Felix Ikem, Nsukka; Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka; Peter Anosike
Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has condemned the bombing of the country home of the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, in Ukehe, Enugu State.
In a statement signed his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu, Ekweremadu said: “This is a dastardly act. It is certainly ugly, evil, and outrageous. I roundly condemn it. This is quite an unusual development in the South East, and we will not accept it.
“I call on security agencies to get to the root of this devilish act and ensure the culprits and masterminds are brought to book, immediately.”
Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned the attack on Nwodo’s home, by those it called terrorists.
In a reaction to the incident, the group denied having any hand in the attack and said “those seeking to implicate IPOB will end up implicating themselves.”
In a statement issued by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group said: “IPOB condemns the attack on Nwodo’s compound by terrorists disguised as Fulani herdsmen.
“We are calling on South East and South South to be vigilant, because the Fulani terrorist group has taken over our land.
“The attention of the worldwide family of IPOB has been drawn to a statement making the rounds, on social media, that Almajiri Fulani terrorists, masquerading as herdsmen, intend to commence the bombing of police stations and government buildings, to coincide with the visit of ‘Buhari’ to the United States, in the hope of implicating IPOB. This evil plot, if determined to be accurate, is
intended to serve two purposes.
“The organisers of the terror campaign intend to divert attention from the massive embarrassment and public humiliation which awaits Buhari, in Washington DC, courtesy of IPOB in the USA.
“They may have wrongly calculated that embarking on mass murder and destruction is the only way to convince the US authorities that IPOB is a terrorist organisation, deserving of proscription and extra judicial executions.
“Whatever the motives of the Alimajiri Fulani terrorists, they have failed woefully. Our modus operandi remains the same. A sustained campaign of civil disobedience, targeted global campaigns, protests, boycotts, picketing, rallies, international diplomacy and worldwide coordinated legal assault on the criminal conduct of the Nigerian State. Anything outside these areas has nothing to do with IPOB.
In a related development, United Igbo Traders of Nigeria, the umbrella body of Igbo traders, nationwide, has condemned the bombing of Nwodo’s house.
A statement by the president of the organisation, Chief Chris Eberego Ezeh, described the action as nothing, but cowardice.
The traders urged the Inspector General of Police to waste no time in bringing those behind the act to book.
The group said as the president general of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Nwodo is today the leader of all Igbo everywhere in the world, and, any attempt on his life is an attempt on the life of all Igbo worldwide.
To them, the attempt could be to silence Nwodo from the quest for a restructured Nigeria, which he has dedicated his whole life and time to. However, the group said, rather than the action of the cowards weakening or silencing him, he would even be stronger in his pursuit of an egalitarian Nigeria, where equity and justice reign.
The group called on President Muhammadu Buhari to do something about the current insecurity in the country.