While it was the revelation of Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu on Monday, September 13, that he had information that people from the Directorate of Military Intelligence, DMI, had been detailed to eliminate him and the leader of Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, that made the waves, Vanguard was able to gather that there had been some undercurrents before that public show by Biafran warlord. This report examines the plausibility of Ojukwu’s refusal to honour the SSS invitation, the approach by government and the implications of events as they play out.
Many have come out to condemn the SSS move. Some, nonetheless, insist that defying the state is an act unbecoming of a senior citizen.
Between these two extreme positions can be located the failure of strategy.
Even another view suggests that a government which consistently makes shambles of what ordinarily should pay obeisance to common sense might just as well deserve to be treated with scorn.
But whatever happened on Monday, it is not about to end.
At about noon on Wednesday last week, the mid-day sun dazzled residents of the Coal City. Then suddenly a tall “strange” fellow walked confidently to No. 3, Isiuzor Street, Independence Layout, Enugu.
Now, for those not particularly familiar with the configuration of houses in this ancient eastern city, this address might just as well be any other address. But it is not. It is the residence of Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, former Biafran leader and the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA, presidential candidate in the last general election. The strange fellow approached Security men at the gate of Ojukwu’s large compound and requested to see the Ikemba Nnewi but he could not have access to him. He was later admitted into Ojukwu’s office in the compound where he met his secretary. The man introduced himself as an official of the State Security Service (SSS) and later informed the secretary that the Director General of the SSS at Abuja had directed that Ojukwu should report at his office.
The Mr. X was asked if there was any written document summoning the Ikemba to Abuja or whether Ojukwu was under arrest, but he could neither present a written invitation nor explain the reasons for the invitation.
He left few minutes later.
Vanguard learnt that Ojukwu on getting the information, made several attempts to ascertain reasons for his invitation but his attempts did not yield any result. Feeling worried, he got in touch with the National Chairman of his party, Chief Chekwas Okorie, who was then in London on his way from the World Igbo Congress held at New Jersey, United States.
Disturbed by the unexpected and worrisome information, Okorie contacted Vanguard on the phone from London on Friday and raised an alarm over the SSS invitation, which he described as suspicious. Okorie said the party immediately advised Ojukwu not to honour the “suspicious” invitation until the situation becomes clearer.
He added that Ojukwu was in his house in Enugu waiting to get the reason(s) for his so-called invitation. Okorie also said that the security operative who called at Ojukwu’s residence refused to give reasons for the invitation and did not present any formal letter to that effect, prompting APGA to suspect that the motives behind the summons were “sinister”.
Okorie who expressed anger over the sudden development, said the party viewed the invitation as the latest act of provocation by the government against Ojukwu, the party and the entire Igbo race. He added that all right thinking Nigerians should be worried that such treatment could be meted out to a statesman of Ojukwu’s stature.
According to him, “The verbal invitation is a primitive way of doing things.
“We are not in a military regime anymore. He (Ojukwu) is not going anywhere.
“He is waiting to be told why he is being invited. How can they just come and say you are invited to Abuja without giving any reason, or produce any warrant of arrest?
“It is a primitive way of doing things. They should try to emulate decent societies,” Okorie fumed.
That same weekend, Ojukwu himself confirmed the invitation in Enugu and said that he was asked to come to Abuja by the SSS boss.
A surprised Ojukwu declared: “But I haven’t gone yet, although I indicated that I may honour the invitation by Monday (September 13)”.
The ex-Biafran leader had in a recent magazine interview declared support for the recent sit-at-home protest carried out by the Igbo, nationwide, on the orders of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), but it could not be ascertained if his invitation by the SSS had anything to do with his stance on the activities of the movement.
Ojukwu had said: “I asked the SSS operatives and they didn’t tell me why. I asked if I am under arrest and they said not yet.”
But Monday morning, like Ogbanje, the spirit child who goes and comes back, the SSS operative returned to Ojukwu’s residence and handed over to him a Sosoliso Airline one-way Economy ticket number 551273 From Enugu to Abuja, issued in his name (Dim Ojukwu), dated September 13, 2004. As the SSS operative who delivered the ticket left the residence, a crowd of sympathisers made up of market men and women, Okada riders, APGA supporters and students, some of who visited the nearby JAMB office to check the results stormed Ojukwu’s gate chanting solidarity songs, daring anybody who is brave to touch the Ikemba. Singing, “Onye kpote nwa agu n’’ula, Onye kpote nwa agu n’’ula, mgbe nwa agu tetalu, ebenebe egbu e” meaning “Whoever wakes up the lion, will face the terrible thing that follows”. The crowd remained at the premises while the Ikemba addressed a press conference at his sitting room.
