The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council has cautioned Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), against inciting violence in the south-eastern region.
Kanu was reported to have asked #EndSARS protesters in the region to destroy the properties belonging to the Yoruba — an allegation he has denied.
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The youth council, in a statement by Okwu Nnabuike, its secretary-general, said Kanu has deviated from “the peaceful approach of non- violent struggle, traditionally adopted by Biafra agitators”.
“Nnamdi Kanu’s craftiness, bogus claims, lack of respect for Igbo elders and hatred for other ethnic groups in Nigeria, had endangered the lives and properties of Ndigbo in Lagos and Northern Nigeria,” the group said in the statement.
“Now, Ndigbo has seen clearly that IPOB had confirmed the reason why the once peaceful organization was proscribed and labeled a terrorist group. In the last few weeks, private and public properties, as well as lives, have wasted across Igbo with people carrying Biafra flags under the banner of EndSARS protests.
“From Aba to Awka, Onitsha, Owerri to Obigbo and Igbo towns, it has been tales of destruction and woes from the same people who are yet to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown. What kind of leader will make a video calling his followers to get weapons, kill policemen, and burn police stations?
“Meanwhile, the so-called leader or freedom fighter is safe and away with his family in the white man’s country, London while his indoctrinated followers inflict death and destruction of the same people he purportedly seeks to liberate.
“EndSARS Protests is a purely Nigerian Youth Movement aimed towards addressing the abnormalities in Nigeria, attempts by Omoyele Sowore to infiltrate the Lekki Protesters was resisted by the Yoruba youths.
“The recent vituperative attacks of Adesinya Grandson on Ndigbos had been dismissed and disowned by Afenifere and Yoruba Youths.
“The fall of Nnamdi Kanu is near, he should retreat now, and apologize to Ndigbos for endangering their lives in the North and South West, by inciting violence in Aba and Obigbo while his father’s house and Afara community is safe.
“A day of reckoning is fast approaching and inevitably near when Nnamdi Kanu will no longer influence the Youths for his fame and wealth seeking games under the guise of ill-thought-out Biafra agitation.”
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The group cautioned IPOB members to shelve their planned rally in the southern region, alleging that it is being sponsored “to create confusion and tension perhaps frighten Igbo governors with presidential ambitions to drop it”.
OYC urges Igbo Youths to leave the streets.
“We Commend the Southeast Governors Forum for the maturity exhibited by allowing Endsars protesters to freely exhaust their activities against police brutality without molestation. Igbo Youths will further resist attempts by IPOB to venture into the Nigerian project through the backdoor and create a breeding ground for the State of Emergency to be declared in the South East and South-South,” it said.
