By Uche Amunike
An Igbo group in Spain, under the aegis of the Igbo General Assembly, IGA, has condemned what it called the unlawful strategy to stall the trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
They decried the failure of the Department of State Services, DSS, to bring Kanu to court on Monday, saying that it showed signs of what kind of justice he was likely to get during the trial.
The group went on to state that Kanu’s alleged abduction by the Kenyan government and eventual handover to the Nigerian government was a violation of International law and the basic principles of the rule of law.
The group maintained that Igbos have been marginalized under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and it was this ill- treatment that the likes of the IPOB continuously complained about.
In an open letter written by the Igbo General Assembly, IGA, they demanded a fair trial for the embattled IPOB leader in the treasonable felony charges levelled against him by the Nigerian government.
The group advised the Federal government to handle the case at hand as a political issue that should be quickly addressed peacefully for the sake of national interest and not as an opportunity to hound agitators anywhere.
The open letter was jointly signed by the IGA President, Chief Kingsley Ndibe, the Vice President Mazi Iroegbu and Ifeanyi Okongwu, her Political Strategist.
They also expressed their disappointment that the Southeast governors were not able to end the disturbing security situation in the zone and found it alarming that the Igbos, in their various communities are no longer safe judging from the manner in which large numbers of Igbos are abducted and murdered in their own land.
They also lamented the recent massacre of innocent villagers by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen at the Obie Aku Farm Settlement in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu state on Sunday night, living many dead.
They also expressed their pain over the failure of the Southeast governors to protect Igbos, saying that with the situation at hand, the welfare and well-being of the Igbo people are not assured adding that the existing Nigerian structure is formed in a way that there will continuously be a constant case of widespread massacres of the Igbo people because of the influx of killer herdsmen and bandits.
IGA condemned what it termed the unserious setting up of Ebubeagu which they described as a sell-out of Igbo security interests with subordinate attachment to the federal structure, saying that they both have no confidence in its composition as their own security outfit.
‘Folks are constrained to engage in their legitimate occupations as violence and death wreak havoc on our people. This is no acceptable choice for our people. Igbo interests have been jeopardized, while with docility, South-East governors condone the emasculation of our people. Killer herdsmen inflict mayhem on Igbo men, women and children, to the extent that they invade our communities unimpeded.’
‘No Igbo state has been spared from the atrocities of these bandits, and our people are slaughtered and butchered in their homes and farms; our women and child-girls raped and abducted; our properties looted or destroyed; our homes and communities incinerated; our forests and sacred places occupied or desecrated, etc’.
They also posited that prohibiting Igbos from carrying firearms while allowing killer herdsmen roam across borders unrestrained was a part of a central government’s anti-Igbo agenda.
‘It’s sad that the present-day government’s ultimate objective is to subjugate our people and repeat the pogrom on the Igbo nation. This policy will reduce Igbos to the status of subjects with no rights under Fulani suzerainty.’
‘Disturbing is the recent mandate by the Inspector-General of Police, to cops in the South-East to ‘shoot at sight. This is a cruel authorization by the police boss.’
The group accused Southeast governors of being obedient to the federal government’s brutal repression in Igbo land, describing the situation as a case where the Igbo land is cordoned off in a low-level war.
‘As a potentate, the police chief dictates Igbo security. It sounds like a prescription for Fulani hegemony for Igbos to rely on the South-East governors’ security outfit, Ebubeagu.’
They maintained that they expected the Southeast governors to counteract banditry in the region, object to military bombings and attacks on the land and build collaboration between Eastern Security Network, ESN, and Ebubeagu if they are really serious and sincere about Igbo security, especially as the ESN is supported by many Igbos.
Meanwhile, Nnamdi kanu has dragged Nigeria and Kenya before an international tribunal over his re-arrest and rendition, demanding to be restored to his initial state before arrest.
He has petitioned the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights over his arrest through his Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor saying he was a free man before his arrest and as such should be restored to that status and that Nigerian and Kenyan governments must give an account of the extraordinary rendition of Kanu.
Recall that Kanu was re-arrested and repatriated from an unspecified African country which is widely believed to be Kenya.
He has since been in the DSS custody due to the order given by Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja Federal High Court.
Because the DSS failed to produce him in court on Monday however, Nyako adjourned the matter till October.
