THE apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has urged the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to stop perpetrating violence in the South-East.
The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof. George Obiozor, who made the call yesterday in a statement issued by the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, appealed to the IPOB and other secessionist agitators in the South-East to embrace dialogue and allow peace to return to the region.
IPOB had in August ordered a sit-at-home in the South-East in a bid to force the Federal Government to release its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from detention.
Kanu is standing trial for alleged treason and other allied charges at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The sit-at-home order had crippled economic activities across the five states in the region.
Obiozor said that IPOB leaders should take cognizance of the violence that has overtaken the South-East, saying the region “must avoid being a race that has voluntarily chosen to perish in violence and insecurity.”
He, however, added that the Nigerian Federation should be sustained and have a sense of stability.
He said: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, traditional rulers and stakeholders call for an end towards anarchy in Igbo land.
“Our youths particularly the leaders of IPOB, should take notice of the danger violence has posed in Igbo land.
The Ndigbo must avoid being a race that has voluntarily chosen to perish in violence and insecurity, and we must stop threatening ourselves. There must be a stop to violence and violence rhetoric. Something other than the initial objectives of IPOB is taking place and it is dangerous.
“Today, what we are seeing in Igbo land is not liberation but Ala Igbo destruction and devastation. It is a national tragedy for Igbos. The liberty and freedom of Ndigbo are threatened internally and externally. I call on IPOB leaders to reassert the authority and control of the organization.
“We repeat our preference for dialogue instead of violence or military solutions to national problems. The dialogue should not be delayed further.
“For Ndigbo, the demand is simple, that the Nigerian Federation should be sustained and have a sense of stability. It must be a union of equals and the composite units must have the ability to survive without begging the centre.”
