A
socio-activist group, Igbos for Nigeria Movement, INM, has identified Emmanuel
Kanu, the younger brother of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu as the face allegedly
behind
the recent Monkey Pox vaccine hoax in the South East region of the
country.
The group
also urged the Federal Government through law enforcement agencies to stop IPOB
from continuing to create panic across the country even after it has been
outlawed as a terrorist organization.
INM further
demanded a thorough investigation of any financial transactions between Igbos
people in government and IPoB since this would amount to financing terrorism.
Mazi Ifeanyi
Igwe, National President of Igbos for Nigeria Movement, who spoke in Abuja on
Wednesday, lamented that the latest round of propaganda by IPOB spokesman, Emma
Powerful, has done untold damage to the Igbo cause with his allegation that
soldiers were forcefully injecting students with virus as the fear of vaccines
createED by the hoax could potentially make parents avoid lifesaving
vaccinations.
He called
relevant security agencies to unravel the true identity of whoever is posing as
Emma Powerful since no such entity has ever come forward at any of the various
fora that had convened to discuss the marginalization of the Igbo nation.
According to
him, "The brazen way whoever this character is continues to tell lies that
terrorizes the populace, especially Igbos, is because he is using a fake
identity. Look at the trauma he put parents through in the southeast with the
hoax about the Monkey Pox virus and how soldiers were injecting school children
with it, which turned out to be false but the panic spread across the whole
place nonetheless. Now in future, parents will be reluctant to vaccinate their
children against diseases like measles, polio and other preventable childhood
killer diseases; it is Igbo children that will die as a result of this mischief
of spreading fake news.
"The
source of the fake news has been established as IPOB's spokesperson, who goes
by the alias of Emma Powerful. He signed the statements asking parents to take
their children from school alleging that soldiers were forcefully ejecting
pupils with killer viruses. It was the same terrorist that has been inciting
IPOB members to attack anyone that goes out to vote in Anambra State
governorship election in November. A large chunk of IPOB's hate messages come
from this faceless individual.
"The
thing that is even more of concern is that it has been said severally that
there is nobody like 'Emma Powerful' who is merely an alias for Emmanuel Kanu,
the junior brother to that fugitive from justice and IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
"It
will interest you to note that in the hours and days after IPOB members
confronted soldiers on Operation Python Dance II, if one compares the
utterances and interviews by Emmanuel Kanu with statements by Emma Powerful the
conclusion would be to challenge law enforcement agencies to repeat the same
exercise and arrive at their own conclusions.
"I
therefore call on the relevant law enforcement agencies to draw on the relevant
provisions of the anti-terrorism legislations in the country to unmask the
identity of Emma Powerful to end his reign of terror that has caused
unnecessary panic in our states," Igwe demanded.
He noted
that the federal government, the military and security services owe Nigerians
explanations on how it was possible that a group that has been designated a
terrorist organization by the court in line with the anti-terrorism law
continues to issue statements like a legal entity.
Igwe further
accused governors of the five southeast states of playing to the gallery with
their proscription of IPoB since the group continue to freely operate in their
jurisdictions after the proscription including issuing the statement that
caused panic with a warning that a state of emergency may eventually be
declared in the region because of their lukewarm attitude.
Meanwhile,
the National President of Igbos For Nigeria Movement warned that IPOB will not
stop causing problems in the southeast if certain political office holders and
top businessmen do not stop funding the outlawed terror group.
He stressed
that law enforcement agents must immediately conduct a thorough investigation
of any financial transactions between Igbo people in government and IPOB since
this would amount to aiding and abetting terrorism financing.
"The
information we are getting about the extent of financing available to IPoB is
worrisome because any group with that much money can easily destabilize any
geo-political zone of the country. I do not expect that the Federal Government
continues to allow this kind of criminal financing to continue since it is
those of us from the southeast that will suffer the consequences if these
people successfully implement their evil plot," he said.
Calls put
across to IPOB Spokesman, Emma Powerful to get his reaction failed. Also calls
to Emmanuel Kanu did not connect.
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