IPOB will be more dangerous if they go underground -Ikeji

IPOB will be more dangerous if they go underground -Ikeji

— 5th October 2017

By Chukwudi Nweje

Ikechukwu Ikeji is a lawyer, based in Lagos. In this interview, he faults the proscription of IPOB by a federal High Court and the proposed law on hate speech among other issues.

The Federal High Court in Abuja recently declared the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist organisation. This was after Justice Binta Nyako also of a Federal High Court Abuja dismissed the terrorism charge against IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Is this not a conflict in judgement by two courts of concurrent jurisdiction?

It is a contraction. The only grounds on which IPOB could have been declared a terrorist organisation is if the federal government presented fresh facts that were not available the first time Nnamdi Kanu was arraigned. That is facts that happened after the first time Kanu was arraigned and later acquitted by Justice Binta Nyako. That is the only grounds on which the federal government can present new evidence and now say that IPOB has degenerated into a terrorist group and then based on that evidence the federal government can now present its petition before the court. Perhaps it was based on those new facts that Justice Abdul Adamu Kafarati granted the application. But if there are no new facts to show that IPOB has engaged in terrorist activities, then it is an aberration to rather than go on appeal, approach a court of concurrent jurisdiction to declare IPOB a terrorist organisation.

What do you suggest then?

We can actually approach it from two fronts, one that there are fresh facts and two there are no fresh facts. If there are fresh facts, IPOB could be entitled to approach Justice Kafarati, who made the order to present a counter affidavit to show that the evidences presented by the Attorney General of the Federation does not support the declaration that IPOB is a terrorist organisation.  Where the honourable Justice does not agree with IPOB, it has another option to go to the Court of Appeal after the Court of Appeal; it can go to the Supreme Court.

Now if the federal government is saying that there are fresh facts, what IPOB can do is to show that those fresh facts do not amount to terrorism. If the judge disagrees with them, they also have the opportunity of going on appeal, because they have the right to fair hearing. The right to fair hearing is an inalienable right of every body under the constitution.

Can the security agencies, based on intelligence reports declare an organisation a terrorist group?   

The security agencies have absolutely no power to declare IPOB or any other group a terrorist organisation. The only way you can classify an organisation a terrorist group is if they have violent inclination or activity aimed at taking some kind of advantage. For example, if you have political views and use violence to push others towards your views, that is terrorism. You can see this in Section 1 of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 as amended in 2013 that is where you can see the list of activities that constitute terrorism.

Boko Haram initially started out building Islamic schools and doing charity works. It turned a terrorist group after the founder; Mohammed Yusuf was killed in 2009. Do you also nurse the fear that IPOB may turn the same way?

I have the concern, may be not fears. I don’t know any member of IPOB, but I know that when a group is so determined even if it means using some violence, they may go underground and use the opportunity of the underground to carry out heinous activities. So it is more dangerous having them underground than discussing with them. You cannot defeat the argument that discussion and dialogue is the only way forward.

President Muhammadu Buhari was at the United Nations General Assembly to agitate for restructuring of the Security Council. How do you reconcile that with his stance on restructuring of Nigeria?

He is speaking from both sides of his mouth, he is being hypocritical and I will cite instances. He is speaking on the self-determination rights of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Palestine, but in his own country he does not believe in the self-determination rights of the people. He is not saying the truth, he is only playing politics and negative diplomacy, and it is unacceptable.

How do we dowse the tension?

The way to douse the tension is to call everybody to dialogue. Agitation is a human right recognised by Article 20 (1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, which has been domesticated in Nigerian law by the African Charter Ratification Act 1993 and given judicial recognition by the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rule 2009. We must accept the fact that a group of people have the right to agitate and the language they use to agitate should not be a problem. People are deceived by the language of Nnamdi Kanu and they use it to blackmail the real purpose of his agitation. In any case, hate speech is not an offence; it is only an offence if it leads to defamation of character. The law of sedition is no longer part of Nigerian Criminal Justice System. So we should not allow the content of Nnamdi Kanu’s speech to overwhelm the self-determination content.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo may disagree with you on hate speech. He has said the federal government will make a law so that hate speech becomes an act of terror. What is your take on that?

