The leader of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi
Kanu, has revealed the weapon his group has adopted in the fight against
Nigerian government.
In a statement personally signed by Kanu in reaction to the
federal government’s call for the revocation of his bail, the IPOB leader said
pro-Biafra agitators will continue to use civil disobedience as a potent weapon
in the protection of Biafran people from the dictatorial tendencies of the
Buhari administration.
His words: “The directive to service chiefs to clamp down on
IPOB is a continuation of the Buhari’s dictatorial and un- democratic approach
to governance. I find it unacceptable, abhorrent, and insulting that somebody
elected by the people can turn around to dictate to them.
“Buhari was elected to govern Nigeria, he should get on with
the business of governance and not try to instigate another war.
“I insist on the boycott of November 18 Anambra governorship
elections, because only the beneficiaries of the crumbs from Aso Rock will
support those calling on me to rescind the boycott order.
“The call for boycott of the election is our legitimate
right. IPOB has only one weapon with which to fight Nigeria, and that is civil
disobedience not armed conflict. If we decide not to vote in Anambra, it is our
prerogative. It is not targeted at Governor Willie Obiano or anybody.
“We have refused to be provoked to arms rebellion. That is
what Buhari is looking for. Buhari wants a war but we won’t oblige him because
we are civilised people. We are democrats at heart by nature and by essence.
“No amount of threat or intimidation would make him give up
the struggle for Biafra autonomy because it is a genuine cause.
“We are not armed and we can never be armed. IPOB has done a
lot to free other ethnic nationalities from the Caliphate’s bondage of
retrogression and economic emasculation. Other ethnic nationalities should be
grateful to IPOB for giving them the courage and the heart to speak up and say
they are not slaves.
“We are not afraid because IPOB is a peaceful mass movement
and not a violent arms group. IPOB is a non-violent peaceful mass movement.
There is no recorded event of an injury sustained in any of the numerous IPOB
gatherings. People converge in their millions to listen to this gospel of the
restoration of Biafra.
“We are the most disciplined, most well behaved mass
movement anywhere on the face of the earth despite the genocidal killings,
arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions with- out trial.
“We are not fighting Nigeria as a state. We are not fighting
any governor. We are not fighting any individual because we are a global
organisation.
“We are fighting a lopsided, fundamentally corrupt system
that has held people down in abject poverty for decades, leading to premature
deaths, high scale unemployment, and complete decimation of the economic landscape.
We are fighting a system which has made the rest of us slaves to people who are
not qualified to hold public office.
“Do you think that if things were working very well that
anybody would want to leave Nigeria? I am a pan Africanist. I want to establish
good governance that will extend to the ends of Africa. The way Nigeria was
formed and handed over to a band of scavengers can no longer be tolerated.
“The agitation is not against anybody. We are pursuing an
ideal nation where hospitals and schools can function. IPOB is building roads
but the media will not report that. We don’t molest people because we are under
oath to defend those that cannot defend themselves. We cannot bring one to our
people but we must agitate.”
By Chijioke Jannah
