Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, says the Nigerian government may go after other groups, now that Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been proscribed.
Fani-Kayode wrote: “It is IPOB today but tomorrow, it could be OPC, Ijaw Youth Council, Ohanaeze, Afenifere, Middle Belt Forum, Arewa Youths, Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum or indeed anyone else.
“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation that has not killed or threatened to kill anyone and that has totally rejected the idea of violence and an armed struggle.
“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation whose only aspiration is to have a referendum to determine whether or not their people should or should not remain in Nigeria.
“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation whose only objective is the peaceful and lawful exercise of the right of self-determination.
“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation whose only crime is to take objection to the stripping away of their historical and cultural identity and to speak out against the willful marginalisation and mass murder of their people.
“I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation who believe in passive and non-violent resistance and who consistently emphasise the importance of peaceful opposition.
“Saying that IPOB is a terrorist organisation is like saying that Mother Theresa is the Marquis De Sade. It is like saying that an angel from heaven is a demon from hell. It is like saying that Little Red Riding Hood is the hungry and ravenous wolf.”
Fani-Kayode recently alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari has an agenda to “wipe off” IPOB, its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and the “Igbo race”.
According to him, “Since when has it been acceptable or the norm to unleash the dogs of war against a group of innocent, unarmed and defenceless young people and their colourful leader simply because they dared to ask for a referendum?
“The fact of the matter is that whether anyone likes it or not, the attempt to break, subjugate, demonise, belittle, vilify and wipe out the Igbo race through the auspices of intimidation, disinformation, manipulation of the media, mass murder and ethnic cleansing by the Buhari administration shall fail.
“The truth is that this whole thing is not about IPOB but about the consistent expression of an irrational, illogical and pathological hatred of the Igbos by the maximum ruler of the Nigerian state.
“And if he gets away with it and manages to achieve his sinister and nefarious objective he will come after the Yoruba, the Ijaw, the Tiv and everyone else in a matter of time!
“That is why it is important to refuse to be intimidated, to stand firm, to hold the line, to resist him with every fiber of our being and to insist on the restructuring and the renegotiation of Nigeria”, the former presidential spokesman added.
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