He said the federal government will soon criminalise hate speech. He didn’t cite any law because there is no such law. The only law that relates to what somebody says is the Criminal Defamation Law, which has to do with what you say that destroys the character of another person and it has nothing to do with hate speech. Hate speech is wrong morally and socially but legally, there is no provision against it. Even in the United States, the Supreme Court has severally held that there is no way you can legislate against hate speech. So the Vice President never quoted any law, he only said the federal government will criminalise hate speech. But as soon as that law comes out is as soon as it will be shut down because it will infringe on the fundamental right to free speech.

Cristiano Ronaldo sells his Ballon d'Or trophy to raise £530,000 for charity  

Cristiano Ronaldo has once again extended his generosity to a charity organization by selling off a prized Ballon d'Or trophy to raise over £530,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation.

According to Spanish daily Marca, the Real Madrid star donated a replica of his 2013 award to a London auction at the weekend which was bought by Idan Ofer, Israel's richest person, for €600,000.

The Portuguese star specifically asked for the replica of his 2013 award to be donated to the charity auction, to raise funds for the UK charity, which grants wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions or who are terminally ill.

The Ballon d'Or trophy is recognised as one of the highest personal accolades a player can receive in the game. Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award four times '2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016' in all. 

Dr. Chris Okafor explodes, declares ''Biafra is a spirit, you can't kill it with guns''

The General Overseer of the Mountain of Liberation and Miracle Ministries a.k.a Liberation City has broken his silence over the on going Biafra agitation in the South East of Nigeria and the military exercise code named “Python Dance 2” or “Egwu Eke 2”. The renowned man of God who is today regarded as one of Africa’s most accurate and revered prophets is known to always bare his mind whenever he senses a leading of the Holy Spirit. He spoke from the headquarters of his thriving ministry in the Ojodu area of Lagos.

At the grande finale of an annual worldwide program of the church known as “Not My Head, Not My Blood” on Sunday, October the 1st, 2017, the man of God felicitated with Nigeria on her Independence Day Celebration and prayed for Peace and Unity. But he warned that no one ever achieves lasting peace and unity through the barrels of the gun.

On the on going Operation “Egwu Eke 2” in the South East of Nigeria, the fiery man of God known always for his unrivaled prophetic accuracy and point blankness on national issues declared that it’s unfair for the Nigerian government to deploy the full weight of the military in the manner they did, to quell the secessionist agitations of the IPOB members and in fact the people of that region. According to Dr. Okafor “our Government needs to learn how to resolve issues with dialogue. No amount of time or resources expended towards dialogue is a waste. This is not 1967. Anybody who thinks that they can kill an agitation like Biafra with force is truly living in fools’ paradise. It can never happen! Biafra is a spirit. Wasn’t it Ojukwu who started it? He’s gone but Biafra is still here. You can’t kill a spirit with guns and arrows, not even with a nuclear bomb. If Ojukwu’s exit did not kill the agitation, how can any human being think or believe that Nnamdi Kanu’s exit will kill the agitation. As a matter of fact, more people have now joined the agitation and mark my words, worst people than Nnamdi Kanu will soon emerge-they are already there and nobody knows how peaceful those ones will be. We should behave like a 21st century constitutional entity and stop using force to do everything. Dialogue is the only way out and the Government of the day must take advantage now!” he declared.

Continuing he said “for instance, when I heard that ipob was proscribed, classified as a terrorist organization, I had a big gasp. What terrorist organization?! They were duly registered, they haven’t beheaded anybody, they haven’t gone about killing people everywhere, they are known largely as a peaceful movement. I couldn’t just reconcile that proscription with what all of us have known ipob to be over the years. These kinds of things are the reason there are agitations in the first place. Today we have the Kurds in Iraq pushing for referendum, the English speaking area of cameroun pushing as well, the Catalonians, etc. Nigeria is not the only place where people have ever agitated or are agitating for self rule. It’s going on all over the world. Non of those organizations that are leading the agitations have been labeled terrorist organizations. Even the United States, the European Union, etc have also been shocked by this bizarre proscription. What is wrong with us? I think they should start talks immediately for Restructuring and Referendum if possible to lay all these to rest before it is too late.”

Going further he says, “i’m in no way advocating for the dismemberment of Nigeria and everyone who knows me knows my position on that, but I repeat, if Nigeria does not put its acts together, this thing will blow up in her face and no amount of force can stop the outcome.

