Igbo Summit: Avert This Suicide, Charles Ogbu Warns IPOB

Reacting to the position of certain Igbo elements, especially the Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB] towards the Igbo Summit scheduled for today, May 21, 2018, a concerned Igbo voice, Mr. Charles Ogbu has warned IPOB and others seeking to disrupt the event to desist.

In a memo, Mr Ogbu wondered what they stand to gain over the antagonism following the summit, not to mention the rist to lives and properties involved.

He wrote:

I have just read a statement released by IPOB leadership calling on its members throughout the whole old Eastern region to invade the venue of the Ohaneze restructuring Summit and I must say this, just for the record.

This call by IPOB is reckless, irresponsible and self-defeating. I am deeply, deeply, deeply worried with the way we are going about this Biafra agitation.

I refuse to be associated with this level of extremism, intolerance and suicidal foolishness.

IPOB leadership is aware that currently, the murderous government of Buhari sees IPOB as a terrorist group and has been looking for any opportunity to spill their blood.

So what is the wisdom in asking members of a group currently regarded as a terrorist group by the government to invade the venue where another group is holding a Summit which will be guarded by Security Agents from the same government?

The full statement by Mr. Charles Ogbu will be published in our subsequent bulletin.

Can someone please educate me on the rationale behind this IPOB call??

Does IPOB leadership think that a morally bankrupt government that declared them terrorists UNJUSTLY will sit back and watch them file out in their thousands to disrupt an event they are providing security for without using force to stop them?

Are we thinking at all or do we just want to sacrifice our youths just to score some point against Ohaneze Ndigbo? I think we are making a very serious mistake here.

This habit of disrupting other people’s event is giving IPOB a negative image. It runs against the very principle IPOB is fighting for.

I was in the Enugu “HandShake Across The Niger” event where IPOB sent our women to come disrupt even when they knew things could escalate and turn bloody.

This is the same way both IPOB and MASSOB disrupted another event organized by Evang Elliott Uko and attended by the likes of Professor Ben Nwabueze who are all good friends of Nnamdi Kanu.

IPOB leadership asking IPOB members to go disrupt the Ohaneze Summit is tantamount to sending these youths to confront armed Fulani security guys who will be guarding the Summit with empty hands.

This amounts to playing Russian Roulette with the lives of our youths. And it is very wrong. It smacks of suicidal intolerance and extremism which would never give us Biafra.

 It will only isolate us and deprive us of the goodwill of friends and sympathizers. Above all, it will create the wrong impression that IPOB is a violent group.

Those of you who are safely holed up in Europe and America from where you are encouraging our less discerning youths here to embark on this suicide mission, I hope you will be able to live with this.

You are all exploiting the enduring fondness these youths feel for Biafra to use them as a canon folder. This is evil.

Who told you that our chances of getting Biafra is directly proportionally to the number of our people we push to their early grave?

A large number of Igbo youths are still languishing in different prisons across the country following the python dance.

 I worked with the Barrister Emeka Umeagbalasi led Southeast Civil Society Coalition which physically visited those prisons and documented these cases.

Now, we are about to push more to the same prisons and others to their grave UNNECESSARILY.

Tomorrow, we will turn around and blame Lord Lugard for causing the death of these youths and Ohaneze for not condemning it. Does this make any sense?

Tragedy is, today, thousands of less discerning IPOB youths will heed this suicidal call by their leaders and invade Ekwueme square.

According to my police source, the host government advised them to go easy on IPOB but their Police IG instructed them to shoot at anyone seen with any IPOB paraphernalia.

 I know the Police will obey their Boss. Our youths will confront them with empty hands.

People will die but the Ohaneze PG, Chief John Nwodo won’t be among the dead.He will be well guarded.

The host governor, Willie Obiano won’t be hurt. Neither IPOB deputy leader, Uche Mefor nor the guy who authored this IPOB statement will be among the dead.

They are very far removed from the hellfire that is Nigeria, just like 90% of those guys on Facebook urging IPOB on.

The dead will be fathers and Sons of poor people who will be buried unsung and uncelebrated.

Then, we will all come on Facebook to point fingers and look for who to blame.

The question we rarely ask but which we must start asking is, how can we seek to get Biafra this way? How?

Those of you living in Europe and America from where you are fuelling this fire and leading our youths to their early grave, please stop. This is evil.

Protest is a constitutionally guaranteed right but asking your members to invade Ekwueme square is not you exercising your right to protest.

That is you stepping on the right of the other group to hold its own gathering in peace. The fact that you are doing this at a time when the Jihadist government sees you as a terror group is not wise.

We want Biafra but as of today, Nigeria is still a sovereign country and the government is headed by men who are blind, deaf and dumb to the sanctity of human lives. Don’t play into their hands, please.

Stop this madness. Bloodshed won’t give us Biafra. Only tact and strategy will.

Avert this planned suicide before it is too late. IPOB, call your members to order.