David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has said that it will not spare Ohanaeze Ndigbo if it holds any event to canvass restructuring of Nigeria anywhere in Igbo land.
The group said the disruption of the Eastern Consultative Assembly in Enugu weeks back by its members would be child’s play compared to what Ohanaeze would face if it did so.
In a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Mr. Emma Powerful, it said that it has reliably gathered that Ohanaeze Ndigbo was planning an event to canvass support for the restructuring of Nigeria, but said that nothing short of referendum would be accepted.
Part of the statement read: “What happened at Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA) will be nothing compared to what shall become of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, should they attempt to convene any public meeting anywhere in Biafraland to discuss restructuring or how to keep Nigeria one.â€
It said what it wants and has been clamouring, which has also been the reason for the death of a host of its members is referendum and not restructuring and it would not back down on it.
IPOB said that a recent statement attributed to Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which portrayed it as less knowledgeable in Nigerian politics was regrettable as they who claimed expertise in the politics of the country have not affected the lives of the people of the zone.
It denied the tag that IPOB was made up of only young people who are mostly jobless, saying that it has respectable elders in its fold, who are even more knowledgeable in the politics of the country than those that made up Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
“It is a well-known fact that IPOB is made up of both the old and young, with experienced public administrators all over the world that pilot the affairs of the movement. So the tag of inexperience is both misplaced and misconceived.
“IPOB is well organised movement and platform to restore Biafra and with it the lost dignity of a once proud race. A few Abuja based errand boys that call themselves politicians cannot understand why we have roundly rejected their approach which is nothing short of the appeasement of an obnoxious, brutal, oppressive alien regime from the Sahel.
“Any day these so-called Igbo leaders gather in public, we will make sure we show them how upset we are. The era of selling the collective interest of the masses to the highest bidder has come to an end. All we want is referendum not restructuring; we want Biafra not Nigeria.
“We have buried too many people, we have lost too many souls, we are pained by the innocent who are still languishing in illegal detention all over Nigeria and we are enraged by the betrayal of those we call socio-political leaders. Only the total restoration of Biafra will suffice, anything else is mere waste of time,†IPOB stated.