According to the man of God “I see a situation where there was an escalation and there was bloodshed everywhere. I’m talking about the kind of bloodshed that even the Government couldn’t handle and everyone was involved. It’s going to be a nationwide thing, not just for the people in the South East or South South. See, i’m not a prophet of doom, but when God speaks, we must speak out also, no matter how people feel about it. I see a very black day for Nigeria if the government doesn’t immediately arrest this ugly situation that has led to agitations here and there. And I hope those concerned are listening.”

In closing, the fiery preacher declared, “let us keep praying for the country, because if we don’t pray, we will all share from what is to come. We must pray in particular that God should give our leaders the wisdom to steer the ship of State in the right direction. Wisdom, the bible says, is profitable to direct.

Over 400 unknown armed men camp in Benue Community, Benue journalists forum alleges

Members of Benue Journalists’ Forum Nigeria (BJFN), an association of professional journalists of Benue State extraction are calling on the Inspector General of Police and Benue State Government to investigate an allegation that more than 400 unknown armed men have been camping in the mountainous community of Turan, Kwande Local Government Area of the state since early September, 2017.

In a statement released by Comrade Joseph Saater Undu, the National President of BJFN, he said the men suspected to be herders and nonresidents of the community, are alleged to have entered the unoccupied terrain through Cameroun border and Kashimbila, a border town between Taraba and Benue states, and are gradually moving towards the inhabited areas of the community.

Read the full statement below....

'We are compelled to make this disclosure based on the highly commendable whistleblowing policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration and the recent groundbreaking discovery of a fake military base in Okpokwu area of the state by the Nigerian Army on Tuesday 26th September, 2017, where the fake soldiers in the base were alleged to have been operating a criminal enterprise and training high profile criminals.' 

'From the information available to us, these herdsmen came with cattle laden with loads suspected to be arms and ammunition.'

'A young Tiv hunter who discovered the unknown men in the mountainous region of the community said, some of them look like people from Niger. When they heard his gunshot while chasing an antelope, they responded with over 100 gunshots; the sound of guns he has never heard before.'

'It could be recalled that herdsmen and their alleged sponsors had in recent time vowed to take over Benue valley by attacking it from six fronts namely, Kwande, Guma, Konshisha, Vande-Ikyaa and Gwer respectively.'

'These herdsmen and their alleged sponsors have threatened legal action against Benue State Government over Anti- Grazing Law and have even protested against the anti-grazing bill in Taraba state.'

'We suspect a grand plot to destabilize the Benue Valley taking cognizance of the claim by Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) at a recent press conference in Abuja that they were the first settlers in the Valley and that it belongs to them'.

'We are not sure if they are fleeing members of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group who want to open a new camp in the region.It will be recalled that a similar incident occurred in Bali and Gembu local government areas of Taraba State recently.'

'BJFN therefore, calls on the Federal Government to collaborate with Benue State Government to ensure that the lives and property of our people are secured as they cannot continue to live in fear in their fatherland.'

'The reprehensible activities of herdsmen over the past years have caused our people serious damage.'

'Benue people are predominantly farmers and because the government has failed in its responsibility to provide us with the basic needs of life, the only thing we have, land, should not be taken away from us.'

'In addition, we want to reiterate our unflinching support for the Anti Grazing Law in the state and call on the state government to make sure the law is fully implemented and enforced to the latter.'

Putin: Construction of World Cup venues on track

Putin: Construction of World Cup venues on track

— 5th October 2017

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that some construction work on the venues for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the country remains behind schedule, but he insists the delays are not yet “critical”.

Next year’s edition of football’s quadrennial international tournament is due to take place from June 14 to July 15, using 12 venues spread across 11 cities.

Speaking at a meeting with Regional Governors, senior sports officials and prominent athletes to discuss preparations, Putin stated that while work was “entirely satisfactory” overall, “there are nevertheless some delays”.

“These delays are not critical, there is nothing terrible there, but as I have always said…it is the most difficult thing to resolve tasks at a final stage,” he was reported as saying by Reuters.

“If we relax, we will not fully accomplish the work.”

Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov claimed preparations to stage the 2018 World Cup were in full swing but they had not been without problems and setbacks.

Kolobkov said the 45,000-capacity Samara Arena, which will host several games, remains behind schedule and that the company building the venue had been fined.