Ojukwu who spoke in his real ‘Ojukwu mood’, with blazing eyes and a display of confidence, alleged that the Federal Government had planned to eliminate him and the leader of the MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazurike through “spurious invitation to Abuja.”
He therefore insisted that he would not honour the improperly served invitation.
“This morning, the SSS presented me with a one-way Economy ticket to Abuja. You can now read your own meaning to this –– It is intended that I go to Abuja without honour and never to return. Consequently, I wish to state before you all that I have no intention whatsoever of going to answer this spurious call of the SSS in Abuja,” he said. Gesticulating, and thereafter clenching a fist, Ojukwu who looked physically disturbed roared:
“You will remember that in the very recent past, Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari declined repeated invitations to appear before the Justice Oputa Violation of Human Rights Commission and the heavens did not fall nor were they compelled to do so. As a law abiding citizen, a respecter of law and order and a Nigerian patriot, I will await in my modest abode to receive and exchange views with properly designated agents of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
Continuing, Ojukwu said: “Already, it has come to my notice that the government has detailed people from the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) to assassinate the leader of MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazurike and myself. I do not know where this orgy of blood letting would lead us to.”
His refusal to go to Abuja based on the invitation, he said, was because of the prevalent killings, particularly of political figures in the Nigerian political arena, which he itemised as Chief Bola Ige, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Chief Marshal Harry, Professor Chimere Ikoku, Chief Victor Nwankwo, Chief A.K. Dikibo, Chief Ogbonnaya Uche, Barrister Barnabas Igwe and his wife, Chief Andrew Agom, General Shehu Musa Yar’’adua, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, Chief Alfred Rewane, General Tunde Idiagbon and Chief (Mrs.) Kudirat Abiola.
“All these men and women are leaders of our various communities who have been gunned down right under the public gaze yet no culprit had been found. What we have is the Police but no culprits,” Ojukwu added.
Asked whether the security agents have given him reasons for his invitation, Ojukwu said, “until now I have not been given the privilege of knowing for certain who wants me neither has any indication been given to me of the probable subject of our discussion. From the newspapers I gather that the authorities take exception to my general support for Biafra and MASSOB, an organisation which in a non-violent manner, seeks the re-establishment of the Republic of Biafra.” He, however, stated that he was prepared to cooperate with the authority within the laws of Nigeria and obey any summons properly issued provided the agent was properly introduced and mandated, just as he also said that he would submit himself and even guarantee the safety of the agent making an exit from his house after seeing the warrant of arrest. “Suffice it to say that I offered, at my age of 70 plus, to receive the Director General of the SSS or any officer properly mandated by him for discussion in my house. All I required, and still do, is for things to be done properly in accordance with democratic norms under the rule of law,” Ojukwu added.
Recalling historical facts about the civil war, Ojukwu declared: “I proclaimed the Republic of Biafra and remained the Head of State till the end of the War; I went into exile as Head of State of Biafra; I returned to Nigeria with a total and free pardon signed by a democratically elected President of Nigeria; I have remained in Nigeria since 1982 and participated fully in all national elections as a member of one of the national political parties; as a citizen of Nigeria, I state unequivocally that I not only support Biafra but also that I am proud of my activities as the Head of State of Biafra; I state that the only democratic process to which I subscribe, is that democracy which guarantees to every citizen the right of speech and the right to hold opinion.”
On MASSOB, he said that Uwazurike was neither a criminal nor an ex-convict, explaining that MASSOB was born out of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. “Ralph Uwazurike was a member of PDP. He supported President Obasanjo’s campaign. He was a militant for President Obasanjo in that campaign. They parted ways as frequently happens in politics for reasons we do not know. It is perhaps deriving from this intimate understanding that makes President Olusegun Obasanjo to resent the growing popularity of this young man when compared with the president’s own diminishing popularity.
“Ralph Uwazurike is purely and simply a young man disgusted and frustrated by General Obasanjo’s governance. It is significant, as it appears that millions of Nigerians are with him,” the Ikemba Nnewi added.
Ojukwu strongly appealed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan, former South African President, Nelsen Mandela, Heads of State of the African Union, Human Rights Organizations and all men and women of conscience to prevail on President Obasanjo “to halt the senseless killings, harassment, intimidation and humiliation of Ndigbo including myself.”
