Sophia Michaels
On Saturday, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) revealed the specifics of the conversation between its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo delegation, headed by President General Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.
Iwuanyanwu led some leaders of Ohanaeze to visit Kanu at the Abuja facility of the Department of State Services, DSS.
Kanu is currently locked up in DSS facility following his trial for terrorism as initiated by the Nigerian Government.
Clarifying comments made by Iwuanyanwu after the meeting, IPOB said the Ohanaeze President meant that Kanu was not part of those using the name of the group to cause violence in the Southeast.
In a statement issued on Saturday, IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, said Kanu was not behind the recent killing of soldiers in Abia State, and other incidents of violence in the Southeast.
Parts of the statement read, “What the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide President General Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu said was taken out of context. He meant to say that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not a part of those using the name of IPOB to commit crime or cause havoc in Igboland.
“That Mazi Nnamdi Kanu did not send anybody to kill the soldiers that unfortunately lost their lives in the hands of criminal elements on May 30th. Our leader has publicly directed on numerous occasions that all manner of activities likely to inflict suffering or any form of hardship on our people must be put to an end.
“On the issue of the 30th of May, our leader made it clear to the Igbo leader Chief Iwuanyanwu that our heroes remembrance day is sacred, sacrosanct and set in stone till eternity and will never be reversed.
“It was our leader through the instrumentality of the noble family of IPOB that instituted the 30th of May remembrance the world over.
“Over the years we have chosen to remember our fallen heroes publicly through religious candle light processions, prayers and gatherings in public places. It was the same Nigerian army that precipitated the sit-at-home because they gloried in always attacking and killing innocent Biafrans anytime we gather peacefully in our own land.
“One of such was the infamous massacre at Nkpor in 2016 Biafra Remembrance Day that led to Amnesty International and United Nations Rapporteur Agnes Callamard to issue a report of condemnation of the Nigerian Army. Most people have forgotten this.”