“There are some delays at different stages of construction at the stadium in Samara,” he was reported as saying by Reuters.

“A timetable for making up for the delays and [a system] for the daily monitoring of the venue’s completion have been established.”

The contractor of the venue announced in August that the stadium had fallen 30 days behind its construction schedule.

Sergei Ponomaryov, the deputy head of general contractor PSO Kazan, insisted, however, that major construction work would be complete by the agreed deadline of later this year.

In June, Russia showcased four venues as it hosted the Confederations Cup in a dress rehearsal for the World Cup.

Most of the other venues, however, are still under construction and have yet to be tested.

In an attempt to make stadiums safer, Russia will issue special identity cards.

The country has also relaxed visa regulations for travelling fans.

Alexey Sorokin, the chief executive of the Russia 2018 Organising Committee, claimed at the meeting that FIFA has spoken highly of preparations for the World Cup.

“Inspection visits [to the host cities] are held regularly together with FIFA experts,” he was reported as saying by Russian news agency TASS.

“The sixth, last but one visit, is being held now.

“FIFA experts assess the level of preparedness of stadiums and major World Cup facilities.

“The inspectors have already visited Yekaterinburg, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk and Rostov-on-Don.”

Sorokin added: “To date, FIFA, as a whole, has had a favourable view of the degree of the host cities’ readiness for the tournament.”

A stand has bizarrely been added outside the Yekaterinburg Arena, which, with a capacity of 27,000, was deemed too small to meet FIFA standards.

APC mourns Mukhtar Muhammed

APC mourns Mukhtar Muhammed

— 4th October 2017

The APC has condoled with the family of late Air Vice Marshall Mukhtar Muhammed (rtd), a former military governor of old Kaduna State.

According to a statement issued by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, APC National Publicity Secretary on Wednesday in Abuja, the deceased died at the age of 73 in London.

The party also condoled with the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the government and people of Kaduna and Jigawa states over the death of the elder statesman.

The party described the deceased as a patriot and a leading progressive voice in the country, who spoke passionately for the unity and development of the North and the entire country.

According to the APC, Muhammed also spoke on the need to salvage the country and the Northern region from problems of insecurity and poverty.

“He was one of the country’s finest and principled military officer who distinguished himself in the various commands and assignments he held and undertook in the Nigerian Air-force.

“While the death of AVM Muhammed is a sad and painful loss, we should take solace in the fact that he lived an impactful life.”

It prayed Almighty Allah (SWT) to grant his soul eternal rest.

The deceased was the Wazirin Dutse, and Chairman of the first private FM Radio station in Kano State, Freedom Radio and ACF Board of Trustees Deputy Chairman.

Fear in Bayelsa as 10 persons contract Monkey Pox

Fear in Bayelsa as 10 persons contract Monkey Pox

— 4th October 2017

…49 others on watch-list

From: Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

There was palpable fear in Bayelsa State as 10 persons have been confirmed to have contacted the Monkey Pox disease.

Monkey pox, a highly infectious disease, is common in tropical rain forest in Central and West Africa.

According to investigations, the 10 persons, including a medical doctor that have been confirmed to have been infected and were being treated at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital.

The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ebi Etebu, who confirmed the story, said the state government was working to ensure the disease was contained.

He said health workers in the ministry were looking for 49 other people believed to have come in close contact with the identified 10 carriers.

Who has the best strikeforce in Europe? Real Madrid, PSG or another?

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For years Barcelona's "MSN" was considered the best strikeforce in Europe, then Neymar left for Paris Saint-Germain this summer. The French side may now have assembled the most expensive forward line in football history -- with €466 million worth of Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe -- but are they the best strikeforce around?

ESPN's correspondents have all argued the case for their team's attack to be No. 1, but Senior Writer Mark Ogden has ranked them all and concluded there's no upsetting the established order yet.

"With Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in their armoury, it is impossible to look beyond Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively as the top two," he says. "Ronaldo and Messi are the still the best around and having one of those is arguably better than having three of the best from the rest.
"

Michy Batshuayi has no intention of leaving Chelsea in January

-4th october 2017.

Michy Batshuayi is determined to succeed at Chelsea after Eden Hazard advised him to stay at the Premier League champions in the summer.