Meanwhile, as people continued to wonder why the SSS wants Ojukwu, his house has literarily become a center of attention. On Tuesday, sympathizers thronged his residence to show solidarity with Ojukwu who continued to turn down the SSS invitation. At the residence were prominent politicians from various political parties and cultural organisations. They called to express sympathy with the Ikemba Nnewi over the current development. The sympathizers included the former Presidential aspirant of the All Nigeria People’’s Party (ANPP), Chief Nnia Nwodo, Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Col. Joe Achuzia (rtd), former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Christian Chukwuma Onoh, who is also the father-in-law to Ojukwu and Col. Emma Nwobosi (rtd). It was also learnt that Chieftains of the pan-Yoruba organisation, Afenifere, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd), and Senator Uche Chukwumerije among others, called on the telephone to express their solidarity with Ojukwu and praised his decision not to honour the invitation that was improperly served.
But Journalists who thronged his house were, however, prevented by Ojukwu’s personal security men from seeing him, claiming that they were under instructions to do so. But Secretary-General of the Igbo National Assembly (INA), Chief Onwuka Ukwa, who said he was with the Ikemba throughout Tuesday, confirmed that there was absolute calm at his residence.
Already, however, the SSS has slammed Ojukwu for attempting to blackmail it.
In a statement on Tuesday, the SSS slammed Ojukwu.
In a veiled reference to the escape by the former Biafran warlord from Nigeria to Ivory Coast during the Civil war that he led against the Federal Government, the SSS said that Chief Ojukwu “misunderstood the gesture and took fright, out of concern for his personal comfort, which unfortunately is consonant with his character, over the years”.
The Service, in the two-page statement signed by Ezra Tobechukwu on behalf of the Director-General, Col. Kayode Are, reads:
“The Department of State Services wishes, in the public interest, to clarify its interaction with Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, which has been turned into an object of public drama and cheap blackmail.
“As far as security is concerned, the corporate existence of Nigeria is a matter, which is beyond politics. The reality today is that while some leaders are striving assiduously to build a better Nigeria for all, some are committed to dismembering the country, through violent or non-violent means, and disturbing the peace, which all enjoy.
“In accordance with the mandate of the Service as enshrined in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, if for any reason, the conduct of any individual is inimical to peace and stability, the Service has a duty to call that person or group to order through lawful means.
“It was in recognition of the delicate nature of the issue at hand that a senior member of the Service invited Chief Ojukwu for dialogue. Chief Ojukwu was accorded all the courtesies and respect due to an elder and statesman.
“He was even encouraged to come along with his lawyer and any other person he wishes to be present during the planned interaction. Apparently, Chief Ojukwu misunderstood the gesture and took fright, out of concern for his personal comfort, which unfortunately is consonant with his character, over the years.
“The Service would not join issues with Chief Ojukwu, but having rejected the option of dialogue, other courses of lawful action open to the Service would be pursued to their logical end in addressing the matter. Clearly, if the intention was to arrest the Chief, that would have been done through due process, without hesitation”.
Whatever Ojukwu’s claims and the SSS’ counter claims, a crisis s already on ground.
First, Ojukwu’s statement that because Buhari and Babangida did not honour the Oputa Panel’s invitation, and heavens did not fall, therefore, he, too, would not honour the SSS’ invitation, stands on a pedestal which seeks to justify a wrong by an earlier wrong.
But when he catalogues the controversial circumstances leading to the death of many prominent political figures, with the police not able to find the killers, then expresses fears, without necessarily bringing the state to disrepute, by saying some people in the DMI have been detailed to eliminate him and Uwazurike, and not giving further details, is a very good shot at propaganda - and one which serves this administration right.
For a government which seems to have elevated the art of subterfuge to a grand principle of state policy, the best any individual can do is to act with caution, while at worst serving it a dose of its own pill. Which is what Ojukwu has simply done.
However, claim of death threat only serves to further render a heated polity discombobulate; and this is what the Ikemba knows quite well.
Would anybody blame him?
Not quite. And nobody is saying he should head for arms’ way directly.
If government is responding to Ojukwu’s support for the Republic of Biafra, it could just as well claim to have a point on the basis of the fact that it feels threatened, more so, after the stay at home order by MASSOB to Nd’Igbo. And to claim that some other people too, speak recklessly without being hounded, therefore, if he also speaks recklessly, he can be justified, is also not a good pillar on which to hoist an argument. At least, not for somebody of Ojukwu’s stature.
The lasting solution to other further altercation would be for the Nigerian state not only to do what is expected of a state but to be seen to be doing same, that way, the fears of marginalisation and exploitation would reduce.
As of the tango between Ojukwu and the SSS, that last has not been heard.
