By; PAMELA EBOH, Awka
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has announced plans to place the South-East on lock down for five days if the Federal Government fails to release its leader, Nnamdi Kanu before November 4, 2021.
IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful in a statement said that the lockdown will take effect from 5th to 10th November, with the exception of Sunday, November 7, “if the Nigerian Government fails to release our leader unconditionally before 4th of November 2021.”
The statement partly reads, “Our leader, onyendu Mazi Nnamdi MUST be released UNCONDITIONALLY on or before November 4, 2021 because he has not committed any offense known to any law.
“Failure to release our leader onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on or before November 4, 2021, our one week Sit-At-Home begins on November 5, 2021 till November 10.
“Although we quite understand the pains and adverse effects of this option on our people, we are compelled to take it to achieve a better purpose in the collective interest of Biafrans.
“We have taken time to analyse what transpired on October 21 when our Leader was arraigned in court and discovered that the federal government is not sincere and only wants to humiliate him and keep him perpetually in DSS custody to rot there.
“We all saw how lawyers, journalists, Igbo delegates and respected traditional rulers and other people who came from all around the world to witness his court case were restricted and denied access into the court premises by security agents who kept them outside under the scorching heat of the sun. What a humiliation and wickedness!
“We cannot accept that anymore. We can never allow our leader, Mazi Nnamdi kanu to be tried secretly and we can never also allow him to be tried under Sharia law under any guise. Nigeria must follow International laws in handling our leader.”
IPOB stressed that Kanu is currently in DSS dungeon because of his passion for Biafra independence, saying that whatever sacrifice it requires will be followed to ensure that he (Kanu) regains his freedom.
While noting that the IPOB leader has sacrificed so much for the people, the group added, “We must be prepared to sacrifice little for him.
“Unless the federal government releases him unconditionally before November 4, we shall sacrifice one week for him as a warning protest to convey to our oppressors that Nnamdi Kanu represents over 70 million Biafrans. He is innocent of all the charges preferred against him.
“As long as he is in detention our individual businesses do not matter so much because he is suffering for us all and we can’t abandon him.
“This one week sit-at-home is also to let our oppressors understand that we are not going to tolerate any plan to torment or abandon our leader in DSS custody through frivolous court adjournments. Any plans to subject him to trauma in detention through long adjournments while real terrotists and mass murderers are having fun across the country cannot fly.
“Nnamdi Kanu must be freed because he commited no crime. Asking for referendum so that Biafrans will decide whether or not they want to continue as part of Nigeria is no crime. He should not suffer for seeking justice for his people.
“We have been enslaved and caged enough by the Fulani controlled federal government of Nigeria and its allies. If we shut down Biafra land just for one week to secure our permanent freedom, it is worth the sacrifice. Everybody should brace up for this sacrifice.”
IPOB said the time has come for all Biafrans to be united and not give the oppressors and their agents any room to create division.
It however, regretted the inconveniences the lockdown may cause the people, noting that the action is a necessary sacrifice needed to make independence is gained.
“Nobody resident in Biafra land is expected to flout this directive as doing so amounts to challenging the will of the people on the Biafra project”, it added.
