IPOB condemns Ugwuanyi's insensitivity

The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has lam­basted Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, ac­cusing him of “insensitivity” over the plights of the 76 arrest­ed farmers in Awgu.
The farmers were arrest­ed and reportedly dumped in a prison in Umuahia, follow­ing a clash with Fulani herds­men who were destroying their crops and farm land.
According to our corre­spondent, the Chief Press Secre­tary to the Governor, Mr. Uwak­we Abugu, had while reacting to the arrest of the farmers, said that, “It does not require the at­tention of the state government for them to be released.”
IPOB described the state­ment credited to the governor’s spokesman as “very irresponsi­ble and disgraceful”.
The pro-Biafra group, in a statement issued yesterday, ex­pressed disappointment in the governor over the remarks, de­scribing him as “the stooge in Enugu Government House who does not know the meaning of being the Chief Security Offic­er of the state”.
“He allowed his subjects to be suffering and refused to fight for his people who voted for him when he was nobody”, the statement said.
The statement signed by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Officer, Emma Powerful, also challenged the South East Gov­ernors not to joke with the life and security of their people.
But in his own reaction, Governor Ugwuanyi faulted and rejected the allegation of insensitivity by IPOB, stating that the state government was already intervening in the mat­ter and could not have washed its hands off a matter that affect­ed citizens it took oath of office to protect.
According to the governor who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant (Media), Mr. Louis Amoke, the unfounded sentiment being whipped up was the handiwork of detrac­tors who are seeking to create a negative image for the progres­sive governance strides of his administration.
The governor also disowned the purported statement credit­ed to his Chief Press Secretary Uwakwe Abugu, saying it was contrived and untrue.
According to Amoke, Gov­ernor Ugwuanyi is focused on ensuring that justice and fair play reigned in Enugu State and this includes protection and de­fence of the rights of all citizens of the state who freely gave him their mandate.
He added that while IPOB was entitled to free expression of its agenda in a democrat­ic setting, this should not be mixed up with critical issues of governance at a period many challenges were confronting the South-East zone and the nation at large.
IPOB also accused the Fed­eral Government of foul play in the arrest of the local with fake solders as the Nigerian Army has denied the “men in military uniform” that arrested them, dismissing them as ‘ fake solders’.
According to IPOB, the said fake solders are Boko Har­am elements who are disguis­ing as herdsmen to “main, kill and eliminate Biafrans in their own land”.
“If they are fake solders as claimed, who handed them over to fake police who prepared the fake charges against them and transferred them to fake Zone 9 who took them to fake court and remanded them in fake prison?” IPOB queried.
IPOB also accused President Muhammadu Buhari of work­ing to actualise a secret agenda reached with Islamic nations during his visit to Qatar as one of the conditions for joining the Islamic Coalition against terror.
The pro- Biafra group vowed to resist any attempt to Islamise any part of Nigerian belonging to the break - away republic or to terrorize them with herds­men.