Peter Obi raises alarm over plots to link him to IPOB
VICE-PRESIDENTIAL candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2019 election, Peter Obi, has raised the alarm over a plot to link him to the current spate of killings in the South East and the operations of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The former Anambra State governor states this in a statement on yesterday, adding that a group of people were about to call a world press conference to that effect any time soon, to break the information.
Recall that Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, had informed Nigerians that names of sponsors of terrorism and banditry, ravaging the country, would soon be made known and they would be rounded up for prosecution.
Few days earlier, Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, whose state has also come under heavy attacks by bandits, targeting police stations, killing their operatives and other security personnel, had echoed the same message at various times, saying that intense investigations were going on and the perpetrators would be rounded up soon.
Malami’s revelation, which he made to State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, explained that the Nigerian security, picked up the lead from the conviction of certain individuals some months back by the government of the United Arab Emirate (UAE) in Dubai.
Incidentally, the names of the convicts, were not made known either by the Dubai authorities or their counterparts in Abuja, even with the strident calls from Nigerians, who had borne the brunt of the brutal attacks that also includes brazen acts of kidnapping, particularly of student and demanding for ransom, to do so.
Obi, in reaction by his spokesman, Valentine Obienyem, said: “The present effort to blackmail Mr. Obi is by some prominent Nigerians, including a present Governor in the South-East. Our informant, whom we have no reason to doubt, revealed how five of them were invited to a meeting on how to nail Mr. Peter Obi so that, according to him, his ‘rising profile will be dimmed for good.
“Watch out; soon you will see a group call a world press conference, speak of the insecurity in the land, appeal to anybody with information on the causes to help the Government solve it and finally drop the bomb by linking Mr. Peter Obi to the sponsorship of the Biafran movement through offer of money to sustain the agitation and use of Biafran boys for selfish end, including winning of elections.’”
“Though our informant refused to disclose the name of the Governor behind this and the main person he is using, he assured: “In the fullness of time, the plot will unfold and the characters will become apparent on its own.”
He however added that some of them are not comfortable on the way the tide is moving and may finally opt out, noting: “Most of the previous efforts to blackmail Mr. Obi by some prominent people through hired hands backfired, because the truth eventually prevailed. The present plot to make trouble for an innocent man will similarly come to naught as far as Almighty God remains on the throne.”