IPOB-FG Drama in the South East: Victim cries for help.
4 min read
Mr Duru Hyginus Chinemerem, a frontline and local campaigner for the total realization of the Independent State of Biafra has cried out to the general public on the grounds of several threats to his life and the alleged resolve of the Federal Government of Nigeria to kill him over his total support for the independent state of Biafra through her agents. Mr Duru disclosed to Umuaka Times in a telephone interview that his business centre was among the shops and houses set ablaze by soldiers in Awo Omamma in Orlu Senatorial District in 2021 after some yet to be identified gunmen who operated as sit at home enforcers had a confrontation with the soldiers.
In its determination to realize the total independence of the Biafran state out of Nigeria, the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB had declared every Monday a compulsory public holiday as a form of protest towards the realization of Biafra in the entire Southeastern states of Nigeria. The compulsory public holiday is referred to as “sit-at-home” by the locals.
Indications that have emerged so far showed that criminals and yet to be identified gunmen have cashed in on the opportunity to enforce the order in the Southeastern states of Nigeria. Observers of the Biafran struggle are worried that the sit at home option has created more crises in the region.
Recall that on September 20, 2017, an Abuja based Federal High Court declared the activities of IPOB as “acts of terrorism”, following an application filed by the then Attorney-general of the Federation AGF, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. Upon the declaration, several media outfits and state actors began to label each member of the organization a terrorist. Several NGOs and other commentators on national issues in and outside Nigeria deemed the declaration as a political move to clip the wings of the group.
The declaration however created its own ripple effects; IPOB members and supporters such as Mr Duru Hyginus Chinemerem and many others went underground as they have been labeled terrorists.
About six years later, a state high court sitting in Enugu, also in the Southeastern part of Nigeria nullified the 2017 declaration and delisted the name of IPOB from the national database of terrorist groups operating in the country. Justice Anthony Onovo, the presiding judge who handled the case ruled that the proscription of the group as a terror organization devastated the fundamental human rights of Nnamdi Kanu, the founder of IPOB and his supporters.
In a similar development, a report Umuaka Times obtained from the US Council of Foreign Relations under the title, The U.S. Should Not Designate Nigeria’s IPOB a Terrorist Group writes: “In October 2020, multiple UN Special Rapporteurs argued that the proscription of IPOB infringes on Biafra supporters’ right to association and political expression. Even so, pro-Biafra sentiment is larger than—and should be seen as distinct from—IPOB and its leader Nnamdi Kanu….As long as they remain nonviolent, Biafran groups are legitimate expressions by a people that feel marginalized and wrongly treated by the Nigerian government.”
From the representations made by Duru to Umuaka Times, it appears that the Federal Government of Nigeria still went on to hit on IPOB members below the belt. Several IPOB members and Biafran agitators have lost their lives and properties as a result of the clampdown on the group. Duru disclosed to Umuaka Times that “I had to escape from Nigeria when the heat became unbearable because I got an intelligence report that my name is on the wanted list of the government.”
Duru further confirmed that he lost some close friends in the struggle and more than on 4 occasions, “They have come for me but could not get me. It is God that saved me from their traps. I had no other option than to escape.”
Mr Duru Hyginus Chinemerem who hails from Isu Umuozu in Nwangele Local Government Area in Orlu Senatorial Zone of the state and does his business in Awo Omama still in Orlu, emphatically lamented that his life is in danger. “My residence and shop were completely destroyed and set ablaze. I became a shadow of myself as I practically had nothing left. Even to feed was a herculean task for me. I thank God I am alive to tell this story.”
Prominent Nigerians have in the past called upon the Federal Government of Nigeria to dialogue with Kanu and restore peace in the Southeastern Nigeria. As far back as 2015, the Daily Post newspaper of December 13 2015, reported thus. “Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, has advised the Federal Government to handle the pro-biafra agitation with utmost care, stating that the agitators were entitled to their request, therefore, must not be crucified for it. Kuka called on the government to draw the leader of the group close and dialogue with him, instead of force.”
From the time the respected Roman Catholic churchman made the appeal till date, both the Federal Government of Nigeria and IPOB have never known real peace. As it is said, when two elephants fight, the grasses suffer. Highly verifiable indicators have shown that the masses are the ones feeling the heat of the avoidable face-off between IPOB and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
