Northern Group Alleges South East Governors Denouncement Of IPOB Is Hypocritical

By Akinwale Kasali

The Dave Umahi-led South Eastern State Governors Forum has come under strong criticisms by the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG.

The Group alleges that the South East Governors are being hypocritical and economical with the truth in their denouncement of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

Governor Umahi of Ebonyi State, who is the Chairman of the South Eastern Governors Forum had recently Condemned the activities of IPOB, promising to meet the leadership and talk to them to denounce their secessionist ambition.

However, CNG spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said in a statement issued titled, ‘Biafra: South-east Leaders Refutal Insufficient, Unacceptable Substitute for Referendum’, said the refutal by the South-East Governors was unacceptable and insisted that a referendum must be conducted to prepare the stage for the final exit of the Igbo from the rest of Nigeria.

The Group alleged that while on one hand, the South-east leaders were pretending to denounce IPOB, “on another hand, they are working to give legitimacy to the Eastern Security Network, ESN, which they renamed Ebubeagu, which we all know is a militant wing of IPOB.”

He said, “In our earlier submission, we highlighted the conceivable implications of the uttered threats and practical steps being taken by the Igbo under the guise of IPOB. These South-east militant IPOB members unceasingly foment hateful violence against other ethnicities and the Nigerian State, while a handful of South-east leaders began a frantic move to cover their complicity in the atrocities by pretending to denounce the IPOB and its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

“We note also that while on one hand, these South-east leaders present a pretext of denouncing IPOB, on another hand, they are working to give legitimacy to the Eastern Security Network which they renamed Ebubeagu, which we all know is a militant wing of IPOB.

“The extent of deception also becomes apparent in the way these South-east leaders give the appearance of dissociating themselves from the Biafran violent agitation and at the same time vehemently attempting to support and justify IPOB’s brand of self-determination bid premised on false claims of marginalisation and pursued through violence and violation of other ethnic nationalities and state institutions

“The CNG cannot be blinded by these desperations to cover up what is glaringly an attempt to downplay the atrocities committed, the complicity involved and the trivialisation of what is genuinely a case that must be resolved once and for all.

“The refutal is belated desperation to run away from a raging fire they fanned with their own hands by several years of indoctrinating their youth with the hate of the North in particular, and the whole of Nigeria in general,” the statement said