Leader of
Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nanmdi Kanu yesterday stormed the commercial
city of Onitsha, Anambra state and restated his stand that there would be
no
election in Anambra state and the entire south east land if referendum was not
conducted preparatory for the restoration of Biafra.
This was
about twenty four hours after President of Ohaneze, Chief Nia Nwodo said on
Channels Television that he and some Igbo leaders cautioned Kanu on his
position on the November Governorship election in the state, saying ‘I told him
it was wrong and not the proper way to go’.
Nwodo was
responding to a question on Kanu’s call for the boycott of the election in
Anambra unless Nigeria conducted a referendum to determine the fate of Biafra.
Nwodo also said that the Igbo were for the restructuring of Nigeria and not a
break up of the country, saying that Igbos had more stake in Nigeria than any
other tribe. ‘In any Nigerian city outside the indigenes, Igbos are the next
highest in population. And that is how their investments in such cities are
too.
But we must note that the agitations by the youth are caused by the
injustice the Igbos have faced and are still facing in Nigeria,’ Nwodo said on
television and made similar remarks in Abuja Thursday night. Some hours after
this Kanu visited Onitsha and made remarks that appeared to undermine the
position of Nwodo and the Igbo leaders who met in Enugu last week.
See our
cover stories from page 10 to page 14. Kanu’s remarks yesterday debunked recent
media reports which quoted him as saying that he had listened to advice and had
now agreed that IPOB members would participate in the November 18 governorship
election in the state.
Kanu and his
entourage who arrived Learning Field premises, Omagba Phase II, Onitsha, at
about 6.10 p.m. and were received by a tumultuous crowd of IPOB members
estimated at over 50,000, alighted from his Toyota Sienna bus and knelt down on
top of clothing materials spread for him on the ground and prayed for the
repose of the souls of IPOB members who were killed in Onitsha on May 30, 2016
and before then. After the prayers, he observed a minute silence and started
going round the field with microphone to acknowledge cheers from the crowd.
As
he was waiving at the crowd, he told them that he was in Onitsha to pass a
special message to them. He said that ”there would be no election in Anambra
state and in Biafra land, unless there is referendum.”
He said the recent radio
broadcast which quoted him as saying in Aguleri that he has agreed that there
would be election without referendum was sponsored by enemies of Biafra, adding
that the same radio broadcast which quoted him as saying that Governor Willie
Obiano had no hand in the massacre of IPOB members in Onitsha was equally
sponsored by government propaganda machinery.
As he moved around the field on
foot, holding the microphone, Kanu further declared: “There will be no election
in Anambra and Biafra land forever and ever. This land belongs to Biafra”. He
further declared: “Our enemies will fail.
We are without fear before our
enemies. I will be alive to see Biafra or dead fighting for it. You all must
see Biafra. Our enemies must know that Biafra was designed in heaven.
They must
know we are not joking”. At this juncture, the uncontrollable crowd surged into
the centre of the field and started chanting “no election, no election, no
referendum, no election”.
Welcoming Kanu on behalf of IPOB members, Chief
Leonard Ojukwu who described Kanu as a hero, told him that every average
resident of Onitsha is a member of IPOB, adding that the number of crowd would
have doubled or tripled if they had had a long notice that he was visiting
Onitsha. Before he entered his vehicle for departure at about 6.40 p.m., Kanu
knelt down again and prayed to Chukwuokike (God, the creator) for protection
and quicker restoration of Biafra, amidst rampaging crowd.
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