OYC Urges FG to De-proscribe IPOB Now, Says Buhari Engenders Secessionist Agitation

 

The federal government has been urged to nullify the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and delist its tag as a terrorist organisation.

The leadership of Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) made the call at the weekend at a press conference addressed by the group President-General, Igboayaka O. Igboayakain Umuahia.

IPOB was in 2017 proscribed and labelled a terrorist organisation by the federal government in controversial  circumstances following heightened separatist agitations championed by the group.

However, OYC has noted that the federal government has never justified its action, “hence its position on IPOB is no longer tenable in view of the present situation where the real terrorists have been on rampage across the land killing and maiming people as well as destroying properties.”

It argued that IPOB in all its agitations was never armed hence its proscription was politically motivated as the federal government has till today been unable to prove that the separatist group ever engaged in terrorist activities.

The OYC, therefore, questioned the federal government’s retention of an unarmed and non-violent IPOB on its list of terrorist organisations while groups like Boko Haram and the murderous Fulani herdsmen "are moving around freely and pampered with a proposed settlement."

It faulted the failure of the federal government to proscribe the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and declare it a terrorist organisation since it represents the interests of the killer herdsmen, and encourages their activities.

"These are groups and associations that have done more terrible things in the country. IPOB is only agitating for Biafra, and its members have done nothing more than agitation; they have not killed anybody, but on the contrary, they are the ones still being killed with hundreds of them in many prisons across Nigeria," the OYC leader said.

Tracing the root of the separatist agitation by IPOB, the OYC noted that after the Nigeria-Biafra war, the people of the Eastern region went through all kinds of demeaning treatments and marginalisation, thereby creating a fertile ground for resurgence of secessionist agitations.

The Ohanaeze youths noted with regret the widespread separatist sentiments in various parts of Nigeria since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015, adding that his lopsided policies and actions have been fuelling separatist sentiments.

The group reasoned that by lifting the ban on IPOB and removing its name from the terrorists list, the Buhari administration would open the way for constructive dialogue aimed at finding lasting solution to the vexing issue of marginalisation in the South-east zone.