After making just one top-flight start last season following a move from Marseille, Batshuayi was linked with a number of clubs but, despite the arrival of Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, he decided not to leave Stamford Bridge.

Batshuayi is Chelsea's only senior backup to Morata, who plays as a traditional striker, after Fernando Llorente snubbed a move to the club in favour of Tottenham. And he could be set for extended game time with the Spain international likely to be ruled out for several weeks with a hamstring strain.

He was most concerned about his first-team opportunities when Llorente looked set to make the move, but Belgium teammate Hazard assured him he would be better off staying with the Premier League champions.

"It was friendly advice," he told Belgian media. "When he said that, he thought a third striker was going to come, but in the end, there's only two of us for one place. I want to succeed at this club and my relationship with Alvaro is very healthy.

"I don't want to leave during the next transfer window, because we're going to play a lot of games and I will certainly get an opportunity."

Batshuayi's optimism remains intact despite seeing boss Antonio Conte opt to replace the injured Morata with Willian during the first half of last weekend's 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.

Batshuayi did eventually make an appearance, coming on for Tiemoue Bakayoko 17 minutes from time, but has nothing but praise for Conte's influence on his game.

"What disappointed me was our defeat to Manchester City, not my personal situation," he added. "The coach congratulates me often because he knows my commitment on a daily basis. Thanks to him, I have progressed tactically.

"Before, I didn't think about all that, but I've progressed... just like the rest of the squad. In terms of self-discipline and motivation, I'm also stronger."

Reuters reports tension over missing Nnamdi Kanu

Reuters reports tension over missing Nnamdi Kanu

— 4th October 2017

A secessionist leader seeking independence from Nigeria has been missing since an alleged military raid more than two weeks ago left his house in the city of Umuahia riddled with bullet holes, its windows smashed and doors hanging off hinges.

The disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu, after the raid the army says did not happen, threatens to ignite separatist unrest capable of destabilizing southeastern Nigeria, a region where a million people died in a 1967-70 civil war over the short-lived Republic of Biafra.

Kingsley Kanu, 48, said he was with his older brother Nnamdi, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, at their family home on the evening of Sept. 14 when soldiers stormed in.

“They were shooting everything they saw,” he said, pointing to bullet holes in walls and windows.

“They came here just to kill everybody,” he said, adding that around 20 IPOB members were shot dead but most of the bodies were taken by soldiers.

Reuters witnesses – a reporter and TV cameraman – on Sept. 27 saw six corpses with bullet wounds in a morgue, who IPOB said were among their members.

Two resembled men in photographs held by weeping relatives who told Reuters their brothers were killed in the raid, though nobody could verify the identities of the four others.

“The military did not raid Nnamdi Kanu’s residence,” a military spokesman told reporters in the capital, Abuja. “Nnamdi Kanu is not in the custody of the military.”

The allegation and denial are the biggest flashpoint of a military deployment in the southeast that began in September.

Civil society groups and analysts say the military presence, last month’s designation of IPOB as a “terrorist organization”, and its leader’s disappearance could prompt the separatists to abandon their policy of non-violence.

President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim northerner, made a crackdown on secessionists the focus of his first speech in August after returning from three months of medical leave in Britain.

He then held talks with armed forces chiefs who days later launched Operation Python Dance, which the military said was intended to reduce violent crime and “secessionist agitations”.

Soldiers with rifles are present across Umuahia, capital of Abia state, in armored vans and at checkpoints where motorists are routinely questioned.

Buhari is already contending with Boko Haram’s jihadist insurgency in the northeast and seeking to maintain a ceasefire with militants in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta.

But some say the former military ruler risks exacerbating the situation, just as militant attacks in the Niger Delta surged last year after troops were deployed.

HEAVY-HANDED?

“The government’s heavy-handed approach will only shore up local support for a radical group that previously struggled to broaden its base,” said Malte Liewerscheidt of global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.

Ryan Cummings, director of Africa-focused risk management company Signal Risk, said the Igbo ethnic group that dominates the region, and has long spoken of being marginalized, felt targeted.

“The government has allowed insecurity to burgeon in other areas of Nigeria without similar deployments,” he said, citing attacks by Fulani herdsmen that have killed hundreds of people in central Nigeria over the last few years.

