From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide yesterday raised the alarm over the “Shoot-at-sight order” given to the Nigerian soldiers against Igbo youth, warning that such order was a call for another pogrom and genocide.
Consequently, Ohanaeze has asked the federal government to refrain from the use of force in resolving the present national crises.
Quoting the President General of Ohanaeze, Prof. George Obiozor, the organization admonished the Nigerian government to “learn a lesson from history by not fighting an unwinnable war against nationalism but seek possible peaceful options that are the only solution that guarantees national unity and peaceful coexistence.”
In a statement issued yesterday in Enugu by the National Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze noted that the pattern of deployment of northern military officers to the South-East lends credence to the report of the shoot-at-sight order.
The statement reads in parts, “The attention of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been drawn to the “Shoot-at-sight order” given to the Nigerian soldiers on how to engage the Igbo youths in the oncoming week. The Sahara Reporters, May 8, elaborated on the new secret plan which by the grace of God has come to the public domain. The report further revealed that the exercise will commence from Orlu in Imo State, South East Nigeria. This is very disturbing.
“The pattern of deployment of northern military officers to the South-East lends credence to the above report. Sahara Reporters revealed that in preparation for the above, the Nigerian army has posted Northern Muslims as commanders over its operations and brigades in Anambra, Imo, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Benue, Edo, Delta and Rivers.
“In Anambra State, the Cantonment Commandant of the 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha, is Col Abdulsalam Abubakar Sambo, a Hausa-Fulani Muslim; while in Imo State, the Brigade Commander of 34 Brigade, Obinze, is Brig Gen Ibrahim Tukura, another northerner; in Abia State, the Brigade Commander of 14 Brigade, Ohafia, is Brig Gen M. Ibrahim, still, a northerner; while in Akwa Ibom State, the Brigade Commander of 2 Brigade, Uyo, is Brig Gen Faruk Mijinyawa, another northerner. This is truly worrisome!”
Insisting that the current problems confronting Nigeria, such as ethnic militia, agitation for secession, insurgency, etc were a product of sustained orchestrated injustice in governance, Ohanaeze quoted Obiozor again as having lamented that “sub national consciousness or ethnocentric nationalism which is a dangerous form of nationalism to national unity has taken over Nigeria.” And that “the dream of Nigeria unity is receding and fading fast with violence, crises and conflicts.”
The organization made reference to the former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Sen. Shehu Sani, who vehemently decried that the Igbo have been systematically marginalised since the civil war.
“Speaking in Kaduna at a meeting organised by the Association of Eze-Ndigbo in the Diaspora on Saturday, May 8, 2021, Sani described the marginalisation as a “collective punishment”. “There has been a systemic exclusion and marginalisation of your people, stemming from the historical Biafra war. This is a collective punishment”, he declared.
“Every right thinking Nigerian, who loves the corporate existence of Nigeria, should align with the Shehu Sani position. The problem with Nigeria in general and the Igbo in particular is located in injustice and the simple solution lays in manifest dialogue, equity and justice,” Ohanaeze statement further stated.
The apex Igbo organization also quoted its President General the third time as he warned that, “History shows that military and violent means to solve the national question is bound to fail as it leads to further national fractionalization, anarchy and eventual or inevitable disintegration, as in all Empires or multi-national states or countries.”
