Arrest Me, Ojukwu Dares FG
From Emmanuel Ugwu in Enugu
Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Chuwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, yesterday challenged the State Security Services (SSS) to arrest him if the Federal Government felt convinced that he has committed a treasonable offence by speaking out his mind.
Ojukwu threw the challenge while narrating the genesis of his face-off with the SSS to a delegation of national and state officers of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) led by the National Deputy Chairman, Chief Maxi Okwu.
"If I have committed any offence, arrest me. Let them come and arrest me if the matter is serious enough.
Why are they pussy footing?" he asked.
According to him it was "irresponsible" of the SSS not to have arrested him having given the impression that the statements he made in support of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) constituted a threat to national security.
The presidential candidate of APGA told his party leaders that his refusal to honour the invitation of
the SSS was due to the manner he was invited for a chat with the director general at Abuja, adding, "I will not take insults."
He said that untoward incidents since the return to civil rule have made it imperative for Nigerians to play safe when dealing with security agencies under any guise.
"Under Obasanjo's government," he pointed out, so many people have been rubbed off. So you don't just take government for granted."
Ojukwu said that it was unfortunate that the SSS was making a crisis out of a small issue by reading their own meaning into what he said about MASSOB.
Said he: "As I always say, judge me by what I do; by what I say. But don't judge me by what you think I will do or say. And don't judge me by what others have said about me and what I'm supposed to have said."
He reiterated his earlier statement on Biafra, explaining that he was expressing his own opinion, which he was entitled to under the present dispensation of democratic governance.
"How can't I support Biafra? I declared it. I support MASSOB. Why can't I? That's an opinion (and) we're in a democracy."
After recounting all the excesses of the security agencies against the opposition despite the democratic rule, Ojukwu concluded that Nigeria was yet to embrace true democracy.
"The present government has got military reflexes and we should halt them," he said.
Okwu had earlier said that their mission at the Hill View residence of the party's presidential candidate was directed by the party hierarchy to show solidarity with Ojukwu.
"We're here to assure you that the diabolical plot will not work," he said.
Chief Okwu noted that it could well be that the current face-off between Ojukwu and the SSS would become a test case to stop the reign of fascism in Nigeria.
In a chat with newsmen, the APGA acting national chairman warned against the slide into fascism in the country, saying that the manner the SSS arrested NLC members who went to protest at the National Assembly as well as the clampdown on Insider magazine were all signs of bad omen.
"What worries us democrats is that there is this rising tide of fascism in this country," he said, adding, "Nigerians are interested in knowing the powers of the SSS."
Ojukwu has been receiving individuals and groups on solidarity visits since the face-off began.
Among the prominent personalities, who called yesterday was the former president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Justice Eze Ozobu (rtd), who called on the Federal Government to let Ndigbo be.
He told newsmen after meeting with Ojukwu that Ndigbo have done nothing to deserve all the harassments and intimidations.
Following a successful sit at home protest in the South-east organised by MASSOB, Ojukwu who led the Igbo on a failed secessionist bid, said he supported MASSOB's activities.
The SSS immediately invited Ojukwu to Abuja for a meeting, an invitation the ex-Biafran warlord declined while alleging that the Federal Government wanted to kill him. The SSS, however, described the allegation as a cheap blackmail from a coward.
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