A wall at the family home of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu features a painted flag of the former Republic of Biafra and holes purportedly caused by bullets, in the city of Umuahia, southeastern Nigeria September 27, 2017. REUTERS/Alexis Akwagyiram

Tension followed the arrival of troops in the southeast.

Abia’s governor imposed a curfew in the city of Aba last month. Several days of tension between IPOB members and troops led to claims by the group that Kanu’s house had been besieged by soldiers, which the military denied.

Videos circulating on social media including footage purportedly showing troops in Abia using sticks to flog men stripped to the waist, which the army said it was investigating, have heightened anger.

“The presence of the army scared our people. People spoke about what happened during the Biafran war,” said Onyebuchi Ememanka, a special adviser to the state’s governor who is a member of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

“There were no serious security challenges that would justify the deployment of troops,” said Ememanka.

He said he never saw IPOB’s members carrying weapons, though he added that a uniformed national guard and secret service had held parades in the last few weeks, which he called a “new dimension”.

Red, black and green paint – the Biafran flag’s colors – daubed on walls and tree trunks across Umuahia follow calls for a referendum on independence.

 Kanu’s release on bail in April, after being held for nearly two years on charges of criminal conspiracy and treasonable offences, brought attention back to the issue.

However, talk of secession among people on the streets of Umuahia mostly hinged on whether or not they had the right to make a democratic choice about their future rather than aligning with IPOB’s belief in a need for a separate state.

Opinions tend to be divided along generation lines, with younger people born long after the war expressing an interest in a referendum while older people who remember the war or grew up hearing stories about the conflict are often wary of even discussing the subject.

However, a pronouncement earlier this year by activists in the northern state of Kaduna that Igbos, who are mainly Christian, should be evicted stirred ethnic tensions. The dispute acted as a lightning rod for frustrations against Buhari, who fought in the civil war on the government side as a young soldier.

A lack of development in the southeast for decades has cemented a belief among Igbos that they have been marginalized.

IPOB ARRESTS

 Michael Ogbizi, Abia state police commissioner, said 74 IPOB members had been arrested since Sept. 12 and charged with offences including murder and arson.

Many charges related to the burning down of a police station in mid-September in Aba where nine people died. Ogbizi said police had no records of IPOB members being killed.

An IPOB spokesman denied the group was involved in the fire.

Amid differing opinions about the group’s past conduct, Kanu’s disappearance has created uncertainty about its future.

“If they [the army] have killed him, let them give us the corpse,” said the IPOB leader’s brother, adding that his missing 82-year-old father and 67-year-old mother should be released if they are being held.

Liewerscheidt said if Kanu were to die at the hands of the authorities parallels could be drawn with the origins of the Boko Haram insurgency that began after the death of Mohammed Yusuf, the Islamist militant group’s founder, in police custody.

“This would likely transform IPOB into precisely the terrorist organization the military claims it already is,” he said.

IPOB not grateful to Kalu -Yerima

IPOB not grateful to Kalu -Yerima

— 4th October 2017

Leader of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, Shettima Yerima has raised concerns over the utterances of members of Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) against former governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu.

He described the statements attributed to IPOB officials as unpatriotic and uncivilized, adding that they lack the common sense to come to terms with reality.

Yerima spoke in Kaduna in response to isues raised by IPOB leadership over comments by Kalu concerning Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader.

Yerima said he was surprised that IPOB spokesperson could “extend their traditional ways of insults to even someone like Kalu.”

He said that those who were not vocal when their voices should have been loudest are the true enemies of the society.

He disclosed that it is unfair and unpatriotic that despite the former governor’s efforts in sustaining relative peace we are enjoying today, the IPOB can still be raining abuses on ex-Gov. Kalu.

“A man who has frequently shuttled the North to discuss the safety of his people deserves accolades instead. If they couldn’t contain their pot of insults and decide to extensively extend it to even the ones sticking their neck out on their behalf, it simply shows how irresponsible , ungrateful and unappreciative they can be..”

Commenting on Kalu’s statement on Nnamdi Kanu’s whereabouts and counter claims by the IPOB , Yerima also said “I wonder the reason for such propaganda by IPOB. Even when they said Nnamdi Kanu’s father was missing, a doctor in the Federal Medical Centre confirmed he slumped and was brought for treatment

Meanwhile, IPOB claims they disappeared or the army has them.” he said.