From Magnus Eze, Enugu 

Former president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, has raised the alarm over plot to attack him under the guise that he had confronted unknown attackers of public and private infrastructure in the South East. 

Nwodo said an online news report alleging the purported vindication of his statement in 2019 that the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) was responsible for the killings in the South East and that herdsmen were innocent of the killings was to set him up against the pro-Biafra group. 

“This is a terrible lie from the pit of hell and intended not just to tarnish my image, but to set me on collision course with IPOB.  Let me state categorically that I have not stated or given anybody the impression that I was interested in the 2023 presidential race, neither does my body language suggest it.  Furthermore, I couldn’t have indicted IPOB on killings in the South East when I have always held the view that they are my children and share in their grievances arising from the overt marginalisation of the Ibo in the country. 

“In my inaugural speech as President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in 2017, and in my address at Chattam House in London, I had stated clearly and firmly that the struggle of IPOB is my struggle except that we differ in modalities because while they sought outright independence for Biafra, Ohanaeze Ndigbo stood for the restructuring of the nation in a united Nigeria.”