Remove terrorist tag on IPOB, Ohaneze tells FG

– Awka

The Anambra State President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, has called on the federal government to remove the Indigenous People of Biafra terrorist label, IPOB, because, he argued, the organization does not threaten lives or property.

Addressing journalists in Awka, Okeke-Ogene urged security officials to focus more on the northeast to end the unwanted killings of those who he said hate Nigerian unity.

He described the declaration of the IPOB as a terrorist organization as regrettable and unacceptable, while other agitation groups, especially in the northern part of Nigeria that specialize in kidnapping and murdering innocent Nigerians on a daily basis, moved freely without trial or prosecution.

Okeke-Ogene, who is running for the post of Ohanneze’s national vice president in elections scheduled for January 2021, said it was regrettable that a group that does not carry weapons could be labeled a terrorist.

He wonders why the federal government has refused to prosecute the herdsmen, bandits and other dangerous Fulani groups responsible for the kidnapping and killings that are taking place in the northern part of Nigeria.

He said: “Have you ever heard that IPOB kidnapped or killed someone unjustly? Why should the government go to court within 24 hours of a misunderstanding between the Nigerian Army’s Operation Python Dance II and the IPOB without a proper investigation and declared the group a terrorist organization, while those with the intent to tarnish the image of the country before the international community? are they operating freely in society without any government action?

“The Federal Government was totally wrong in declaring the IPOB a terrorist organization.”

According to him, IPOB is a group of young people of Igbo origin who meet when the need arises to deliberate on issues affecting their well-being and the region, as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.
“I think what we should do as a single people is that we continue to pray and work together to ensure that the current security challenges that plague the country come to an end and not label a particular group in a region that happens to be the region Nigeria’s safest as a terrorist organization, ”said Okeke-Ogene.

However, he praised the effort of Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari and the security agencies for the safe rescue of kidnapped schoolchildren from the Kankara Government Science School and urged security agencies and other authorities to they will also check the activities of the Republic of Niger. and immigrants from Lake Chad.