26 S-south, S-east groups berate military over IPOB killings

 

Twenty six socio-political groups from the South East and South- South zones rose from a meeting in Enugu yesterday, “thoroughly condemning the Onitsha massacre of members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and MASSOB at Onitsha on Monday 30, 2016,” and “agreed to enlarge their coalition by consulting wider on the need or otherwise for the two regions to endorse the non-violence agitation of IPOB for a referendum to decide the future of Nigeria.”

File: An IPOB protester reportedly shot dead by one of the soldiers who shot into the air to disperse protesters at Ochanja, Onitsha, the commercial city of Anambra State, South-east Nigeria, during their 1 Million March, to call for the immediate release of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Kanu was arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, on his way into Nigeria from UK

Sources told Saturday Vanguard that the only agenda of the meeting, convened by 82 year old NCNC and Zikist activist, Chief (Mrs) Mariah Okwor, and Leader of the Igbo Women Assembly was the support or otherwise of IPOB in pursuit of the referendum.

Present at the meeting, were representatives of CAN, PFN, traditional rulers, Igbo Traders Congress, Ohanaeze Youth Forum, Igbo in Academia, South East Professionals, Niger Delta Youth Forum, Old Eastern Region Movement, World Igbo Congress, Igbo Survival Movement and the South East Youth Congress, among others.The groups were angered “at the silence of the South East Governors over the cold blooded massacre of 81 Easterners during the 49th Anniversary of the Annual May 30, Biafra Day ceremony.”

Bishop Micheal Ibeneme of the Lords Salvation Gospel Ministry, who chaired the meeting, lamented the deliberate attempt by the Army to blackmail the youths, by claiming that they turned violent, describing it as “fabricated lies,” pointing out that the youths were deliberately murdered by the soldiers simply “because some people in Abuja do not want to hear the name Biafra.”

According to him, “Everybody knows that those boys were not armed. If a panel of enquiry is not immediately set up to bring to book those murderous soldiers, then the government will be pushing all of us to join IPOB immediately. This mindless killing is unacceptable.”

Most of those who spoke on the occasion, condemned the attempt by the military to silence the truth by taking away more than half of the corpses of the young men killed. The groups agreed to consult more widely and enlarge the coalition in other to take a definite decision on whether to publicly canvass support for IPOB in the light of the brutal suppression by the military even as the groups agreed to meet on June 27, in Umuahia, Abia State to take a final decision on the issue.