Coalition Statement
Issued by the
International Coalition of Igbo Organizations (ICIO)
As a primary coalition of organizations
representing Igbo persons, the International Coalition of Igbo Organizations
(ICIO) and its members would like to inform the civilized world that the regime
in Nigeria has abandoned the promise of democracy
and has instead put the country on a destructive path of dictatorship and
tyranny, which now also threatens to cause another catastrophic war.�
Whereas Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was the leader of the
Republic of Biafra and commander-in-chief of the Biafran armed forces during
the Nigeria-Biafra War, General Ojukwu was granted an unconditional and
unqualified pardon, which includes a full restoration of all citizenship
rights, including the rights to free expression, freedom of association, and
the right to peaceable assembly, all of which make it illegal for the Nigerian
State to raise as a case against General Ojukwu any acts of his in that war or
any subterfuges thereof.
The ICIO warns that any threat, harassment, or attacks on� Ojukwu�s freedoms by the Nigerian State constitute a subversion of the
unconditional pardon and clemency that Ojukwu received insofar as those attacks
are a subterfuge used to reach General Ojukwu�s role in the Nigeria-Biafra War.
Accordingly,
- We affirm General
Ojukwu�s right to free expression, and we condemn the effort of the
Obasanjo regime to muzzle Dim Ojukwu and subvert the constitutional provisions
guaranteeing free expression to all citizens of the country.� In particular, we find the so-called SSS
oral �invitation� to Dim Ojukwu to be illegal, improper, and unjustified
as it fails to meet even the minimum of substantive and procedural due process
of law.
- We view the threats
and harassment of Ojukwu by the Nigerian State as a direct attack on the entire Igbo people.
As such, it will not be tolerated. In that regard, Obasanjo�s manipulation
of the SSS against Igbo persons is a veiled call to ethnic hatred and
violence.
- The ICIO opposes
the attempt of the Obasanjo regime to militarize Nigerian democracy and
subvert the rule of law by resorting to military decree-style fiat and
invidious discrimination� in the
enforcement of the country�s laws.
- The ICIO demands
that the Nigerian regime withdraw the soldiers recently deployed to Enugu in a forlorn attempt to intimidate the Ikemba
or cow the Igbo masses who support him.
- �The ICIO strongly supports MASSOB and
defends its right to fight for self-determination as guaranteed in the
United Nations Charter and under international law.
- We condemn the
unwarranted killings, unlawful arrests, and imprisonment of MASSOB members
by the Nigerian regime.
- Since Nigeria professes to uphold human rights, the ICIO
demands that the Nigerian
State immediately charge to court all MASSOBians
who are held without trial in various Nigerian prison
or set the MASSOBians free. The continued detention of the MASSOBians by
the Nigerian State blatantly violates the human and civil rights
of the prisoners.
- The ICIO condemns
the lack of security of life and property in Nigeria where there are constant and organized
killings of Igbos and Christians by Nigerian Moslem Jihadists who are now
assisted by Taliban and al-Qaeda elements who receive shelter from the
Nigerian regime after fleeing to Nigeria as a result of the worldwide war against
terrorism.
- The ICIO affirms
that the strongest reasons for forming MASSOB, the Biafra Liberation Movement
(BLM)� and other groups was to
confront and stop the Islamization of Nigeria and Africa, especially at a time when Islam is used to
propagate terrorism around the globe.
- We condemn in very
strong terms the double standards adopted by the present Nigerian
government in allowing the emergence of the barbaric Sharia Law as the
operative Legal System in the northern states of the federation, while
clamping down far less destructive and even non-violent activities such as
Yam festivals in the East of the country.
- We note that the
operation of the Sharia Code in parts of Nigeria is contrary to the principles of federalism
to which Nigeria purports to adhere.� Indeed, Sharia is tantamount to
secession from the federation as Sharia has obliterated constitutionally
mandated protections and rights granted to Nigerian citizens who happen to
reside in the Sharia states.� From
Zamfara to Kano, Sharia has been used to strip away� rights enshrined in the Nigerian
constitution, including freedom of religion, the right to free expression,
freedom of movement, and the right to peaceable assembly.
- The ICIO condemns
killings of prominent and not so prominent Nigerians in circumstances in
which the Nigerian State and its security services, including the
notorious SSS,� have been openly
accused of complicity. Some of the major victims of those murders include:
A. Chief
Ogbonnaya Uche - Prominent opposition politician and member of parliament.
B. Chief Marshal Harry - Vice Chairman opposition Party (ANPP) Southern
Zone
C. Chief Bola Ige - Attorney-General of Nigeria and member of opposition
Party (AD)
D. Barister Igwe & wife Abigail Igwe - President, Nigeria Bar
Association, Anambra State.
E. Aminosari Kalu Dikibo - Vice Chairman PDP party, Southern Zone
F. Professor Chimere Ikokwu (70) - former Vice Chancellor, University of
Nigeria and member
Ohanaeze Ndiigbo. ( a pan Igbo socio-cultural group)
G. Chief Victor Nwankwo � (Prominent Publisher and member Ohanaeze
Ndiigbo).
H. Chief Andrew Agom � (Prominent member PDP Party and former Managing
Director, Nigeria Airways).
I. Dr. Chuba
Okadigbo � (Former Senate President and former opposition (ANPP) candidate for
Vice President).
Contacts:
International Coalition of Igbo Organizations
Fada Jọn Ọfọegbu Ụkaegbu, Ph.D.
� (Coordinator)
Ambrose Ehirim � (Director of Public Affairs)
Chinedu Ibe � (Secretary)
(240) 286-2693.
icio@ igbonet.com