The ceasefire declared by the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, and the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, to give room for a dialogue with the Federal Government appears headed for the rocks.
The groups are peeved by reports that former governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Senator Goodswill Akpabio led a delegation accompanied by some northern elites on behalf of MASSOB to Federal Government to broker a truce.
Consequently, they said they the only way they would be part of the dialogue is if detained IPOB leader and Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu is part of it.
This came as the Chief Ralph Uwazuruike-led Biafra Independent Movement, BIM, dissociated self from any negotiation to strength the unity of Nigeria and vowed to actualize the Republic of Biafra
Meanwhile, a coalition of human rights groups in the South-East zone cautioned the Federal Government against allowing Nnamdi Kanu to be murdered in the captivity of the Department of State Service, DSS, the way deceased leader of Boko Haram sect, Yusuf Mohammed was killed in Police custody.
Also, residents of Onitsha and its environs had appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Nigerian Armed Forces to dismantle the road blocks in Anambra State, which were mounted after the killing of nine people in the state over MASSOB and IPOB protests, citing increasing inhuman treatments meted out to innocent citizens by the military men.
Any dialogue without Nnamdi won’t yield fruits
Speaking on the proposed dialogue, in Enugu, yesteday, MASSOB Director of Information, Edson Samuel, said: “We are shocked that Akpabio, who disowned MASSOB at the inception of this demonstration, led some northern leaders to broker truce on our behalf. We do not know them, neither can we identify with them because any person moving to dialogue between us and Federal Government must first meet with us and know our demands.
“This demonstration is strictly anchored by MASSOB, IPOB and Akpabio, working with his cohort, Dozie Ikedife, have shown hatred for Nnamdi Kanu. We make haste to disown them.
“Ikedife has his own agenda and belief in the constitution of Nigeria, which we do not believe in. MASSOB and Biafra do not have faith in Nigerian constitution. The Nigerian constitution is a complete fraud, that is why we are protesting to opt out. The framers of the constitution never consulted Ndigbo when it was crafted.
On Biafra we stand —BIM
The BIM, a former faction of MASSOB, yesterday, gave reasons it would not be part of any negotiation intended to strengthen Nigeria’s national unity and stability, but rather the one that will ensure the actualization of Biafra.
BIM said it had equally distanced self from the outcome of an emergency meeting in Asaba, Delta State and the one earlier held by the Supreme Elders Council of IPOB at Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Abuja, Wednesday, December 9, 2015, where they agreed that the recent demonstrations in the Southeast and parts of South-South were agitations for the right to “call ourselves Biafrans within the Nigerian equation.”
In a press statement issued in Onitsha, Anambra State, BIM’s Deputy Director for Information, Mazi Chris Anierobi Mocha, said such discussions ‘’with our oppressors have a sinister motive behind it,’’ adding, “our position is to achieve a separate country with the name and tittle: ‘Republic of Biafra, no more no less.’
Don’t kill Kanu in detention like Yusuf, rights groups tell FG
Cautioning the the government to ensure the safety of Nnamdi Kanu in detention, a coalition of human rights groups based in the South-East zone given the provisions of Section 1 (3) of the 1999 Constitution, Section 27 (1) of the Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011 as amended, Kanu’s detention and investigation by DSS over involvement in terrorism and terrorism financing are illegal.
In a press statement entitled: ‘Before Nnamdi Kanu Is Murdered In DSS Captivity & Goes The Way of Yusuf Mohammed,’ the coalition further noted that by Section 35 (4) (a) (b) of the 1999 Constitution (right to personal liberty); the same Section 27 (1) of Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011 as amended (detention of accused citizen for 90 days and above or perpetual pre-trial detention), is also null and void.
Signed by its senior activist, Emeka Umeagbalasi, the coalition in the statement noted that the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s landmark verdict in: Abacha and Others vs Fawehinmi (2001) AHRLR 172 (NgSC 2000); on the supremacy of the African Charter on Human & Peoples Rights, ACHPR, over ordinary legislations in Nigeria, Section 27 (1) of Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011 as amended; is expressly ultra vires, illegal and illegitimate.
The coalition comprises the International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety), Anambra State Branch of the Civil Liberties Organization, CLO, Centre for Human Rights & Peace Advocacy, CHRPA, Human Rights Club, HRC, (a project of LRRDC), Southeast Good Governance Forum, SGGF, Forum for Equity, Justice & Defence of Human Rights, FEJDHR, Society Advocacy Watch Project, SPAW, Anambra Human Rights Forum, AHRF, International Solidarity, INTERSOLIDARITY, for Peace & Human Rights Initiative, Street Law Africa, LawAfrica, and Igbo Ekunie Initiative, IEI, (a pan-Igbo rights campaigner).
Inhuman treatment: Onitsha residents, CD seek dismanantleing of military points in Anambra
Residents of Onitsha and its environs have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Nigerian Armed Forces to dismantle military road blocks in Anambra State erected on account of the pro-Biafra protests
Speaking with newsmen, Mr. Chinonso Ukaegbu, a trader said that normalcy had returned to the commercial city of Onitsha and its environs and there was no need for the joint military task force operations in the state.
“The IPOB and MASSOB activists are no more protesting in the state. They have also announced the suspension of their protests, and Onitsha is back to normalcy.Why should the people be subjected to dehumanizing act of raising our hands or running past the check points irrespective of age and status?” he said.
The Campaign for Democracy also made similar call, saying that there was no war or tension in Anambra State and therefore, people should not be subjected to dehumanizing situations where they had to raise their hands from three poles to the check points mounted by the Army and the Police.
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