial date is October 21. And IPOB is warning that if he does not appear in Court on that day, the South-east would be locked down for one month.

The Group says not bringing him to Court is a deliberate tactics to keep him under detention forever, thus denying him justice.

Following is the IPOB statement on its next action.

BIAFRA LAND WILL GO ON ONE MONTH LOCKDOWN IF NNAMDI KANU IS NOT BROUGHT TO COURT ON OCTOBER 21 – IPOB

“The attention of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by our great prophet and liberator of our time, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been drawn to the plot by Nigeria government and her DSS in Abuja not to produce our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to  court on 21st October 2021, the date he is due to appear in court to start his case.  The federal government of Nigeria has again perfected plans not to bring him to court on that day.

“Their wicked plan is to perpetually keep him behind bars without trial to see if they can demoralize him and Biafrans but they are late.

“If the federal government refuses to bring him to court in his next court appearance on October 21, 2021, the entire Biafra land will be on total lock down for one month.  The federal government will know that they cannot take us for granted any more.  Our peaceful disposition as a people should not be misconstructed as weakness.  Nigeria cannot incarcerate our leader illegally and expect things to be normal again.  If by October 21, Kanu is not brought to court, Nigeria will know that Kanu commands the unflinching loyalty of over 60 million Biafrans home and in Diaspora.

“By keeping our leader out of circulation his health will be in jeopardy and we won’t allow this.  The Fulani-controlled Nigeria Government must tell us why it will choose to disobey court orders and expect citizens to watch like conquered slaves.  They are busy granting amnesty to terrorists and bandits killing their soldiers and citizens but keeping peaceful agitators in perpetual detention.

“Their plan is to suppress agitation and force everyone into submission but Biafrans won’t succumb to their intimidation.  We are a different people.  Their plan is to silence agitations for freedom as championed by Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Ighoho so that the Fulani from across Africa will overrun Nigeria.  They can’t conquer Biafra land as they have conquered Hausa and other indigenous tribes in Nigeria.”

Already, there are fears in the region over this threat.

The region has been under tension, economic lockdown, and violence for months.

IPOB had, earlier, declared a weekly sit-at-home order on Mondays to pressurise the FG into releasing Kanu.

The FG did nothing of the sort, and seemed not to have noticed the effect of the order on the people.

Instead, it brought untold hardship, destruction, blood and death to the region.

IPOB has just cancelled the weekly order and restricted it to only the days Kanu would appear in Court.

The region is yet to recover from it, especially, as some people have cashed in on it to inflict maximum destruction of the zone, with  loss of lives.