… Condemns the military siege at the home of Nnamdi Kanu

From: GEORGE ONYEJIUWA,OWERRI

 The Igbo National Council has slammed the Nigerian military high command  over what it called ‘unwarranted  and reckless shooting’ which has resulted in the killings of innocent citizens in Umuahia by the military Taskforce.

The group said that the deployment of the military to the south east, which was not at war with itself or with the Federal Government, was ostensibly to murder unarmed innocent citizens of the region.

This was just as the group also condemned the current military siege at the home of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, describing it as ‘uncalled for.’

The group, which has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, the Ministry of Defence  and military high command to immediately withdraw the soldiers from the area, said failure to do so, that the group would be left with no other option but to drag them before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for planned genocide against the people of the south east.

In a statement signed by Chilos Godsent, National President of the group, and made available to Daily Sun, on Wednesday, it noted that the covert and overt motives of the renewed military siege in the south east region code named Operation EGWU EKE 2 was to murder and intimidate unarmed citizens of the region.

The statement which read in part said, ”  Igbo National Council have critically analyzed the overt and covert motive of the Operation Egwu Eke 2 in a region that is not at war with itself or the Nigerian State is armless innocent civilians. We have noted with dismay that the heavy presence of fierce looking armed Military men have caused psychological siege on the people of the region, and we, therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly as a matter of urgency to mandate the Chief of Army Staff to immediately nullify the Operation Egwu Eke 2 and order them back to their barracks.

It further read: “The various joint military checkpoints in all the nooks and crannies of the communities and roads in the South East region including major highways have constituted themselves into illegal tollgate, thereby intimidating and extorting money from commuters and residences not daily basis.

“Consequent upon the above, INC calls on the Federal Government to immediately disband  the Operation Egwu Eke 2 Military Taskforce. If the Federal Government fails to adhere to the above call and passionate appeal to nullify the Operation Egwu Eke 2 and withdraw the military back to their barracks within 21 days from the date of this release, the Igbo National Council will have no other option than to petition and sue the Federal Government and the Nigerian Army to the International  Criminal Court for genocide against the people of the South East.”

The group also admonished the Federal Government to shelve its plans of re-arresting the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, as such an action would only escalate tension in the Country, saying that the only solution to the current agitation for the sovereign state of Biafra is by calling for a National Conference to address the lopsided structure of the country.