The Indigenous People of Biafra has said its members attacked former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, because of the role played by him and others during the Operation Python Dance saga in the South-East.
The group said Ekweremadu and others like Nnia Nwodo, David Umahi, Okezie Ikpeazu, Rochas Okorocha, Willie Obiano and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi plotted to kill the IPOB dream.
A statement by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, on behalf of the group’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, accused South-East leaders of plotting to assassinate Kanu, and kill the dream of IPOB through Operation Python Dance.
“These men mentioned above instigated, financed and defended a full-scale bloody military invasion of Biafra land they tagged Operation Python Dance that led to the torture and untimely death of over 600 Biafrans, 28 of which fell in my compound.
“These men sanctioned the desecration of the home of an Igbo traditional ruler by Fulani soldiers and did not care if my father, HRM Eze Israel Okwu Kanu, and my mother, who were home with me during the unprovoked invasion, were killed or not. All that these desperate Igbo politicians ever wanted was my death, the death of IPOB, the death of our dream of freedom for all.
“In view of the Nuremberg encounter, it has become necessary for us to refresh our memory lest it succumbs to confusion and deliberate misinformation because most people, unlike IPOB, are in the habit of excusing intolerable evil and wickedness.
“Every perpetrator of evil, every purveyor of iniquity, every merchant of misery and every defender of injustice must and will be held to account. We will on relent until justice is served,” IPOB said.
But a prominent Igbo socio-cultural group, Igbo Bu Igbo, on Tuesday warned members of IPOB not to push their luck.
The group gave the warning while reacting to the attack on Ekweremadu, by members of IPOB in Nuremberg, Germany.
It described the attack on Ekweremadu as “a callous act of ingratitude” considering that Ekweremadu was the same person who rallied other leaders to save Nnamdi Kanu from languishing in jail.
It said, “In Igboland, the hen does not raise its beak against the one who gave it shelter during the rainfall.”
In a statement by the Group’s Chancellor, Dr Law Mefor, and the Secretary General, Mazi Chidi Omeje, the IBI lamented how “the unfortunate, unprovoked and crass attack on the senator had created the wrong notion that the Igbo cannot conduct themselves in a decent manner.”
It said, “We reject such a notion as that is not who we are. No matter what the grievances of these misguided IPOB members could be against Senator Ike Ekweremadu, resorting to bestial tendencies to settle scores is not part of our culture.”
It called on IPOB to “desist from such actions that can be used to justify the terrorist tag it has already been labelled with by the Federal Government.”
“The orchestrated physical attack on Ekweremadu should not be seen as a democratic protest, and if not condemned by good spirited Nigerians, it will be extended even to the ordinary citizens in due course.
“We cannot applaud barbarity under whatever guise. What is condemnable is condemnable and we condemn that mob action in Germany in the strongest terms possible. With the threats subsequently issued against Igbo leaders across the board by IPOB, they are creating a recipe for disaster,” the IBI said.
The group urged IPOB to “convert such energy and take advantage of its reach to bring about its desired good governance in Igbo land by actively participating in politics of the region and the country if it so desires.”
Similarly, the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party condemned the attack on Ekweremadu by IPOB members.
In a statement on Tuesday by the PDP BoT Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, and Secretary, Senator Adolphus Wabara, it said the attack was totally uncalled for, unacceptable and could not be justified.
It called on the Federal Government to address the issue that led to the attack.
It said, “Senator Ekweremadu is a Nigerian that did not deserve this wicked treatment. We sincerely sympathise with Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his family.”