Mixed Reaction Trail Presidency’s Declaration Of IPOB As Terrorist Group

By Akinwale Kasali

The President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s declaration of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, as a terrorist Group is generating mixed reaction from different quarters.

The position of the Presidency was reiterated at a time the Yoruba Nation , other Southern Nigeria and Middle Belt leaders are calling for self determination.

In a statement on Wednesday, the President’s Senior Special Assistant, (SSA) Mallam Garba Shehu and asked Nigerians in the diaspora  to use the world’s largest platform – the United Nations General Assembly – to focus on issues that unite the country.

He said it was, however shocking, to see “Yoruba Nation” advocates  unequivocally throwing  their lot  with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Garba: “IPOB is a designated terrorist organisation. It has now publicly revealed a 50,000 strong paramilitary organisation. It regularly murders security services and innocent civilians, with a significant uptick of violent attacks this year. And it is currently attempting to hold Nigerian states hostage with orders to stay at home under threat of terror.”

He said without doubt, Nigerians and the entire world will judge Yoruba Nation by the company it keeps.

“No one can take seriously this organisation if it continues its IPOB association. When their allies systematically trample human rights, it raises sober questions about their claims to uphold the values of the UN.”

He said the cooperation is a worrying development, once parsed with Yoruba Nation’s increasingly violent rallies in Nigeria.

“Actions and associations speak louder than words. Yoruba Nation’s talk of human rights promotion must therefore be ignored,” Garba said.

However, Comrade Mohammed Kudu Abubakar, Deputy National President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum maintained that President Muhammadu Buhari should immediately pronounce herdsmen as a terrorist organization instead of IPOB.

He expressed disgust at how President Buhari has kept silent for long over the killings by herdsmen despite calls from all corners demanding that the President take proactive actions in curbing the excesses of Fulani herdsmen.

Condemning the various killings by herdsmen, Comrade Abubakar said that herdsmen should be seen as a terrorist group because they have been killing for long and should be dealt with in line with the law of the country.

“A criminal is a criminal; they are terrorists and have to be dealt with regardless of their tribe. The President should follow the constitution and deal with them accordingly. The killing is very criminal and the herdsmen should not go unpunished.” The Deputy President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum said.

Also, Chairman of the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination, NINAS, Professor Banji Akintoye, yesterday, urged the United Nations to declare Miyetti Allah a terrorist organization. He also vowed to organise a one million-man freedom march at the UN Headquarters in New York, the United States of America, for 11 days, saying the protest is meant to expose the alleged genocide being perpetrated by murderous herdsmen in the name of grazing in the South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria.

Akintoye, in a statement by his Communications Manager, Mr. Maxwell Adeleye, said the people of the South and Middle-Belt would be showing to the world the crimes against humanity, attacks on press freedom, free speech and other criminalities in Nigeria. The statement reads: “The land belongs to the people through the grace of Almighty God.

“We, the Indigenous people of the South and Middle-Belt, reject the illegitimate and imposed 1999 Nigerian Constitution that hijacks our Self-Determination and Assets.

“We want an end to the ethnoreligious killings in Nigeria. We want the Government of Nigeria to stop funding terrorism against us. What is happening today in Nigeria is State-sponsored terrorism.

“The herdsmen you see in the South and Middle-Belt today are different from the nomadic herdsmen we grew up to know. The current ones are imported members of ISIS, AL-QUAEDA, ISWAP and Boko Haram Terrorists being masqueraded as Bandits.“

“By the grace of God, we shall be demanding from the world leaders to declare Miyetti Allah a terrorist group. It is dangerous to the safety and peace of the South and Middle-Belt people to call Miyetti Allah a trade Union, it is a Terrorist group being supported by the current Fulanised Government of Nigeria with a mission to overrun the indigenous people.“