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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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APGA chief backs Odumegwu-Ojukwu, group condemns refusal to meet SSS
From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu
NATIONAL Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has cautioned the State Security Service (SSS) against any attempt to arrest Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.
Okorie yesterday in Enugu warned that such action might elicit negative reactions from the Igbo.
However, a group, the Commission for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (CEHN), has condemned Odumegwu-Ojukwu's refusal to honour the invitation of the SSS.
The group warned that if allowed, it would set "a dangerous precedent".
According to Okorie, Odumegwu-Ojukwu is seen by the Igbo as representing the symbol of their struggle for survival in Nigeria.
The APGA chief spoke in apparent reference to a statement allegedly issued by the security operatives that the ex-Biafran leaders had a case to answer.
He cautioned the Federal Government to handle the matter with care as the Igbo, especially the youths, would do anything to defend the APGA presidential candidate in the last general elections.
An unnamed official of the SSS had insisted at the weekend that Odumegwu-Ojukwu had an outstanding issue to clear with the service. He added that Odumegwu-Ojukwu should make himself available to clear it.
Okorie said that the disenchantment across the land over the incident was a pointer that the people were ready to resist further intimidation of the Ikemba.
According to him, "if Odumegwu-Ojukwu is arrested on the basis of the opinion he expressed, some of us who are now elders may take the constitutional means of seeking redress. I cannot guarantee that the youths who now outnumber us by very good margin will be patient enough to follow that same method. They are going to regard it as declaration of war and they will fight.
"These people did not see the war, I mean those born in the seventies and they are now in the majority. So we are saying that the young parents of today among Igbo people did not participate in the war and they cannot come to terms with why the situation should be like this in Nigeria.
"I don't think they will be able to accommodate that provocation and that is why people are cautioning the government to thread carefully," Okorie said.
He pointed out that in spite of the fact that Ndigbo have no intention of embarking on another secession, successive governments in the country have continued to treat them as second-class citizens.
He alleged that President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration had worsened the situation.
He disclosed that a number of civilised actions would come on in the weeks ahead in the capital cities of Britain, United States (U.S.) and Canada to draw international attention to what may likely lead to a confrontation in Nigeria.
Decrying the series of ethnic agitation across the country, Mr. Allen Onyema, the group's chairman in a statement called on Odumegwu-Ojukwu "to obey the laws of the land."
"We condemn Odumegwu-Ojukwu's stance not to obey an invitation from a constituted authority. It will be a dangerous precedent if he is allowed to intimidate the government through ethnic blackmail," Onyema said.
The APGA presidential candidate had last week said he would not honour the SSS invitation, which he described as "spurious."
The CEHN, however, offered to accompany Odumegwu-Ojukwu to the SSS as witnesses if he was in doubt of his safety.
Flaying the Ohanaeze for its "support to blatant disobedience to constituted authority", Onyema said: "An invitation is a civilised way of doing things. Ethnicity has been, and is still, the bane of our development. Leaders drum up ethnic sentiments once they find themselves on the wrong side of the law."
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