By Charles Igbo
Worried by the incessant sit-at-home in Igboland, usually ordered by Finland-based Simon Ekpa, the Igbo in Finland will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday, December 18.
They are worried about the consequences of the order on the socio-economic and cultural lives of the Igbo. Most important, they are worried about the violence and killings which follow the order.
Ekpa, a self proclaimed disciple of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, now estranged from both IPOB and Kanu, is leading a splinter Group of the Organisation, known as Auto-IPOB.
Allegedly, this group is responsible for the killings and blood letting in Igboland which have grounded the Zone to a halt, almost.
But it does seem that Ekpa has over-reached himself with the recent declaration of a five-day sit-at-home order which began on December 9, and has just ended. Ostensibly targeted at stopping the Igbo who had not picked their Permanent Voters Card, PVC, from doing so, it ushered in blood bath, deaths, tears and destruction of properties and businesses.
Ekpa’s order and its consequences have sparked outrage amongst Ndigbo, and he has been under attack since then from across Igboland and beyond. Petitions are being signed by thousands of people to the Nigerian and Finis Governments, asking for Ekpa’s arrest and prosecution.
Detained IPOB leader, Kanu, on Tuesday, lamented the attacks and blood bath in Igboland.
Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, who visited the detained IPOB leader in DSS detention on Monday, said Kanu was very sad over the scary situation in Igboland.
Kanu’s younger brother, Emmanuel, while condemning the attack, descibed Ekpa as one acting like a paid agent.
He noted: “There is no doubt he is working for some people because no true-blooded Igbo will do something to jeopardise the lives of his people. The Leader has always said that he cannot take a life because he doesn’t give life. So, why will people take other people’s lives?
“Why will you kill the same people you say you are fighting to protect? It doesn’t make sense. It is just obvious that Ekpa is working for some people to destroy what the Leader has built over the years. Why would he give a sit-at-home order? Under whose authority will he do that?
“My brother told me clearly that he did not authorise any person or group to order for sit-at-home. So, why do that? Who is he doing it to impress? It is only a paid agent that will behave the way he does.”
In its reaction, Ohanaeze Ndigbo condemned the violence.
On Thursday, an angry Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, said that Ekpa’s splinter group was leading terrorists to destabilise the South-east.
Speaking to stakeholders and All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Abakaliki, Umahi noted, again, that Ebonyi State would not be part of Biafra.
He lamented the loss of lives, and said: “When this agitation for Biafra started, I told them that this matter would go beyond Nnamdi Kanu. And today, it has gone beyond Nnamdi Kanu. Every criminal says he is IPOB. Every criminal says he is ESN.
“Is this the Biafra we desired, to be killing ourselves and displacing others? That’s why we said in the heat of that crisis that Ebonyi State can never be part of Biafra. We are not Biafra.
“If Biafra means to kill ourselves, to go to the market and start shooting people that have done nothing, to be declaring sit-at-home in our homeland and destroying the economy, for what reason? These things are strange to our culture.
“They have killed a lot of Ebubeagu people who are trying to protect our people.
“I ask all the Local Government people to give us information because we are ready to enter into the forest to flush out these bandits.”
Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Counsel to IPOB and Kanu, recently sued Ekpa alleging crimes against humanity in Igboland.
Defendants in the suit include: Simon Ekpa, Anibueze Juliet, Obinna Uzoaganaobi, Chukwuemeka Livingstone, and Raphael Ajaere.
Marked: CU/788/2022 the suit was filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on December 12, 2022.
And now, the Igbo in Finland have joined the fray. They have summoned an emergency general assembly scheduled against Sunday, December 18, 2022.
As a community, at the meeting, they will agree on an action plan over the havoc being wreaked in Igboland by the gunmen masterminded from Finland.
Chairman of Igbo Union in Finland, Kingsley Orji, in a statement said the meeting billed for Kilpakuja 1 is very important, in view of the ongoing carnage in Igbo land.
“We all must have read or be informed of the extent of bloodshed orchestrated by one singular command announcement from Finland. Evidential documents and/or order for action alluding to this indiscriminate bloodbath and destruction of property is our primary focus for discussion.
“The essence of the meeting is for us as a community to agree on an action plan.”
The South-east has become a no-go area for its people over killings, kidnappings, and destruction in the region.
